Dooshima Aondaver Moses, 300 level economics student of Benue State
University, recently created a scene as she sneaked out of her wedding
to take an examination in her wedding gown.
She speaks with The Punch’s John Charles on why she decided to leave
her husband and other guests for the examination hall. Excerpts:
When did you start planning for your wedding?
The whole thing started in 2016. That was when both of us, my husband
and I decided to settle down as husband and wife. As a graduate of the
same department, my husband understands everything very well, so we were
working with the academic calendar. The wedding was supposed to come up
in the first two weeks of the second semester of 300 level when there
would not be much academic activities.
Unfortunately, the university had an internal crisis which led to the
closing down of the university for three months and when we resumed, we
thought that the wedding would still hold after the examination but
shortly after the local strike was called off then came the national
ASUU strike. We still thought that the strike would drag until after our
wedding but lo and behold, the strike was suspended, all these changed
the academic calendar.
But why didn’t you shift the wedding date?
There was no way we could have called off the wedding because all
arrangement had gone far and families and friends from far and near had
been informed. So it became extremely difficult to cancel it as many
people from Lagos, Abuja and other places had been informed of the
October 7 date. So calling off the wedding would have disrupted other
programmes. At the time the national strike was called off, the time
table for the exam was released.
At the time the time table for your exams was released, what efforts
did you make to convince your department to give concession to you?
The time table was released immediately the national strike was called
off. Although I informed the department but they told me there was
nothing they could do. They said since the time table was already out,
there was no time for me to lodge any official complaint. They said if
that had happened before it came out, the department might have
considered that. Again, the problem is that I was so busy making
arrangement for my wedding. It was the same week that we did the
traditional wedding, court marriage and church wedding. I decided to go
ahead with the marriage and at the same time prepare for my examination.
What was the course you did that day with your wedding gown on?
International Economics and I did it well to the best of my knowledge.
How did you cope preparing for your wedding and your examination at the same time?
Actually, it was not easy for me. I tried to strike a balance by running
around and at the same time reading for the examination, it was not
easy at all but one thing that kept me going was the fact that I had
made up my mind not to carry over any course because of my marriage. So,
that decision was my soothing balm.
At what point did you leave the wedding venue for the examination hall?
We had concluded the church ceremony because the marriage was held at
Good News Chapel, Benue State University. We were at the reception and
shortly after we entered the venue, I had to excuse myself and the
train and quietly sneak out, pretending to go to ease myself. Although a
few of the bridal train are my course mates, so as I sneaked out, so
also my course mates who were in the bridal train. We all rushed down to
take the exam.
What vehicle brought you to the exam hall?
It was the same vehicle that I used for the wedding that brought me. The
point is that my husband, close family and friends were aware of the
plan; so right from the church service, we had to rush the programme,
the pastor that officiated our marriage, Pastor Jude, was also aware of
the arrangement, he tried to minimise the service until we got to the
reception. A few of the officials at the reception were aware of the
arrangement.
For instance, the chairman of the reception while addressing the crowd,
noted that everything had to be done moderately because the couple
needed to meet up with other pressing matters. He did not mention it
particularly.
As the reception was in progress, my husband and I were watching
ourselves and checking time intermittently so as not to be late to the
exam hall because Economics department is very strict with examination
guidelines. So knowing this, I was very conscious of time.
You know that many of my course mates were also at the reception, so all
of us were cautious of time; in fact, many left the reception before
me.
But it is assumed that weddings should be savoured to the fullest without any distraction; didn’t you see it that way?
Well, I see marriage as a lifelong enjoyment, so I did not want to use
one to jeopardise the other. It is true it was the day of celebration
and many people were at the reception to celebrate me, but I had another
important thing which was my examination.
Your paper was fixed for what time?
It was scheduled for 3pm to 6pm that Saturday, it was a three-unit course.
Was there distraction at the time you entered the examination hall?
Since all of them were aware and most of them attended the wedding,
there was no distraction at the time I entered the examination hall.
Was there no time for you to change your wedding gown to normal dress at the time you came to the campus?
Actually, when I came in, I tried to manage the time. Ordinarily, the
department has a dress code while coming to class but having eaten into
the time, there was no time for me to go and change my dress, after all
they were all aware of the wedding ceremony. I am sure that was the
privilege they gave me to take the exam.
Now that the day had come and gone with the drama created by your action, how will you describe the day?
October 7, 2017 will remain evergreen in my life, a blessed day because
it is every woman’s dream to get married. I can not forget the day
because the wedding coincided with my examination which I was able to
take.
Your examination is still on. As a new couple, you ought to be in honeymoon now.
(Cuts in) To me, I see every day in marriage to be honeymoon, not just
to set a few days off for honeymoon. I think what honeymoon means is for
your spouse to pet you, kiss you, hug you, take you out and all that
but to me, life is in stages. So whatever you have to do, it is better
for one to do it well. So for me, honeymoon is a lifetime experience.
