Just weeks after marking his 70th birthday, Pastor Tunde Bakare and his wife, Olayide—affectionately known as ‘Authentic Mrs. B’—celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on November 30, 2024. The event was filled with love, joy, and excitement, as the couple was joined by their children, grandchildren, family, friends, and associates to honor this special milestone.
Olubunmi Fabode, the eldest daughter of the Bakares, characterized her parents’ marriage as a fight against generational curses. During the event, Fabode reminisced about a childhood moment when her father mentioned that he and her mother were parting ways.
**She revealed that her love for her siblings and her desire to keep the family united inspired her to pray for her parents’ reconciliation. Fabode shared that her parents’ marriage faced challenges due to their different backgrounds. “When I was seven, my father came into my room and said, ‘Your mother and I are going our separate ways. I’m telling you this so you can choose who you want to live with,’” she recalled. “I wasn’t overly concerned about them not living together, but I worried that if they separated, my siblings might choose one parent over the other. I knew that wouldn’t work because I love my siblings; they are the joy of my life. I felt something needed to happen to disrupt that plan.
“My father grew up in a household with 12 wives and 22 children. His father passed away when he was just three. My mother was born in Leicester and was raised by a British foster parent, then her grandmother, and later by her father and stepmother. They both came from backgrounds of brokenness, dysfunction, and turmoil. Yet, somehow, they found each other and decided to build a life together, relying solely on their faith in God and the Bible as their guide to create something new that neither had experienced before.
She emphasized that her parents’ marriage was a battleground against generational curses, where they confronted and overcame the shadows of their past. Fabode commended her parents for fostering an atmosphere of love and serving as role models. “Their marriage was more than just a union; it was a battleground where generational curses were challenged and defeated,” she stated. “A dear aunt once told me something that has always stuck with me: the first generation of any marriage that arises from a broken home faces an extraordinary struggle because the enemy seeks to perpetuate darkness for another generation.
“Both of them stood firm and declared, ‘This far and no further.’ It’s because of this testament that we are celebrating today. Two people decided they could create something new under God. My father was a casual Christian before marriage, but when he recognized the generational curses, he began to pray from within himself—no one taught him. My mother, the resilient and nurturing woman she is today, learned to become that in this marriage; she had no model to follow. My father ensured we never lacked anything, and together, they cultivated an atmosphere of love.” Bakare married Olayide in 1984, and they have five children together.
