Junior Pope Odonwodo, a Nollywood actor, has been left dumbfounded after his sons surprised him with the unexpected.
The three boys’ father claimed that when he awoke, he saw his children washing one of his vehicles. He was told by his eldest son that they wanted to assist him in saving money for a car wash.
This deed made his day special and brought back fond memories for him.
“Yesterday Morning I woke up to see my boys washing one of my cars; this reminded me of me back in the day. And the oldest Jason said “Daddy we just helped you save 1500 for car wash”. This will be a memorable day for me…. God bless them for me. I am blessed with you boys”.
‘I’ll run mad any day I lay hands on my wife’ – Junior Pope promises
the moment he lifts his hands to strike Jennifer Awele, his wife.
The father of three revealed this in an interview with The Punch when questioned about the difficulties in his marriage and the lessons he had taken away from them.
Junior Pope said: “Back then it seemed like it wasn’t working, it was not easy at all. I have not mentioned it before but to the glory of God, today let me share this. After I got married, the first year was not rosy; I collected my wife’s gold jewellery and used it to borrow money from aboki. So, I give Him the glory for giving me a patient wife. Why would I want to touch a woman like this? God forbid. One thing I told myself and God is that the day I lay my hands on my wife, let me run mad. Instead, I walk away.”
The Enugu State-born actor praised his father for leading an exemplary life when asked how he manages to balance being a celebrity, a loving parent to his children, and a husband to his wife.
“My dad taught me all even though he didn’t spare the rod to spoil me. I grew up with a disciplinarian, so you need to pick from all areas and add up. So, the part I didn’t see in my dad is what I am giving to my children and that is the playful part. This is how I try to balance the equation. As a celebrity, you must know where you are coming from. Once you let this celebrity thing get into your head, then you are heading for a fall. Imagine as big as Mercy Johnson is, and the way she is so humble to her husband, why will their home have a problem?
When the woman does not want to be controlled by the man then the home will not be strong; we are in Africa and the man is in charge of the home but the man should not take advantage and weigh both sides. I grew up with a man that says ‘what I say is what must happen’ with so much force, but I do not use that on my wife. I try to make her see reasons why it would be so. I made her part of the decision-making board,” he said.
A lot of celebrity marriages crash, especially of those who show off their family on social media, Junior Pope shares the secret to his successful union.
“First and foremost, I will give glory to God because, like one of my senior colleagues and directors, Emmanuel Lancelot would say, “if your wife dey behave well na God do am for you, no use am brag or compare another person own.” So, it’s been God, and it also partly has to do with my upbringing. The secret is that I carry my wife along, I share everything, and we do not have anything private. We touch each other’s phones; you know when a man says my wife doesn’t touch my phone and I don’t touch hers, there is no more transparency in the marriage. There should be trust in marriage; as Chinua Achebe said, “As long as the bed keeps shaking the marriage will last forever.” I told my wife that the only thing that can make me opt out is infidelity. Aside from that, every other thing is workable.”
