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When We Got Married, No Family Member Came For Our Wedding – Nigerian-American Couple

Published

12 months ago

October 22, 2024

Blessing, a Nigerian, and Jake, an American, opened up about their extraordinary journey to matrimony, defying cultural expectations and family resistance.

In an interview on Femi Lazarus’s YouTube program, Stories, on Sunday, the couple shared how they got married in Nigeria without any family members present, navigating obstacles with unwavering faith.

Blessing’s childhood was fraught with trauma, living under the strict and harsh care of her stepmother.

She described her upbringing as a time of fear and suppression.

“I grew up in a very strict environment,” she said.

“My dad does not smile; he does not say, ‘How are you?’ If he’s coming back from work, we would pretend to be asleep because your presence alone would get you in trouble.”

Blessing recounted a particularly traumatic incident at age five when her stepmother beat her severely, causing her to lose consciousness for three days.

“She beat me and hit my head against the wall… when I woke up, I was in the hospital on oxygen,” she recalled.

The experience left permanent marks on her forehead, serving as a constant reminder of her difficult past.

Jake, who was a missionary at the time, met Blessing through a Christian discipleship program.

Despite never having been attracted to Black women before, he felt a strong, immediate conviction.

“The first time I saw my wife on Instagram, I knew it was my wife,” he said, adding that he had never messaged a woman online before.

Their relationship developed over five months of long-distance communication, primarily through phone calls and video chats, during which they discussed their faith and life experiences.

The couple faced significant opposition from Blessing’s family when they announced their wedding plans.

Her relatives expressed doubts and fears about Jake’s intentions, with some even spreading rumours.

“My mom started telling people that I was marrying an organ harvester, that he was coming to Nigeria to harvest my organs,” Blessing disclosed.

She recalled her brother’s warnings not to let Jake visit Nigeria, fearing that he would be kidnapped.

“There was just so much opposition from different sides, and I felt like I was under an attack,” she said.

The situation escalated to the point where Blessing’s health was affected, as she found herself falling sick frequently.

Jake was also confronted with the challenge of adhering to traditional Nigerian customs, which eventually led them to decide against a traditional ceremony.

“The Lord was saying we should not do the traditional wedding,” Blessing explained, noting that Jake was hesitant to proceed with practices he didn’t feel led by God to follow.

In the end, they opted for a small church wedding attended by fewer than 20 guests, foregoing a reception.

“We planned our wedding without seeing… after two weeks when he came to Nigeria, we got married.”

She explained further, “We just did court and church joining. The Lord was saying we should not do the traditional wedding.”

“I knew this was confirmation from God,” she said, recalling how the decision aligned with a divine message she had received about keeping things simple.

Jake paid the bride price to Blessing’s mother rather than her estranged father, whom Blessing had not spoken to in over a decade.

“I wasn’t going to pay bride price to a father that hasn’t taken care of his daughter for 13 years,” Jake explained.

The couple converted the traditional monetary exchange into a gift, following the advice of their marriage counsellor.

Despite the challenges, both Blessing and Jake believe their union is part of a greater purpose.

Reflecting on their journey, Blessing said, “God told me that He was going to connect two countries through me. This marriage is not just about us; it is a purpose.”

Jake shared similar sentiments, recounting how he had experienced divine visions and confirmation about their relationship.

“The Lord asked me, ‘Can I trust you with my daughter?’ It was the most fearsome experience of my life,” he recalled.

For Blessing, the journey has been one of healing.

“Growing up, I always felt like nobody loved me, like I was a problem,” she admitted. “But the love of God, coupled with my husband’s love, has really been great for me.”

As the couple continues their new life together in Abuja, they remain confident in their calling and the divine purpose that brought them together.

Headline

China, US Agree To Resume Trade Talks

Published

20 hours ago

October 18, 2025

Editor

China and the United States agreed on Saturday to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world’s two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle.

Beijing last week announced sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100 percent tariffs on imports from China in retaliation.

Trump had also threatened to cancel his expected meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges” during a Saturday morning call, and that both sides agreed to hold a new round of trade talks “as soon as possible”.

On social media, Bessent described the call as “frank and detailed”, and said they would meet “in-person next week to continue our discussions”.

