"People are fake because they have audience. It is wiser to be original because your audience will form an opinion of you"

Our story together begins with Cavil Inwang, a mutual friend. He had moved to America and was soon wedded to his lovely wife, Itoro. To Cavil, Mfon was his American cousin to whom he went for advice and Uduak was his friend in Nigeria from whom he frequently got life counsel. So, when Mfon was visiting Nigeria in 2019, Cavil requested Uduak to please meet up and help her be comfortable in the country.

"I checked her photos out on IG and I thought she was beautiful, appeared civil, free-spirited, and smart", Uduak says. But he was busy at that time, and Mfon, being her ever-social self, was equally busy. They never met, but Uduak followed some of Mfon's activity in Nigeria during the visit and kept an image of her in his head.

Fast forward to 2022. Uduak gets to consult for the first family at AKISAN, Itoro and Edidiong Akpani-Iquot. In the course of their online meetings with Edidiong, the topic of his bachelorhood came up a few times on a lighter note. On one such occasion, Edidiong had a suggestion.

"What kind of women do you like?" she asked, to which Uduak detailed; "First of all, I am a very Christian man and devout too. I don't let myself be attracted to a woman who does not have similar spirituality".

Edidiong was like; "Oh, I have someone for you. She is an amazing lady, very disciplined, and from a very good family." This alone sounded interesting to Uduak, and they both talked about other qualities and then "what's her name"?

Mfon.

"What's her last name?"

Etukeren!

Uduak went on Facebook and typed the name into the Search and, oops! It's the same girl Cavil introduced nearly 3 years earlier.

Edidiong wasted no time in asking; "Do you like her, can I call her and link you both up?" The answer was a straight 'yes'. A 3-way Whatsapp call followed and then Edidiong signed out.

Mfon says of the encounter; "It was my first ever time meeting or knowing even hearing about Uduak. I first observed his broad smile and warmth while we spoke. Personally, I felt thankful to Edidiong for having me in her thoughts and for recommending this guy."

"Though I liked him, at that point, I wasn't really going to jump on the opportunity as it's just not the right thing to do".

After weeks of texting, replying, skipping, hard-to-get and back-and-forth, they finally came round to speaking over a call.

"We easily became gist partners (Nigerian slang) who shared same values, same faith, similar interests, similar levels of maturity and it was the easiest friendship I've ever found with a female", Uduak says.

According to Mfon, "I found that he was really chatty and vulnerable. This brought me close to him and soon we were speaking every day."

"Uduak didn't waste time in letting me know of his intention to marry me. He wasn't going to beat about the bush. According to him, he had found his wife and that was me", Mfon said.

Although not yet fallen for his decision to marry her so soon after they met, Mfon was impressed. Eventually, Mfon visited Nigeria and the love affair only got steamier. Uduak got to speak with and meet Mfon's family and his family got to meet her too.

Mfon and Uduak consider each other best friends. They both believe they were meant to be, not only given the double recommendation they got for each other through a period of nearly 3 years, but even more because of the quality of friendship they both enjoy with each other.

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