Ibukun Awosika: How We Sustained our Marriage Despite Earning More than My Husband for 13 Years

Ibukun Awosika, former chairperson of First Bank Nigeria, has recalled how she and her husband Abiodun navigated the first 13 years of their marriage despite a significant disparity in their incomes.

Speaking during a preaching engagement at Celebration Church, Awosika revealed that for over a decade, she was earning more than her husband while he diligently built his career in the public sector.

She said rather than allowing the income gap to create friction, they chose to view it as a foundation for mutual growth and teamwork.

Awosika detailed how she was building her manufacturing business, which fluctuated between small contracts and lucrative deals. She said at the same time, her husband worked as a petroleum engineer with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

She praised his character, describing him as “the most responsible and diligent man” she knows, whose prudence and organisational skills provided a stable anchor for their family.

“The other thing I can say to the girls is this: when I say make the money of no consequence in your home, I am speaking from personal experience,” he said.

“When we got married, I was a businesswoman running a manufacturing company and getting contracts. Some days, they were small contracts; other days, I could get a big break and make a lot of money. Based on who I was, I had that possibility.

“My husband was a professional petroleum engineer working in the oil and gas sector in the public sector, he was at NNPC. One thing about him is that he is the most responsible and diligent man I know.

“We would never go broke in my family, it is because he is the most prudent and organised human being. That is just the truth. Me, I’m a risk taker, but he is an organised and structured human being, so we would never go hungry because he would make sure of that.”

She said for 13 years, she supported her husband’s career ambitions as he held onto a personal promise from the Bible (Amos 9:13), believing his time would come.

“For 13 years, we lived our lives — I kept building my business successfully, and he kept building his career. In our church, we pick promises from Scripture, and for a long time, my husband kept holding onto the promise of Amos 9:13. I did not pay much attention to it, but in my spirit, I always believed he would be rewarded for the support of everything I did,” she added.

“Thirteen years later, when President Obasanjo decided to allocate smaller oil fields to Nigerians and asked people to apply, my husband and a few of his friends applied.

“A smart petroleum engineer married to a business-minded wife means two minds working together. He is sharp and fantastic at his job. In the end, he got his oil field. From that day till now, things changed.”

Awosika urged women not to allow money become a source of conflict in marriage, describing it as a tool couples can use to build and grow together.

“Let me now tell you the real lesson. Whatever way I behaved in the thirteen years before, I was about to reap my reward, and I have reaped them big,” she added.

“So when I say do not make money an issue in your home, I mean it. Money is a tool. Use it to achieve things together, whether it comes from the man or the woman. One plus one is one. It is not mathematics.