Ezinne Felicia Chinwe Igboeli, an accomplished educationist and marriage counsellor, was recently honoured with Ambassador of Christ Award by St Peter’s Anglican Church, Abagana, Anambra State. In this interview with CHIKE, she spoke about the award and secrets of good marriage.

Madam, please kindly state your name and background.
I am Ezinne Felicia Chinwe Igboeli from Abagana in Anambra State. I am a retired teacher, with specialisation in Guidance and Counselling. I have a Bachelor of Education Degree from University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). My parents were Late Catechist Jonathan Nwobi-Okoye and Ma Grace Nwobi-Okoye (née Azie of Eziowelle). I was married to Late Samuel Igboeli of Orofia Village, Abagana.

How will you describe your husband?
My husband, Late Mr Samuel Nweke Chukwuekezie Igboeli was a handsome and godly husband. His late father, Catechist James Igboeli, was one of the first eight converts in Abagana.
Late Pa James and his wife, late Margaret Igboeli were missionaries in the Anglican Communion.
My husband’s missionary background explains why he was a disciplined man, a loving husband and a compassionate father.
My husband, an accomplished civil servant, retired as a conservationist and Chief Forest Officer in charge of Abakiliki, Ebonyi State capital.

How was your marriage?
Our marriage was awesome and blessed. We wedded in Ibadan in 1965, while my husband was at Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan (FEDCOFOR), a subsidiary of Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN).Our marriage was blessed with seven children, fifteen grand-children, and one great grand-son. We enjoyed a humble and happy home. We trained our children and wards in the way of the Lord. By God’s mercies our children and their spouses are trained professionals in such fields as Law, Pharmacy, Engineering, Mass Communication, Academia, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.

What is the secret of your long and successful marriage?
The secret of my marriage is the love of God and adherence to the Bible. We put God first in our decisions and family life.The Bible and its principles helped us to navigate through the challenges of life. These Christian tenets and faith in God helped us to enjoy our marriage and build a happy home. I also taught these godly principles to all our children, grand-children, great grand-children and dependents. I enjoyed teaching them biblical quotations, to enable them to face life with courage and confidence in God’s providence.
Proverbs 22:6 says: ‘Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ Ephesians 6:4 says: ‘And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.’

You recently received a prestigious Ambassador of Christ Award from St Peter’s Anglican Church Abagana, Anamabra State. How will the award impact your service in the church and community?
The award is very significant to me and my family because it is a recognition of my long service in the women’s ministry, as well as the church in general. I served for several years in the Women’s Executive Committee. The honour will motivate me to continue to serve in God’s vineyard in various ministries according to God’s grace and provisions to me and my family. I will personally love to continue to donate financially to evangelical and welfare projects in St. Peter's Church, Abagana, as part of my contributions to church growth and development.This award will also make people to be committed and hard working especially in church programmes.To God be the Glory!

What is your advice to young couples?
Love is the secret of a good marriage. Young couples should love themselves in all circumstances. Wives should be submissive to their own husband's. Ephesians 5:22-23, 25 says it explicitly: ‘Wives submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church and he is the saviour of the body.

https://adezeoj..com/2019/08/madam-please-kindly-state-your-name-and.html?m=1

That's not true.

tobianthony:
That's not true.

OK you have my attention now, what's your truth?

That maybe her Truth . I can respect that. But that is not true across the board and certainly isn't true in the world of today.

Do I believe in love yes . Do I believe in marriage no ( for me and my self only not speaking in general )

However , if you must get married . Know this . What will give you a higher sense of success in a marriage is knowing and achieving your psychological roles as a man or woman in a marriage . If you don't know why you function the way you do and if you are functioning in the right way in today's social market place . You will have problems .

Especially men who seem to want to close a blind eye to the reality of inter gender relationships and get married because they have been programmed to do so for the past twenty years of their lives .

Love is a beautiful thing . But not the most important thing when it comes to good LTR or marriage ( the latter I'm significantly against save for certain exceptions ).

That's your opinion, this interview was carried out to reassure young folks out there that love and marriage can still work out in their generation in spite of the uninspiring events that affect marriages today.
Also, to show marriage pessimists like you the light.