The First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs. Funsho Amosun, who recently clocked 50, is a staunch Christian married to Governor Ibikunle Amosun, a Muslim and they have been married for 25 years. Recounting how her Christian parents took the news that she was getting married to a Muslim 25 years ago, Mrs. Amosun told VANGUARD that, “The first person I told I wanted to get married to a Muslim was my mother. First, she burst into tears. And then she asked me whether I had told my dad and I said no and I could see that mischievous smile (laughter). But, today, my mother and my husband are like the best of friends and, of course, I get my pound of flesh back sometimes when they are joking and she has forgotten! I will say, ‘Eh! Muslim lo fe fe’ (meaning, you want to marry a Muslim). And she will tell me ‘get away’ (more laughter). You are just lucky! Thank your God. So, that sort of worked itself out. When I told my dad, he said, ‘Ah, okay, well, we just have to pray about this one’.
“But somehow, they hit it off very well. The thing about it is, my husband believes in God. My husband, I will say, is even more religious than me. He truly believes in God, he has faith in God that all things are possible and when you see somebody that is so committed and you see that based on his faith; not challenging God, but telling God that ‘I believe in you’ and you see time and time and time again those things manifesting… it started from me having faith in his faith. I have faith in his faith, God and that just made it so easy, because I could see that God did not fail him and I know that my husband doesn’t believe in anything else, except God.” Was there any deliberate attempt to convert her to Islam? Mrs. Amosun added that,”Not really. But yes! I pray the Muslim way because we are a very close-knit family and, in the beginning, I will tell my children, ‘Oya, time to pray’. ‘But mummy how come you are not praying with us?’ ‘Does that mean daddy’s God is not a good God?’ My children will ask me. And that was when I began to give it a thought. It didn’t take much time before I joined them. The rest, as they say, is history.”
