Funke Akindele's best Friend, Ariyike Akinbobola Talks 'hubby' in New Interview

           Funke Akindele's best friend, Ariyike Akinbobola, a lawyer, is a presenter and producer with Spice TV. She is always as busy as a bee.
               She recently talked about her hubby and how she has managed to save her marriage from crumbling (if only Funke had taken a cue from her friend, she'll probably not be divorced today).
See excerpts below:


 
How has your husband being coping, given that you are always in the limelight?
I have not had any challenge with my husband concerning the kind of job I do because I am very good at separating business from pleasure. He’s also comfortable with the fact that I don’t get carried away by all the media attention. When I’m on TV, I’m the Ariyike people see on TV and once I get back home, I perform my wifely and motherly duties.

I know there are certain things I have to do and if they are not done, and are done by somebody else, it’s going to cause a problem in my home. If I have to cover an event and get home late, I call my husband. I don’t wait for him to call and I start explaining the situation to him. For every event I am attending, he is aware. Sometimes, he goes with me, if it is an event he is interested in. Though he doesn’t work in the entertainment industry, he understands the nature of my job. I’ve discussed my dreams with him and he knows that being in the spotlight comes with the job. He knows my work schedule and he even helps me to strategise.

Also, he knows I like to protect him and our children because I’m a very private person and he likes the fact that I don’t open the doors of our home to just anybody. Communication is very important in marriage, so I fill him in, in everything I do. My husband is a nice man. Even if he doesn’t believe in your dreams, he will support you and wouldn’t want to kill it.

It’s believed that when you start having kids, the spark in the marriage dies. How do you keep yours aglow?
(Laughs) Trust me; it is not only kids that kill the fire. There are some that have not started having kids yet the fire has died. With marriage, kids or no kids, you should marry your friend; somebody you can laugh with, somebody whom you know that, through thick and thin or through your fight, you can still communicate.

As I said earlier, communication is the key because the way you were before you got married is different after marriage. The chasing period is the sweetest. You should still put yourself in the position, where you can still be chased. But most time, it is not the same. How do I do it? I try to re-in invent myself; I am still on top of my game. But for me, after two kids, I have still got swag; I try to look nice, smell nice and be yourself. Also, cook for him because food is very important.

When you are not working, how do you spend your time?
When I am not working, my mind is working. We always love to spend the weekend together. My husband, my kids and I hang out at the Ikoyi Club. We just enjoy ourselves; we swim, play and gist.  I realize that even when I am having fun, I am working. You see, my phone is like my office. Because I write, I am a very creative person. So, it could be in the middle of my food that I get an inspiration about something. In the past, the words would be coming, but I would just say that I would write when I was ready. But I just found out that when I got home, I won’t remember a thing. So, now, as the inspiration comes and the words start pouring in, I just take my phone and type. I just realize that sometimes within three minutes, I would have typed about 600 words.