Former First Bank Nigeria chairperson, Ibukun Awosika, has recounted how she and her husband, Abiodun, successfully navigated the first 13 years of their marriage despite earning significantly different incomes.
Speaking during a sermon at Celebration Church, Awosika revealed that for over a decade, she earned more than her husband while he diligently pursued his career in the public sector. Rather than letting the financial disparity create tension, the couple treated it as a foundation for teamwork and mutual growth.
Awosika explained that she was building her manufacturing business, which saw fluctuating success, while her husband worked as a petroleum engineer with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). She praised his character, describing him as “the most responsible and diligent man” she knows, whose prudence and organisation helped sustain their household.
“The other thing I can say to the girls is this: when I say make the money of no consequence in your home, I am speaking from personal experience,” she said.
“When we got married, I was a businesswoman running a manufacturing company and getting contracts. Some days, they were small contracts; other days, I could get a big break and make a lot of money. Based on who I was, I had that possibility.
“My husband was a professional petroleum engineer working in the oil and gas sector in the public sector, he was at NNPC. One thing about him is that he is the most responsible and diligent man I know.
“We would never go broke in my family, it is because he is the most prudent and organised human being. That is just the truth. Me, I’m a risk taker, but he is an organised and structured human being, so we would never go hungry because he would make sure of that.”
Awosika revealed that for 13 years, she supported her husband’s career ambitions while he held onto a personal promise from the Bible (Amos 9:13), trusting that his diligence would eventually be rewarded.
“For 13 years, we lived our lives — I kept building my business successfully, and he kept building his career. In our church, we pick promises from Scripture, and for a long time, my husband kept holding onto the promise of Amos 9:13. I did not pay much attention to it, but in my spirit, I always believed he would be rewarded for the support of everything I did,” she said.
She recounted how Abiodun’s career breakthrough came after applying for smaller oil fields allocated to Nigerians by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
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“Thirteen years later, when President Obasanjo decided to allocate smaller oil fields to Nigerians and asked people to apply, my husband and a few of his friends applied.
“A smart petroleum engineer married to a business-minded wife means two minds working together. He is sharp and fantastic at his job. In the end, he got his oil field. From that day till now, things changed.”
Awosika urged women not to let finances become a source of conflict in marriage, describing money as a tool for growth and unity between partners.
“Let me now tell you the real lesson. Whatever way I behaved in the thirteen years before, I was about to reap my reward, and I have reaped them big,” she said.
“So when I say do not make money an issue in your home, I mean it. Money is a tool. Use it to achieve things together, whether it comes from the man or the woman. One plus one is one. It is not mathematics.
“You haven’t found a team until you find a team of a husband and a wife who understand who they are in Christ and work together as one. They will rule the world and do greater and mightier things.”
Ibukun and Abiodun married in 1990 and are blessed with three children.