– Helicopter chartered to fly in bride
– Over 100 guests air-lifted from Nigeria
– Major hotels fully booked
+Exclusive interviews with couple, parents and never-seen-before pictures
Indeed, it is good to be wealthy! However, if you still belong to the club of those who dispute that fact, then you may have to come with YES International! to Kenya where Apostle Anselm Madubuko, the General Overseer of The Revival Assembly Church (in Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos) put his into good use. The servant of the Most High’s mission in the East African country was to take a new wife (Emmy Kosgei) and for almost one week, the good people of Kenya knew that a man of means had come into town. No cost was spared. No short cut was taken. Everything was done in a grand style.
One of the best event planners in that country, Damaris Too of Chu PR and Events, was contracted to oversee the two special days – traditional marriage (on Thursday, August 29) and the white wedding (on Saturday, August 31). Of course, her services didn’t come cheap, and so millions of Shillings (their currency) exchanged hands.
Kenyan and Ethiopian Airlines pocketed millions for the to and fro movement of the guests. In fact, the bulk of the guests flew Business Class, not minding the cost. On arrival in Kenya, some of the most exotic automobiles you can think of – from Range Rover to the latest Mercedes Benz cars and even luxury buses for sight seeing and tours – were at the beck and call of the over 100 guests that also came from Nigeria. Again, that consumed millions.
Nearly all the biggest hotels in Kenya – from Safari Park to Hennessis, Massai Lodge to Merica – were fully occupied. Not just occupied, but the guests also had enough to eat and to drink and be merry. The drinks, expectedly, were non-alcoholic. And that too gulped millions. All the guests, particularly members of the Madubuko and Kosgei families, turned out in new apparels, which didn’t come cheap. The groom and his wife shopped abroad for the clothes they wore and some of what they adorned that day were procured from top designers like Ermenegildo Zegna and Gucci. Don’t also forget those worn by nearly everybody; most especially those on the wedding train.
Two of the most beautiful event gardens in that country were used – Safari Park Hotel and Windsor Hotel. These two places are not meant for paupers. Not only that, the two venues were magically transformed with spell-binding decorations. Even the marquee used looked heavenly upon sauntering in. Foods and drinks, for the two events, were more than enough; the best comperes in that country were contracted to rock the microphones and some of the biggest music stars and their bands engaged to thrill the crowd.
The leader by more than a kilometer, however, was the bride’s colourful arrival in a helicopter for the wedding reception. Oh! The whole of Kenya literally came to a halt when the helicopter landed in one of the lush fields inside Windsor Hotel. It brought her and her parents all the way from Kelelwa, which cost guests about six hours to make by road for the traditional marriage, days earlier, from Nairobi, the capital of the country. Chartering a helicopter doesn’t come cheap in Nigeria. It also doesn’t come cheap in Kenya.
There were also other little things that swallowed millions of Shillings. For example, the Aso oke materials distributed free of charge to all those present, the souvenirs, the shopping done for many, the dazzling wedding invitation cards and even their honeymoon in Seychelles, where the duo had immense fun before rushing back to Nigeria on Friday, September 13, 2013, for their special thanksgiving service in the church (Revival Assembly), followed by a one-in-town reception at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel & Towers, on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja.
Conservatively, and like one insider squealed to YES International!, “Those two ceremonies couldn’t have cost anything less than N100 million, but of course, you know that the man is a pastor, so a lot of his people would have supported in one way or the other”. Another insider concluded that what unfolded in Kenya on August 29 and 31 was unprecedented in the annals of the country.
“I may not be from Kenya, but I doubt if a superlative wedding of that nature had happened there before. You saw how all eyes kept shifting in their direction that day. It was a sign that activities like that don’t happen always”.
THE GROOM TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW LOVE
How would you describe everything that has happened here today?
It’s beyond words; it’s just beyond words and I’m so excited, I’m so thankful to God for today.
You came all the way to Kenya to take a wife, why did you have to come this far?
Yeah, I prayed to God to give me a wife and God gave me a Kenyan. So, I’m grateful to God for it.
What is so special about Emmy that made you settle for her?
Emmy is just a natural person, she is a humble person, she is a selfless person. That’s what I have seen, and because of what she has done for her community. For a girl her age to have built a school for 47 poor children and not be taking school fees from them and taking care of them, that’s not a joke; that tells you who she is.
What’s your dream for this union?
It’s a new beginning, my brother and I’m looking forward to everything good in my ministry, in my family, in my life. I’ve taken some major, major decisions fully for the Lord and to the glory of God.
What is going to change about you and your ministry now that you have a new wife?
Well, I will just let God be. It’s not what I want, it’s the role that God wants her to play in my family, in my ministry. I will let her do that.
People say you remarried so soon, why so soon?
Well, it’s not so soon, it’s the right time. It’s the right time! (Laughs). It’s the right time…