They say some things happen for a reason, and even when you cannot fully understand why at first, life has a beautiful way of putting the missing pieces together to create a story that suddenly makes perfect sense.

Layo and Komi’s journey to love did not exactly begin on the easiest note, but fate was definitely writing a beautiful script. From navigating societal expectations to enduring seasons of grief and uncertainty about the future, their love was tested in more ways than one. But through it all, they discovered that when it comes to true love, what matters most is choosing each other every single time.

Now, 10 years and 3 cuties later, their love has gotten even more magical. Their anniversary photos are such a touching reminder that love can weather every storm and still bloom beautifully. We got to ask them a few questions about their journey, and their responses are just so heartwarming.

Enjoy their beautiful anniversary photos below:

How did your journey begin?

In our final year at the University of Ibadan, my girlfriend, Layomi, 20, and I, 21, discovered she was pregnant. At the time, I was Mr University of Ibadan, the face of the school. Layomi was equally well-regarded: responsible, respected, the only child of her family. My father is a reverend. Neither of our families was willing for us to have a child outside of marriage. So, in May (one month after the news broke) of our graduating year, we got married with nothing to our names (I mean nothing—we were still receiving allowance and stayed in the school hostel)

The wedding made headlines. And when we lost the baby a few months later, so did the speculation. News publications ran with it. The narrative was swift and unkind: they only got married because of the pregnancy. For a couple in our position, with Mr University of Ibadan at the centre of it, the scrutiny was intense. People couldn’t reconcile who we were with what had happened.

We could have let that story define us. Instead, we chose to write our own.

 

This May makes it 10 years since the scandal, and we’ve gone ahead to have three children, including twins (the next pregnancy—they are now 9). We built a life in the UK, then relocated to Canada, where we are now permanent residents. Layomi holds two master’s degrees: one in International Management from the University of the West of England and one in Medical and Environmental Physiology from the University of Ibadan. I also hold two master’s degrees, one in Marketing, and now an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, ranked among the top 24 best schools in the world. I have worked on global marketing and partnership campaigns with brands including IBM, Google, and the NHL, and contributed to initiatives connected to the World Economic Forum and COP28. We both work in top Canadian banks now.

Recently, Layomi and I exchanged the rings we couldn’t afford back then, chosen freely, bought together, ten years on. It was a quiet moment that said everything. We are telling this story now because we believe it matters. Not just as a love story, but as proof that young people facing impossible circumstances, pressure, fear, and public judgment can still build something extraordinary. What began as duty became, without question, love.

How would you describe your relationship today compared to when you first got married?

When we got married, we were madly in love, the kind of love that had been forged as boyfriend and girlfriend. But the moment we said “I do,” everything shifted. The pressure became real, the stakes became higher, and we had to make a conscious decision: we were not going to let marriage kill what made us, us.

So we made a pact. We told ourselves, we are still young, let us protect the youthfulness of our love. Let us see each other the way we did when we were still dating. We sat down and wrote out a ten-year plan. Audacious, ambitious goals that most people in our position, young, broke, with a baby on the way and exams to write, had absolutely no business setting. The world had already counted us out. We refused to count ourselves out too.

We hit every single one of those goals. And on our tenth year, we renewed our vows, not out of obligation, but out of celebration. Today, our love is stronger than it has ever been. Ten years of choosing each other, through grief, through poverty, through pressure and doubt, has built something that dating alone never could. We never stopped being boyfriend and girlfriend. We just grew into the married couple we always knew we could be.

What did grief and loss teach you as individuals and as a couple?

Grief introduced itself to us at the worst possible time. We were preparing to write our final exams at the University of Ibadan when we lost the pregnancy that had brought us together in marriage. It was devastating, and I won’t pretend otherwise. But even in that pain, we sat with each other and had an honest conversation: if the only reason we got married is now gone, there is a real risk we will grow to resent each other. So we made a decision. We would try again. That decision gave us something to hold onto, something to move toward. We went and wrote those exams. Eleven months later, we welcomed twin boys into the world.

As a couple, grief taught us that we are all we have. It cemented something in us, the knowledge that it is both of us against the world.

