Ifeoma Okeke: “I Could Finish 2 Cartons Of Beer In A Day”
Below is what she told Dupe Ayinla Olasunkanmi in a recent chat on why she is yet to give marriage a try.
“I think I answered this same question some years back and I would not want it to be the topic of this interview. My foundation, Purple Campaign was given birth to out of a violent relationship I was in years back. I was in the relationship for three years, and the only Igbo guy I had dated. So with a new relationship, I tolerated those things I never had to put up with in the past ones.
Even if I am called that he is seen with someone, I will pretend to be in the know. I felt I had seen my husband. One thing I had said to myself was that I would never leave my man because he cheats. So I think he took that advantage knowing I was never going to leave. So the moment I started complaining, we started having issues and he battered me. In fact, sometimes I never believed the things he beat me up for. And it continued; it kept lingering and I was asking myself if I would leave if I was married.
One day, he had stopped beating me and we had reconciled. But on May 26, 2008, I looked at one of my beautiful pictures before dating him and compared it to the lady standing in front of the mirror and they were two opposites. I was looking like a widow; I was bigger and fading away. I started indulging in beer. I could finish two cartons in a day; nobody knew what I was going through.
Depression is real, you can hurt people by words and they will be dying silently. My birthday came, and I called a friend that I wanted something different aside just celebrating with friends, and she told me about a lady who was raped at nine and it continued and how this had affected her adulthood. I thought about it and wanted a colour to represent the idea, so I went on the internet and came about purple, which stands for the two things; violence and royalty.
That was how the idea of Purple Campaign started. And for me, there was no looking back. I want to be married and loved. I know I have my flaws. After that relationship, I tolerate less; I know I can be temperamental. But when someone loves you for your flaws, the good parts will complement. I know there is a good part of me. I haven’t seen that man, and I know he is out there. There is no hurry in life.”
