Rosemary Olubode, the anchorwoman of Rosemary Olubode Inspirational, has revealed that she had no idea how to cook until after her marriage and why.

The host and brain behind the transformational Rosemary Olubode Inspirational, disclosed this in an interview while underscoring the essence of spousal support for each other and the willingness of either the man or woman to be submissive to learn their roles in the family.

Born in 1975, in Jibowu, Lagos State, Rosemary Olubode is blessed with three children. She got married at 28 years, shortly after her compulsory national youth service scheme. After 18 years of unforgettable love and care in marriage, her husband died in a fire accident three years ago.

The Rosemary Olubode Inspirational initiator attended Onoyade Community Primary School and Jibowu High School, for her primary and secondary education. She graduated from high school in 1993 with the best result in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in her alma mater. Rosemary Olubode proceeded to the University of Benin in Edo State, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy.

Explaining in an interview why she had almost no cooking skills before marriage, Rosemary Olubode whose vision is to change the mentality of women about their traditional roles at home and raise a new generation of mothers, said she was lost to her studies and did well in school, that her mother did not worry her about house chores or doing kitchen duties while growing up. She added that they lived in a one-room apartment, which perhaps did not give them much to do at home.

“So if your wife is not taking care of you, you will take care of yourself now. In the kind of setting my husband grew up in, they cut him out, so if I did not learn, he was already cooking for himself. Where I grew up, I wanted a good home, and set an example for my children, that was why I did some of the things I did right when my husband was alive. 

“When I was in secondary school, you know I said I had the best WAEC result, I was very focused, I didn’t want any distraction, and I wasn’t doing any house chores, remember, I said we were in a one-bedroom apartment, we had only one chair and I was the only one occupying that chair. I just wanted to read, so because of that, anything that concerns kitchen matters, I wasn’t interested. And because I was doing well, my mum wasn’t bothered. She would cook, do everything, and bring it to my table for me to eat.

” So I had that mentality, even while at the university. I wasn’t cooking, I was just like a bookworm. So when I graduated and wanted to get married, my auntie laughed and said she pity me. At a stage, I had to move to my auntie’s house, when I finished secondary school, she took me over to her house. I was doing the same thing in her house; I wasn’t cooking, not interested in cooking affairs. My own was to read, and do other things like taking care of the children; I was very good in taking care of my cousins. My auntie felt pity for me, my mum felt pity for me and luckily, my husband knew how to cook”, added Rosemary Olubode

Speaking further, she said,  “In fact, while I was dating my husband, I was Ill, he made vegetables and ‘Amala’ and brought it to my house. Oh my God. They didn’t allow me to rest in the house that day. My auntie said from where did you find a man who cooks, just because you cannot cook? I said no, I didn’t do anything. After marriage, he taught me how to cook. I would just be observing my husband in the kitchen. 

“Nobody knew this, but my husband was very patient with me. He would say this is how to make amala, this is how to make Efo riro, this is how to make ‘Ila alasepo’, this is how to make Moimoi, he knew how to do everything, he was very patient with me to learn, and by the time I graduated from my husband’s school of cooking, I because a great chef. I said in one of the videos that my husband would say ‘Rosemary, I think the money we are looking for is not in this pharmacy, let me open a restaurant for you. And I would say ‘no way, that I was not going to be a restaurant girl, that I would use the skill I learnt for him and the children and that was it. When I cook in my house, you would think there is going to be a party. And I’m grateful for that”.

The Rosemary Olubode Inspirational founder, who worked at Dana Drugs Limited for about seven years before starting her venture, is passionate about helping women realise their place of responsibility at home, such as ensuring they cook regularly for their husbands. She decried that men approach her to help them educate their wives on such in their marriage.

“There are some men that even when you do all those things; cook for them, take care of them, they will still cheat. But the majority of men cheat when as a woman, you don’t know how to cook and you are not even trying to learn. You cannot take care of the home. I see men, they complain, they come to my DM, and say ‘Rosemary, can you talk to my wife, don’t mention I said it to you. I think we women need to do better in that area, we need to take care of our husbands, it is very important, especially if your husband is good. Why wouldn’t you want to take care of him” questioned Rosemary Olubode.