A man known as Ubong King took to Instagram to share how he couldn’t afford a ring when he proposed to his wife in 1995 but today, he has bought a ship and named it after her just to show his appreciation. He wrote:
I proposed to my wife sometime in 1997 without a ring, while squatting in a friend’s house in #Uyo, #Akwaibom state. She said YES even when she knew that I had nothing. She was discouraged by many to change her mind and was asked a question which she told me “why stay with Ubong when he can’t buy you a bottle of #Coca-Cola”. When she told me I looked up and down, I looked at her and said the choice to stay was her’s… she stayed.
We got married in 2002 and still started by squatting in another friend’s house out of Lagos for about 1yr till I got my #mindset right to get my own house in Alagbado. We had to start with one mattress on the floor, second hand carpet, a ceiling fan and our windows were covered with old newspapers since we could not afford curtains.
I worked as a security coordinator in NBC Apapa, bottlers of #Coca-Cola drinks and all i wanted to do was to be responsible to be able to buy my wife a bottle of #Coca-Cola. The drive to be able to refresh my growing family has helped me to be able to buy my wife and kids Coca-Cola drinks at anytime… In 2015, I decided to buy a vessel from that drive and named it after my wife MV IVYKING. Thank YOU @unyimeivyking for starting me up my drive.”
His wife shared her own story;
“The pressure to say ‘no’ mounted heavily, but I wasn’t dissuaded because, it was all external, and the reasons, when I summarized them all pointed to one argument- he didn’t have anything and would not be able to provide for me.
I’d built up enough information on the inside to realize that the lack of material acquisitions is a temporary state of being- anybody’s story can change in an instant, with God in their corner. I dared to trust God with that decision, and He honored my trust. I said ‘yes’ because I saw us building an empire together- our story is just beginning and we will write it someday by His grace. Ultimately, God will be glorified and honored. Thank you @ubongking for honoring your commitment to me and for taking care of the children and I, the way you do. *Now you can buy me many crates of coca-cola drinks* if you so wish”
According to our investigation;
In March 2010, the average price for a geared 500-ton container ship was $10 million, while gearless ships of 6,500 and 12,000 TEU averaged prices of $74 million and $105 million respectively.