Omotola has been married to Captain Matthew Ekeinde for 27 years, having been married at the age of 18. Unlike many of her colleagues who could not hold together in a marriage, Omotola’s has become a model from which many entertainers could borrow a leaf from.
She preaches tolerance, submission, understanding, adding that the greatest mistake a woman can do is to claim equality to her man.
“A woman must know her place and submit to her husband. The greatest mistake a woman can make is to want to stand shoulder to shoulder with her man. When you show submission your man will respect and adore you gor it, she echoes.
Omotola also gave a picture of the understanding that exists between her and her husband, which to many African couples and parents would have seemed inappropriate.
“I always tell people that women are stronger than men, psychologically. Let me tell you something more, my husband is actually the one who goes to the market. I don’t go to the market because I can’t. Because of my status, I can’t. But my husband didn’t say you know traditionally, a man is not supposed to go to the market, I’m not gonna go, no. My husband actually goes to the market, she has revealed much to the disbelief and outrage of so many.
“Earlier in my career, I used to go with him but I’d stay in the car, because our cars are tinted, so I’d stay in the car. But then, one time we went to Tejuosho and someone found out I was in the car. It became a major security risk, so he said don’t ever go with me again. He goes and he has fun and he comes back home, and I do the cooking, so you see we strengthen each other,” she had added.
Omotola had also confessed that not many men would have been able to stand her personality, adding she probably wouldn’t have married if she had not been so lucky to have had somebody like Captain Ekeinde.
She said, “I don’t think there is a man that can handle me apart from my husband. Not because I am a bad person, it is because I have a very strong personality. I can understand why a lot of female artists find it very difficult to find the right person. When you achieve some kind of success, you become really confused as to who really loves you for who you are. It’s not really easy, you know, so it is very hard finding those people who really love you. If you are not a very grounded person, you too can contribute in some kind of way to your own problems and so I might have contributed to my own problems.”
Of course, many men have walked the altar with actresses and oftentimes have found out it is not the heaven it promised to be. The time spent away from home on locations is just too much for some spouses to bear. And so is the limelight that comes with all forms of temptations and vices of life. When Omotola was asked if her husband had ever complained about her career, it was another revelation moulded in love and understanding.
“No. Never. When I met him I was already an actress. I wasn’t a big star then, if anything, he was the one even encouraging me. To be honest with you, he’s my biggest movie fan. I don’t even watch most of my own movies, he’s the one who buys and watches them. There’s no one movie of mine he has not bought or watched. He doesn’t just watch them, he frames the posters. Most of the posters he framed them in wood and they are all over the house. The posters are framed into wood,” she said.