Bessent had previously accused China of seeking to harm the rest of the world by tightening restrictions on rare earths, which are critical to everything from smartphones to guided missiles.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also participated in the call, according to the report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Hours before the call, Fox News released excerpts of an interview with Trump in which he said he would meet Xi at the APEC summit after all.

Trump told the outlet that the 100 percent tariff on goods from China was not sustainable.

“It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is… They forced me to do that,” he said.

The high-level video call came as Washington worked to rally Group of Seven finance ministers in response to the latest Chinese export controls.

For now, the G7 ministers have agreed to coordinate a short-term response and diversify suppliers, the EU’s economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in Washington.

Speaking after the grouping met this week, Dombrovskis noted the vast majority of rare earth supplies come from China, meaning that diversification could take years.

“We agreed, both bilaterally with the US and at the G7 level, to coordinate our approach,” he said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s fall meetings.

Countries would also exchange information on their contacts with Chinese counterparts as they work out short-term solutions, he added.

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists he hopes that Trump and Xi’s meeting can help to resolve much of the US-China trade conflict.

“We have made it clear within the G7 that we do not agree with China’s approach,” he added, referring to the group of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva also expressed hope Friday for an agreement between the countries to cool tensions.

The US-China trade war reignited this year as Trump promised sweeping tariffs on imports soon after returning to office.

At one point, US-China tariffs escalated to triple-digit levels, effectively halting some trade as businesses waited for a resolution.

The two countries have since lowered their respective levies, but their truce has remained shaky.

AFP

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Morocco Jails Student One Year Over Gen Z Protest

Published

2 days ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A student arrested during Morocco’s youth-led protests has been sentenced to one year in prison, his lawyer told AFP on Friday.

The case marks the first publicly known prison sentence linked to the kingdom’s Gen Z demonstrations, which have been held near-daily between late September and last week to demand social and political reforms.

The student was charged with “participating in an unauthorised and unarmed gathering” and “insulting the judicial police by providing false information”, lawyer Mohamed Nouini said.

“The ruling is unfair, and we will appeal,” he added, arguing that sit-ins did not require authorisation as per a Supreme Court precedent.

The lawyer said his client was arrested on September 30, three days after the protests erupted in the North African country.

According to a report by news website Hespress, citing another lawyer, the student’s arrest was “an unfortunate coincidence” as he was in Casablanca for a family visit.

The other lawyer, Mohamed Lakhdar, told the judge the student had “not insulted” police nor provided false information, telling them he “was just a student”, according to the report.

Hundreds were arrested during the early days of the largely peaceful demonstrations.

Some cities had seen spates of violence and acts of vandalism, while authorities have said three people were killed by police acting in “self-defence” during clashes in a village near Agadir.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has said roughly 550 people are facing prosecution on suspicion of joining the protests, with some still in detention.

The organisers of the online-based movement behind the nationwide protests, the GenZ 212 youth collective, remain unknown.

The collective has called for “peaceful sit-ins” on Saturday and demanded the release of those arrested during the demonstrations.

The protest came after the deaths of eight pregnant women during Caesarean sections at a hospital in Agadir.

But protesters have also demanded reforms to the education system and a change of government.
AFP

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Trump Refiles $15bn Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times

Published

2 days ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, court documents show, weeks after it was thrown out by a federal judge.

Trump has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, and the suit is one of numerous attacks against news organizations he accuses of bias against him.

The Times’ complaint was thrown out in September because District Judge Steven Merryday took exception to its florid writing, repetitive and laudatory praise of Trump, and its excessive 85-page length.

The suit filed Thursday in Florida and seen by AFP runs to less than half the length, at 40 pages.

It takes aim at “false, defamatory, and malicious publications”, highlighting a book and two Times articles.

The lawsuit named the newspaper, three Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.

It accuses them of making defamatory statements against Trump “with actual malice.”

“The statements in question wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, which he painstakingly built for decades” before entering the White House, the lawsuit says.

The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than $15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial.”

Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.

In July, Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion after it reported on the existence of a book and a letter he allegedly sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes” for $16 million the same month. He had alleged that the program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.

AFP