Marriage Avowals - Kelechi Amadi-Obi and His Wife, Julia Amadi-Obi

Kelechi Amadi Obi and his wife Julia have been married for over ten years, and they have four children. Kelechi Amadi-Obi was trained as a painter, and is now focused on artistic fashion photography and also the publisher of Mania magazine. Julia is an interior decorator. The couple granted this interview recently where they talked about how they met, their marriage and what has kept them this far...


How did you meet?

Julia: We met at a group exhibition organised by Chevron. He was one of the exhibiting artists and I was there to enjoy the show and artworks.

What was the attraction?

Julia: His mastery of the human form and his passion for the arts. Also his ideals; we have so much in common.

Kelechi: Without doubt, it was her beauty and the fact that we shared the same passion for the arts. She could relate with me as an artist and she understood quite well the strength of my works.

What has sustained the marriage?

Kelechi: I want to believe that understanding is the key to sustaining any marriage for any length of time that you desire. It is a selfless venture. Understanding is a partnership and it helps to always keep the communication lines open.

Julia: The gift of being viewed as a partner and the ability to talk through any problems or challenges as mature adults and parents have helped me as a woman to keep my home. We try not to involve a third party if and when we have issues. It is just the two of us in the marriage. No one signed the marriage contracts with us; no one took the marriage vows with us so the onus is on us to stick together as one to make the union work.

Are there challenges? And if yes, how did you overcome them?

Julia: I can’t quite think of any challenge that we were faced with that was so grave. However, when issues come up that have the tendency to put a strain in our relationship, we simply sit down together and talk things over; to map out strategies. We also make plans on how to overcome them. This is where the importance of communication in marriage cannot be over emphasised.

Have you at any point regretted being married?

Julia: No. It has never cropped up.

So, how do you keep the love flame aglow?

Julia and Kelechi: Very simply, we engage in loads and loads of communication.

Is there time for leisure?

Julia and Kelechi: We either do a romantic getaway or we go to the cinemas to watch some movies.



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Interview excerpt from Punch