Though there is the perception that she is not compatible with her husband, a Nigerian prayer warrior says she does not regret marrying her fetish priest husband.
The 42-year-old Lolo Ebelechukwu Obi abandoned the church to marry her 78-year-old husband and Chief Priest of Idemmili deity, Dr Raphael Obi.
Her decision was not based on love or money, but the simple logic that she was appointed by the gods to be his wife, she told BBC pidgin.
In the interview, she stated that she was a single mother-of-four prior to her marriage but her husband accepted her in good faith.
Her decision, she said, drew mockery from society because she “was a serious church member, a prayer warrior and even part of the Jericho destroyers in church.”
She narrated how it all happened:
I used to visit him at his shrine and one day, he told me I have been appointed to be his wife and take care of him during old age. At that same time, pastors had already told me I had been chosen spiritually so I knew he was saying the truth.
At first, I was looking at his age and looking at myself. I did not know what to say so I did not respond.
When I told my mother, she said no I won’t marry him. So I went out and began to reason. And I remembered that when I was small, I had a dream where I was dressed like a Queen (Lolo).
I was like, maybe this is the dream coming to pass. So I was just calm although my mother was not happy with me then.
I am not scared of the work because even when I was in church, people used to call be ‘eze nwani’, queen.
I told my friends about it so when they heard I married a native doctor, they were laughing that after all my church things, I married Chief priest.
She continued that during her church days, she had a negative perception about native doctors and shrines, but following her marriage, she has realised it is a religion no different from Christianity.
According to her, a number of pastors have entered their den for spiritual assistance, hence she believes there is power in the deity.
After eight years in the marriage, she said she has never had the urge to turn back, especially as she has been assured to be a great woman.
Many people, even my friends are happy with me now because I’m doing well. My name is Lolo Ebelechukwu Chukwu Obi and I am proudly the wife of Chief priest, Idemili cultural center Agulu in Anambra State, southeast Nigeria
