By Ikenna Osuoha
The Founder of a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), the Girl Yesterday, the Woman today (GYWT), Dr Rebecca Godwin-Isaac, has urged women to put God first in their marriages.

Godwin-Isaac, who made the call during her 10th marriage anniversary in Abuja, advised women to also resist competition and the lures of money as conditions for love.

“My message to people out there is that in everything that you must do, God should be the centre of your home. I didn’t marry for money; I didn’t marry because my peers are getting married or my mates were getting married.

“I married when God chose a husband for me and I decided to say God, you are welcome into my home, you are the pillar. You are the centre of my home, come take the way. So that’s what I have learnt and with that, God has been sustaining us,” she said.

Also speaking, the husband, Mr Isaac Yusuf, affirmed the inevitability of challenges in marriages and the ability to surmount it through God’s help.

Yusuf, who thanked God for his grace in the past 10 years of their marriage, urged homes to embrace love.

“We have had so many challenging times, but we have kept God in the forefront of our relationship and we have kept love as well in our home. That has helped us far a lot in overcoming the challenges. We see challenges daily but we are able to overcome them.”

Earlier, the officiating cleric, Pastor Aki Eke, had admonished husbands to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands.

Eke, however, described Christ as the symbol of marriages as illustrated by God.

“When God uses Christ symbolically in marriage, we are simply saying that husband love your wife. I have also seen the love bring the solution.

”I pray that as we love, God will bring solutions in our homes and peace will reign in our homes. What God has put together, let no man put asunder.”

The bride’s father, Pastor Godwin Aliyu, prayed God to continue to unite the couple with abundant love and understanding.

Aliyu who frowned at divorce and separation, said he advised the daughter to always preserve her marriage.

“As a father, I have been praying for them, success unity, more love, more oneness that their home will not break.

“I tell my daughter that she should not allow anything that will make her family to break up.”

On his own, the groom’s father, Mr Yusuf Wunduh, described the son as a gentle and hardworking man whose unity with the wife have benefitted them a lot.

“My son is a very hardworking person, a gentleman in the true sense of the word, they have achieved a lot together.”

The Bride’s mother, Mrs Gladys Aliyu, who described the daughter as a loving and caring person, expressed joy over their unity in marriage.

“I feel happy, I feel joyful as a mother, I feel happy and I feel joyful. I am grateful to God as well.

“Other mothers there, in marriage, there is always ups and downs, they should have endurance and perseverance and advise their children to live in peace and in unity.

“She is a very good daughter of mine, a loving one, caring one, hardworking lady.”

A friend of the couple and legal practitioner, Mr Tadas Okonkwo, saluted the resilience and integrity of the couple in living together for 10 years.

Okonkwo who described them as fantastic couple, said their marriage was built on honesty and love.

“I see them to be honest, they are real, they are genuine in whatever they do.

“For these beautiful couple, handsome young man, Engineer Isaac Yusuf and her Excellency Rebecca, for them to be together, that shows , they are people of integrity.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the highlight of the event was the couple’s renewal of marriage vow by Venerable Chukwuma Okafor. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz