Coming out of a dark moment with the demise of her brother, Mr. Wale Aboderin, Chairman of Punch Newspapers, Wunmi and her husband, Tunde have got reasons to smile again.
Popularly called T.W.O, an acronym for Tunde and Wunmi Obe, the couple and bandmates have found three reasons to celebrate – 2018 marks Tunde’s 50th birthday, it is also their 30th year as music partners and 20 years as married couple.
Relating how bad she is missing her brother, Wunmi said at a media briefing for the triple celebration in Lagos, recently: “Musically, I must say that he probably laid the foundation because, when I was young, at about six or seven, he was crazy about music; he was always buying records back then. He was older than me by 11 years, so, when your big brother comes homes with all the records and then calls his little sister and say, ‘oya, come and listen to this song, what’s your opinion?’”
Continuing, she said, “When I turned 12/13 years, he had this acoustic guitar that he used to play; he taught me how to play the bass guitar. Every chance he had, he was always encouraging me musically. He really influenced my music, encouraged and gave me the opportunity to discover myself.”
Announcing the programmes of event, chairman of the planning committee, Gbenga Adebija, disclosed that as part of the celebrations, the couple will be premiering a remix of their hit song, ‘Without your Love’, while a series of other events will culminate in a glamorous dinner, with the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, captains of industry and celebrities, and friends.
Also speaking at the media event, T.W.O’s manager, Don T Anifite noted that the programmes will not fall short of the quality of personalities that have identified with the couple and their music over the years.
Fielding questions from reporters at the event, Tunde said he was grateful to God for attaining 50, an age his late father was not lucky to attain. His father passed at 45 years, while his father in-law passed at 49, he revealed, recalling that he and Wunmi met after they had both lost their fathers.
“In a time in Nigeria where people are not really living long, with so many untimely deaths, turning 50 is a bid deal for me; it means I’ve outlived both our parents. I think for me, it’s a major thing. I’m glad I’m still here,” he said.
On how their relationship started, he said: “The first thing that connected us was the fact that we had recently lost our fathers; our fathers were like the main breadwinners and focal points of our families.
“A lot of people will not understand what that means when you are used to a certain lifestyle, and then you lose a parent and things almost changed immediately; we understood it.
“So, we were able to connect on that level. And from there, we realised that we had lot more in common than music,” he said.
According to the fashionista, the relationship grew from friendship to professionalism, and to mutual feeling.
“We would always find excuses to rehearse on our own vocally, which is professional,” he said. “But half of the time, we were talking about many things; we became friends and things progressed from there. The friendship happened naturally and the music is the talent we share. So, I think for us, it has just been the life we’ve known. If you’ve been with somebody for 30 years, which means I was like 20 when we met, it means I’ve known her much more than half of my life. So, for me, being with her is normal; beyond music, there’s genuine friendship. Our marriage is based on friendship first, before any infatuation, love and all that.”
Asked on the possibility of the couple severing their music relationship, Tunde who boasted of his band being the oldest in Nigeria does not see an end to T.W.O.
“A lot of groups have split; except somebody comes up with a better group, I think T.W.O is the oldest group in Nigeria. I don’t think anybody has stayed together as we have done. People say is because we are married, but if twins could break up, then that’s not really an excuse. Anything musical, which concerns two people, whether it’s marriage, brothers of fiends, it’s a coming together of two totally different ideology and idea in music. The way we deal with it is that we respect each other’s space; we respect each other’s talent. Once we agree on a topic, you do your own and I do my own. It’s a healthy rivalry, a healthy competition, but we are all both striving for excellence.”
Like their band, he is optimistic their celebrity marriage too has come to stay, even though he agreed there is no perfect marriage.
“Like in every relationship, there would be ups and downs, but I want to assure you that Wunmi and I have never put separation or divorce on the table; it’s not something we’ve ever discussed and it’s not something, by the grace of God, we will ever discuss.
“As two adults, we table our differences and find solutions; we’ve never called a second party to settle anything that happens between my wife and me; we sit down and talk until we find solution.
“I think the love we have for each other and the friendship we share, would always conquer any little disagreement that we have.
“So, it’s a milestone and we are very happy. Thirty years is a lot for a musical group; 20 years of marriage is a lot for a couple. So, we are looking forwards to many more successful years,” he said.