Layo: Grief taught me that life does not wait for you. It is fickle, it is fast, and the only power you have is in the decisions you make for yourself, not for other people. Things may look impossibly dark, but you keep pushing.

Komi: Grief was entirely new territory. None of my grandparents had passed, so I had never truly experienced loss. When those nurses came out of that ward holding my child, a child they said looked so much like me, I broke. Completely. But what I found in that breaking was a wife who, despite carrying her own grief, showed up for me. That moment told me everything I needed to know. I had a partner who would not let me face life alone.

How did you balance building a marriage, education, and ambition at a young age?

The honest answer? Caffeine. But the real answer is that we kept our eyes on the big picture.

We had everything working against us. We were young. We were newly married. We had children. We had zero money. The world looked at us and saw a cautionary tale. We looked at each other and saw a plan.

Every challenge, the kids, the finances, the exams, the sleepless nights, we refused to let any of it become a full stop. They were speed bumps on a road we had already decided we were going to finish.

And the secret was that we functioned like a tag team. There were no rigid gender roles, no ego, no keeping score. If Komi had to change diapers while Layo studied for an exam, that is what happened. If Layo had to work extra hours while Komi travelled for work or prepared for his own exams, Layo stepped up without hesitation. We each showed up at 100% when the other needed to rest.

That is what carried us, not talent, not luck. Just two people who refused to let each other fall.

What is one thing you are most grateful for in your journey together?

The ability to see the big picture, and the grace to execute it.

Here are lovely throwbacks from their wedding 10 years ago 😊

We got married while rounding up our undergraduate degrees. We had zero kobo to our names. And yet we sat down and wrote out goals so ambitious that people around us quietly, and sometimes not so quietly, doubted us. We heard it. We saw the looks. We knew what the world thought of a young couple trying to finish university and build something from nothing.

But we sought wisdom. We found mentors, we studied people ahead of us, we learnt how to identify privilege and leverage and use them to keep climbing. And we executed, even when we were scared, even when resources were scarce, even when the doubters were loud.

We are also deeply grateful to God. Through every season, He was there, providing what we needed exactly when we needed it, even when we could not see how it would come.

And we are grateful for our children. When things were at their hardest, we sat them down and explained what we were building. They never added to the pressure. They gave us grace, and that meant more than they will ever fully understand.

What are some small but important things couples should remember when things feel overwhelming?

Block out the noise.

We came from two different homes, two different backgrounds, two different ways of seeing the world. And when you are young and navigating marriage, everyone has an opinion: aunties, uncles, parents, friends, social media. Everyone believes they know what is best for your marriage better than you do.

The best thing we ever did was make a decision: our marriage is between us. We are each other’s most important person, not our children, not our parents, not our friends, not anyone else.

When things feel overwhelming, come back to each other. Sit together, problem-solve together, and trust each other. Your spouse is not your opponent. They are your teammate. Treat every challenge like something you are solving together, not something you are surviving alone.

If you could speak to your 20 and 21-year-old selves today, what would you say?

Trust the process.

God had a reason your story happened the way it did. The pregnancy that felt like a crisis became the foundation of a family. The poverty that felt like a sentence became the fuel for ambition. Every audacious goal you wrote down in that journal, every single one of them came to pass.

So on the days you felt scared. On the days you cried. On the days you almost threw in the towel and wondered if the world was right about you.

You did it. You more than did it.

What are you most looking forward to as a couple in this new decade?

The last decade was about survival. It was about becoming the partners we each deserved and needed. It was about proving, to ourselves and to everyone who doubted us, that two young people with nothing but love, ambition, and God on their side could build something real.

This new decade is about something different. It is about healing. Intentionally creating a home that is rooted in nothing but love. Raising our children in an environment where they see what a healthy, thriving partnership looks like.

We are also excited to grow in our careers, to scale our business, and to become a genuine part of our community here in Canada.

We are so proud of where we are. And in good health, with God leading us, we believe the best is absolutely still ahead.

Credits

Couple: @zanafe_ | @alagba_komi
Photography: @lucystevens.ca
Suits @_oyecouture