Punch Correspondent, Chima quits singlehood, weds heartthrob in Gombe

Mr Chima Azubuike of the Punch Newspaper, Gombe State, on Saturday bade farewell to singlehood as he wedded his heartthrob, Laraba Johnson, former Miss Laraba Johnson who during the wedding signed off her maiden name to become Mrs Chimaobi Nathaniel Azubuike.

The groom and his heartthrob, Mrs Chimaobi Nathaniel Azubuike, exchanged vows and rings at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Mercy Land Parish, Tumfure, a suburb of Gombe metropolis, the state’s capital.
In attendance at the colourful wedding ceremony were family members, friends, colleagues and government officials, officials from various security agencies and the crème de la crème of journalists in the state.

Speaking to journalists at the glamorous wedding reception, the couple shared their excitements while recounting how they met and fell in love.

Mr Chimaobi said he was excited about the wedding and thankful to “God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” for finding a woman like Laraba.
“I feel like God has favoured me for giving me Laraba, I am pleased, and I had to show it through my dance steps and unusual happiness.”

On why he, an Igbo man married a Northerner, Chimaobi said: “I know that we need to see ourselves as one under God, whether Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Efik and Ibibio; wherever you are from, so far you believe in the supremacy of God Almighty, we are actually one.

He said for him, marriage is not about tribe, culture but someone that he loves and could cope with his stress and tolerate him.

He said he got attracted to his wife having passed so many of his tests and portraying a personality of not what she could get from him but what she could bring to the table.

“For me, amongst friends, dates I saw in Gombe, she stood out; showed me that she could be a mother, sister and aunt and whatever good that a woman represents in life,” he said.
For Mrs Chimaobi, excitement and joy were the least of words to capture the content of her heart for marrying her husband.

Narrating how she met her love, she said: “I met him at work actually, I was asked to look for a journalist that would cover an event so I placed a call on him.
“It was actually at Orji, so he was able to make it, so from there, that’s it.”
She wished her new home peace and God’s leading.

In his speech, chairman of the occasion, Prof. Abubakar Joshua Difa who is the Deputy Provost, College of Medical Sciences, Gombe State University underscored the importance of communication and understanding in their home.
Difa wished the new couple bliss in their martial journey.

On his part, Mr Ismaila Uba-Misilli, the Director-General, Press Affairs, Gombe Government House commended the Punch Correspondent in Gombe for ignoring tribal and regional sentiments to pick a woman from the state as a wife in spite not sharing same tribe, state and culture.

Uba-Misilli said such was the kind of relationship that Nigerians needed to emulate towards strengthening the country ‘s peace and ensuring a strong bond of unity and mutual support among the citizens for shared prosperity of the country.