Nollywood Actor and Director, Kunle Afod, has been married to his better half, Adesola, a civil servant, for 12 years. In this interview with BUKOLA BAKARE, the couple share their love story
How did you meet?
Kunle: Her brother was one of my students. We met at an eatery in my area around Egbe, Ikotun, Lagos, back then and he told me that he was interested in acting and I asked him to join us. A week later, he brought his sister along because she wanted to say hello. He told me that she was a fan. Although she had a small stature, she was a student of the Lagos State University, Ojo. We met at a time when I was facing a challenge and she rescued me.
Adesola: I am a civil servant and I work with Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture. I met my husband through my immediate elder brother who now resides in the United Kingdom. We started dating in 2001.
What were some of the things that attracted you to each other?
Adesola: For me, it was love at first sight when we met and I vividly recall that my husband did not propose to me. He did not go down on one knee with a ring in his hand, like most men do when they want to propose.
Kunle: I like blunt and straightforward people, as well as those who don’t hide their feelings. I also like people that are intelligent. She exhibited all these qualities the first time that I saw her.
Do you watch your husband’s movies and how do you react to his romantic scenes?
Adesola: I still watched one of his movies a few days ago, but when we are quarrelling, I don’t watch them. I don’t feel somehow when I watch his romantic scenes because I know that he is just carrying out a job and there is nothing to it. However, I criticise him when I watch his movies. Even when he works as a director on a particular project, I criticise him too and he is someone who listens to corrections. Most of the time, when he returns from a location, he shares his experience with me; I appraise what he has done and tell him the areas he could have done better.
Kunle: For a long time, I didn’t accept romantic roles because of my wife. She has been with me for a while and even before we got married, she usually accompanied me to locations, so she knows all that happens there is all make-believe. Some of my colleagues attended the same secondary school with my wife. Your spouse should be able to ask you questions about your job and you must make sure that it doesn’t break your home. She must know the dynamics of your job. If I am a doctor for instance and a patient comes in with lumps on her breasts and my wife visits me while attending to the patient and she meets the same patient two weeks after in my office, she might begin to think otherwise. Nobody wants to marry a man who won’t succeed in his career, so whatever the profession warrants; you just have to do it.