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By: Naheemat Oyekanmi.
In an exclusive interview done with Vanguard we follow Daniel and Blessing on their 17 years long journey.
Daniel: We did meet in JSS2 when I was in JSS2 and she was in JSS1 and we were both new students of the same school, Patricia Private School in uh Benin City. I wanted to get a pen some 16 years ago, I can’t remember 16 or 17 years ago I think it was in 2007 if I’m not mistaken. I wanted to get a pen that I had seen the Proprietor of the school using the previous week. When I went to the office, I saw her there, she was holding a receipt and I peeped and saw the receipt Blessing Akpan and I was like “who is this one that’s having the same surname as me?” I just quietly got my pen and I left because I was super shy then I was super shy then. I didn’t introduce myself nothing and I over time, I guess her classmates got to know that I was also Daniel Akpan too and they were throwing it out there like “Do you have a brother in this school? something like that “Do you have a relative in this school? She was like no no no it’s just me and my cousins because she had cousins were in the school with us then, pretty much younger cousins. We finally got to talk it was a second term second term we were writing exams then so the school had a policy of mixing students up so from JSS1, JSS2, 3 all the way to senior classes. They mix everybody up alphabetically putting them in classes running from JSS1A all the way to SS3B and.
Blessing: When we found ourselves in the same Exam Center, I didn’t know he was the Daniel they have bn talking about because then, when my teachers would ask me “Do you have a brother in this school?” Sometimes, I say yes, sometimes I’ll say no because I didn’t even know the person they were talking about. When we wrote the first paper and we left, my classmates were like “You’re sitting with your brother you’re sitting with your brother, yours is good, he is going to teach you everything. I’m like “Who is this brother you guys are talking about?” . The second paper, I was very particular about his name so I wanted to see if he is the person that they are talking about. When he started writing his name, I saw Daniel Akpan and I asked, “Are you the Daniel they have been talking about?” He said yes so it was obvious he knew I was Blessing Akpan and did not tell me. I was surprised and said “I am Blessing Akpan”. That was the time we started talking and I could then ask him next questions It’s not that we started dating or anything, Jesus! It was later o I think I was in SS3 we started dating abi?
Daniel: SS2
Blessing: SS2, At that point(JSS1), I felt “this is my brother” because people were actually calling my brother but there was no connection at that time nothing. We were actually very young so when people say okay you have a brother in this class, I said yes.
Daniel: I was 13 she was 12, there was nothing there. We actually started dating, when I mean dating like it was a..
Blessing: Friendship.
Daniel: Would you be my girlfriend? if I see her, I would say “Hey” and I would spend extra time talking to her, that kind of thing. We would also talk on Extra Cool then at night and it ended there, there was no nothing out of the ordinary there. It started when I was in SS3 and that was it. I got into uni straight from school, University of Benin. I think it was in my um Year One something happened that I can’t even remember today and we just stopped we just stopped doing that. She finished school and went to Port Harcourt while I was still in Benin so, it just stopped.
Blessing: It was like communication stopped.
Daniel: Yes, still we were still talking once in a while.
Blessing: I think he finished his first degree before I even gained admission. I think I was in my year two or three then when something brought him to Uyo because he was still in Benin City while I had gotten admission in Uyo, Akwa Ibom. He was coming to Uyo and he saw one of my classmates then in Benin at the park. He was coming he saw her that was when he remembered that this was my classmate in secondary school and she also gained admission in University of Uyo, she was still in school. He was like okay, this person should know Blessing’s where abouts. He remembered that we were in the same class and he decided to put a call across . Something just took me to Uyo because we were on vacation and he said yeah he was around and said I’m like really?! I shouted because it’s really a long time. Before that period we hadn’t spoken for years we started talking from there constantly. It was on the 22nd of September.
Daniel: 22nd or 23rd.
Blessing: He sent me a long message, it’s really painful I lost that message, a really long message that we should come back together and this time around, he is not coming to play with me at all. I said “No problem, let us continue.”
Daniel: I knew I wasn’t coming to mess up, mess with her or something because I’m actually a very busy person not having that time so to say because I’m always in my shop if I’m not in my shop I’m at home so where do I have the time to now be gallivanting around looking for girls.
Blessing: The truth is when he actually came the first time I thought he was one of those guys yeah, one of those guys that will come and talk and go. but then I waned to because, Daniel is a very committed person.
Daniel: For me it was just, this is somebody that I had known for a very long time a, that we’ve been together for a long period of time. It is best to let her know my intentions and it was to be serious with her. I’m talking about the 2018 period to be serious with her in a romantic relationship so to say Although it was a long distance relationship but I was committed we were committed to make it work.
Blessing: He was very consistent you know, for these five years, there’s no day, as in 24 hours, that we have not spoken.
Daniel: I think the only time we haven’t spoken is when she uh when we are together or when she goes to her village where there’s no network both laughs. On a serious note we we actually talk literally every day.
Blessing: Yes, we talk every day, he calls everyday.
Daniel: She calls everyday too.
Blessing: Yeah, everything he said, when he sent me that message, he kept all his promises. He is a really committed person I must say.
Daniel: So, over time it morphed from being in a committed relationship to planning for something serious.
Blessing: if I was seen any any loopholes, if he was not meeting any of the criteria I wouldn’t have minded that we have been dating for years. I wouldn’t have waited at all. And while we were dating there was not there was no point in time that I I have ever reminded him that it’s time for us to get married, I waited until he was ready.
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