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To former vicar Colin Coward,
it is nothing short of a marriage
made in heaven.
But the 65-year-old is expected to
raise a few traditional eyebrows
when he walks down the aisle with
the man in his life – a 25-year-old
Nigerian model called Bobby.
Mr Coward and his African partner are due to hold a civil partnership later
this year, followed by a service at the
vicar’s church, St John the Baptist
church in Devizes, Wiltshire.
The couple met at a Christian
conference three years ago, and are planning
to make their relationship official in a
few weeks’ time.
Reverend Colin Coward fell in love with Nigerian model Bobby Egbele after they met at a Christian conference in Togo in
2007. The pair plan to tie the knot in October
Bobby Ikekhuame Egbele, a fashion designer and model, grew up in Nigeria
and runs an online clothes shop.
Currently in the UK on a holiday visa,
he and his ‘husband-to-be’ are waiting
for the green light from the Borders
Agency, which has requested details of
their relationship and residency.
This is expected to be a formality but the ‘marriage’ cannot go ahead until permission is granted. Mr Egbele, who will then become a British citizen, said yesterday: ‘I’m excited about the wedding and that people are interested in it.
Mr Coward, who is no longer employed by the Church but still has permission
to preach, added that he hopes their
public commitment will set an example
to other gay people within the Anglican
community.
Rev Coward plans to refuse the request that he remain celibate
Mr Coward, who lives with Mr Egbele in the Wiltshire village of Marston, said:
‘My goal is for everyone within the
Church to feel comfortable with the
situation because at the moment the
majority of gay Christians marry secretly.
‘It is a taboo subject but the Church is now under huge pressure to change
its stance and that pressure will only
increase in the future. '
‘Clearly the blessing is going to be quite a sensitive issue. I know that many people will see it and view it with horror. But we are both deeply committed Christians so it would be unthinkable for me not to do it in church and not to do it with the congregation and with all of our friends.‘
'I hope my wedding will inspire others and set a visible example to the church
that we are not afraid.’
The pair describe themselves as 'deeply committed Christians' and say they are determined to have the church service
Mr Coward, a former architect and now a gay campaigner, met Mr Egbele
in 2007 at a Christian conference in
Togo, West Africa, and the pair got
engaged earlier this year.
The men are due to ‘marry’ on October 9 at the Register Office in Devizes
before having a service at St John the
Baptist church.
However, the service will not be a blessing, which is forbidden by the
Anglican hierarchy for homosexual
couples.
But Stephen Green, director of
campaign group Christian Voice, yesterday
described Mr Coward’s marriage ‘an
abomination before God’.
Mr Green added: ‘Mr Coward is just an emotionally disturbed man trying to inflict his predilections on the rest of the Church I fail to recognise him as a Christian because he doesn’t keep the commandments of Lord Jesus.’ A spokesman for the Diocese of Salisbury confirmed it has permitted the service to go ahead but described it as ‘separate’ from the civil ceremony.
Women now invite male hairstylists for home service
• But other services are also on the card
Hairdressing was once a profession exclusively for the women. But that has changed, as it is now moving fast away from them into the dominance of the men. Today that world has been invaded and taken over by the male folk. They have not only harnessed it but also elevated it to a different dimension, with a touch of creativity. Home service has become the latest rave in the business.
Saturday Sun finding showed that home service has become the lucrative aspect of the profession, whereby super-rich women invite male hairdressers to the comfort of their homes for a special treat. Apart from the extra fee involved, the male hairdressers also enjoy the generosity of these super-rich women.
However, many of these young boys have fallen into the antics of these ladies, who deceptively lured them into their homes and only to end up in other engagements, after promises of heaven and earth. With their financial power, coupled with the economic crunch of the society, the boys’ spirit of resistance is subdued. These ladies’ desperation is induced by the sweet feelings they experience during hair treatment. In the process, they dangle car keys, accommodation, cash and other kinds of attractive gifts, just to have their way. The major gist is that majority of these affluent ladies are married with kids.
