“Everyone has a fateful day of his or her life, whether for good or for bad, the day we all look forward to, the day that God will answer your secret prayer is coming, so my daughter, do not be anxious, do not worry because one day the God that we serve will come through for you”. This was the last word Mama Okon said to her daughter Naomi, who came home for a visit. Everyone knows that marriage is one of the issues faced by most families, especially in Africa. A woman is not considered fulfilled if she does not have a man who is her husband. As a result of this, it is expected of a woman to be married before she reaches her prime. Whenever a woman approaches thirty, it is assumed that she has passed the age of marriage and no man would be out to espouse to such a woman. So with this knowledge, a woman will begin to be worried if she will ever get married. This was a case that Naomi was in. A thirty-one-year-old lady who has spent all her years as a radio broadcaster in the state capital. She has been a successful AOP that everyone in the city knows about her exploits in her field. She has won several awards as the best on-air personnel at all levels of the federation. As beautiful as she was, she had never been lucky in a relationship. In most of her relationships, she will end up spending her resources on a man, but in the end, they will leave her stranded. Her last relationship with her colleague was so glorious that everyone thought that they would end up together. She sponsored the man through school, when an opportunity to travel abroad arose, he left her behind, and got engaged to another woman.
“I don’t think this is normal” she told her friend
“I am really sorry for what happened to you. Life can be so cruel to good people; it doesn’t mean that something is wrong with you”, she comforted her.
In most African societies, it is believed that when things are not working as it supposed to, something must be wrong somewhere, it's either that the family is under a cursed or there is a family covenant working against such a person therefore in that case, one must look for a powerful prophet to break such covenant or curses.
“Don’t you think that this problem is from my family”? She asked further this time around almost crying
“Naomi, do not cry, no family covenant or curses are working against you, at the right time, the right man will show up and you will be married”
When is the right time, when I am already getting old"
“Getting old?”
“Yes na, I am thirty-one years getting to thirty,” she interrupted her friend “, which man would ever marry a thirty-two-year-old woman"? She asked
“Calm down, you’re not old, people’s life calendars are just different”, Akon comforted her. It seems Naomi could not be comforted after all the effort she put into talking to her, in the end, she decided to visit her mom in the village.
Some months later, her worries began to dwindle after her mom had consoled her. At this point, she had taken her mind off marriage; she believed that a woman can be successful even without a husband. It was not easy but she had to live with the reality of such a life.
Having a romantic affair in the office is a taboo in most organisations, which is why, as one of the rules and regulations of Joy FM, staff are prohibited from such and if caught, they automatically lose their job.
This is Naomi, suddenly finding herself in a relationship with Michael, a new employee employed to the marketing department. Their love grew so wild that she forgot her past heartbreaks. Michael happened to be the man of her dreams. Godly, dark in complexion, average height, calm and sociable. On the other hand, Michael seems to love Naomi more than she did. He just came out of a heartbreak. A girl she wanted to marry ended up in the arms of another man. He was heartbroken for weeks, and meeting Naomi fast-tracked his recovery.
Love that cannot be explained is the best form of love. This has been the case of Naomi and Michael; neither of them could tell how they fell for each other, but as nature would have it, they could not oppose it either. A man who sees potential in a woman would not waste his time but would plan on getting married to her as fast as possible. Two days ago, Michael had informed the studio manager of his plan of staging a surprise proposal to Naomi, and the manager agreed and everything was well planned.
That fateful day, on a Wednesday morning, the morning sun was already up, focusing its face on the studio as if it already had the premonition of what was about to happen. Naomi was on an afternoon shift and the studio had already been decorated with ribbons and other materials. Boldly written on the wall, “Will you marry me”? It was decorated with reflective ribbons. Wines and other drinks were made available. The entire studio staff is ready for a huge surprise.
At exactly, 11:30 am, everyone knows that Naomi would be in the studio, so she could take up the afternoon studio session. As she opened the entrance door, Michael was stationed by the door with a ring in his hand, and the entire studio went agog. Naomi did not have other options but to say yes. Her joy knew no bounds. They embraced each other and everyone danced to the beautiful tune that was played in the background.