Saturday Sun checked out these wonder fingers, who deliver home services in areas, like Ajao Estate, Ikeja, Surulere and the up-class Island areas. Some of them, who own a cossy hair salon around Asa Afariogun Street, in Ajao Estate, confided that many of them in the art have made money and deployed the proceeds to travel abroad where hairdressing is oil block.
Incidentally, home services for women are carried out without the knowledge of the client’s spouse, who is away fighting to oil the wheel of fortunes of the family. With this antics, it is only a man who is really principled that can just do the hair and stop at that, a male hairdresser, who has been in the home service front for five years revealed.
Speaking to Saturday Sun, Austin (surname withheld), who has been in hairdressing for 10 years confirmed the story that some women actually tempt male hairdressers, who are involved in home service.
“Majority of the boys operating salon business today are involved in such acts because it fetches faster money. That is the source of the big cars some of them ride,” he said. But he lamented that such wealth and accidental fame might not last because it is a taboo in African culture to engage a married woman in a romanntic relationship. He explained that no amount of money or any kind of inducement could influence him to fall prey to such act because of his faith and fear of God.
Austin, in his sanctimony, added that it is abomination in the area where he comes from. Relating his experience with a certain woman years back, he said: “On this fateful day, I was invited to a hotel room by a certain woman who asked me to come and fix her hair. She just came back from abroad. Honestly, I was very happy because of the extra fee I would realize from it. I packed all the things I needed for the service and reported at the hotel. She willingly accepted my charges and I settled down to work. To my dismay, she turned the service to massaging. ‘I want you to massage my back,’ she said. ‘No, it is not there. Oh yes, it is there,’ she would say.
That was how she was screaming until I became apprehensive. Not quite long, she opened up and needed to be fixed under. I declined vehemently. She dangled car key, cash gifts and with a promise to take me abroad. I stood my ground because I knew the devil was at work. I quickly packed my things and disappeared from the room. That encounter taught me a great lesson. That is why today, anytime I have a home service, one of my boys must accompany me to avoiding a repeat.”
On why hairdressing has suddenly become a male affair, the hairstylist, who operates Bistel’s Hair and Skin Clinic at No. 5, Olutosin Street, Ajao Estate, Lagos, asserted that it is because of its lucrativeness in the developed world. He stressed that majority of the boys into the profession do not want to practice in Nigeria. He disclosed that many of the boys he trained are presently in Spain, Italy, Germany and other countries practicing the trade, adding that all of them have become big boys.
He said: “One of my boys even left three weeks ago. He is in Spain. That boy stabbed me in the back because it was the opportunity I had to travel that he hijacked. He had deceived the woman who came to pick me from abroad. He told her that I was no longer in the trade and he was in charge. He pleaded with the woman to take take him in my place and eventually he succeeded and traveled. When the woman later met me and realised that she had been fooled, it was too late. The whole thing really made me sad, but there was nothing I could do. So, I am now hoping in God that one day it will get to my turn.”
Mr. Nwanodo said he doesn’t want to ply his trade in Nigeria any longer just to train hairstylists, else he becomes a teacher who must beg before seeing food to eat. According to him, while many of his boys are cruising in expensive cars and have houses, he has remained in the same shop they had known him with before they left. He added that his plan is to join the league abroad and also make fortunes.
Asked how he became a hairstylist, the school certificate holder, who hails from Delta State, explained that his friend, Henry, also a hairstylist, brought him into the business.
His initial dream was to be a footballer or an athlete. But when his aspiration fell through, he said he had to pitch tent with hairdressing.
“That was how I started training under Henry, my friend. I was with him for six months before he traveled abroad. It was then I knew that with element of luck, this profession could take me far in life. I also know that when you are in a trade where women constitute the market, you are bound to make it because they are always conscious of beauty. They always want to look good. Such business cannot run dry of patronage. I have no regret going into it,” he said.
According to Nwanodo, who parades a heavy clientele of top society ladies, his major challenge in the business remains the persistent power failure. He lamented that the constant use of generator in his shop grossly drains him financially.
