A TALE OF DIVORCE IN NOLLYWOOD..

If marriages are meant to be celebrated then what happens to divorces? In the last couple of
weeks what has been pouring out of Nollywood are stories of divorce. If there are any
marriages, they are not hot enough to make good news. Okay, there are enough movies
making their rounds of the cinemas and maybe some endorsement deals are being pulled off
but aren’t they a bit of backstage stuff to take the shine out of these divorces?
With recent divorce of Nollywood superstar actress, Funke Akindele, it is no longer news that
most marriages involving top Nollywood actresses hit the rocks just as soon as the oaths
were taken. Maybe Funke’s drama with husband of barely one year tops the list, given the
glamour that accompanied the solemnisation of their matrimony and the manner in which the
separation was served to the public.
Everybody felt for Funke. At least the method employed by the husband, choosing the social
media to break the news, even to his wife, got Funke a drove of sympathisers who were ready
to take her husband apart. Maybe, that emboldened Funke because she has since shrugged it
off and is already painting the town red as she was spotted last weekend, looking her
smashing self at the Miss Global pageant.
Then Chika Ike steps into the mix. Although she has been separated from her husband, Tony
Eberiri for close to two years but the glee with which she announced the divorce she got from
an Abuja High Court on Monday set adrift once again another divorce saga which has an
uncanny resemblance to that of Funke Akindele’s.
While Funke’s husband, Kehinde Oloyede took to Facebook to announce his separation from
his wife, Chika chose Twitter to tell her fans that “she was finally free of Mr Tony Eberiri”. “I’m
now officially divorced. Thanks,” she tweeted.
Funke and Chika may now be on the spot but they have a long list of others before them.
While a lot has been speculated on why these marriages fail, investigations have revealed that
top on the list are abuse, infidelity, violence and what they have come to term ‘irreconcilable
differences’.
The story of Laide Bakare was another messy divorce saga. She was reportedly married to Mr.
Okunfulire who unknown to her was married to another woman with two children. But most of
the facts were not made public until Laide was delivered of a baby for another man, Mr Tunde
Oriowo. She however had a daughter for her estranged husband. Her own case was termed
“glaring injustice”.
Nollywood diva, Stella Damasus is probably unlucky. She lost her first husband, Jaiye
Aboderin to the cold hands of death shortly after their marriage. After that, she tried to get on
with life and tried her luck with Emeka Nzeribe. That luck did not hold as they separated just
after two years, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’.
Saheed and Fathia Balogun were the perfect couple, almost a model for what a celebrity
marriage should be until cracks in that perfect picture began to manifest. While Saheed
accused Fathia of infidelity, Fathia was always crying of domestic violence from her partner.
Willy-nilly the marriage crashed despite interventions from families and colleagues.
Although, Lola Alao, another Yoruba actress, has said she has forgiven her husband, Dare
Ogunlana, allegations made by the man during the heat of the divorce saga are still fresh.
Dare described Lola as “diabolical, deceitful and a woman not to be trusted”, to which the
woman responded with maturity by keeping mum. In a recent interview Lola agreed his ex
husband was a nice man but got carried away by the pain of the separation. According to her
“that man is a very nice man, it just didn’t work out between us”, she said.
Ayo Adesanya and Goriola Hassan probably didn’t do badly. Their marriage lasted eight years
and Ayo and her movie director husband were always together, in the house and on location
until it seemed they got tired of seeing each other around. Ayo fingered ‘jealousy’ as the virus
that stole into their home to eat out the nuptial knot.
It was hard to believe that Doris Simeon and her director husband, Daniel Ademinokan would
go their separate ways after showing so much love and affection the way couples who seem to
be in love do. They were married for a few years and then broke up. At a point, Doris accused
her Daniel of scrounging on her.
Stephanie Okereke-Linus is now enjoying the bliss of her second marriage, her marriage to big
boy Idahosa Linus.The A-list actress is said to have been very happy with her divorce from
her ex-footballer husband Mike Iloanyusi, who, at a point allegedly completely likened
Stephanie to a piece of football he played around. She divorced him on account of battery and
infidelity.The breakup of the marriage of this top actress is said to be based on extra-marital
affairs.
For Chiege Alisigwe, who was married to a UK-based businessman, she alleged that the man
had other relationships. Unable to bear it, she came back to continue her life in Nigeria, where
she met her present husband, an Enugu-based police officer.
After a number of failed marriages, fans were happy that Shan George had found love again,
when she announced that she was getting married to Tony Nwosisi. They got married, but the
marriage did not last, her reason, being ‘incompatibility’
Eucharia Anunobi, now an evangelist married Charles Ekwu in 2000 and they divorced in 2009
on many grounds including infidelity, abandonment and lack of responsibility to their only
child. She disclosed to an Ikeja High Court, how her ex-husband allegedly slept with their 13-
year old housemaid several times in their matrimo-nial home. The suit was filed in 2007 but
suffered several setbacks until 2009.
The list is endless. Hilda Dokubo, Monalisa Chinda, Foluke Daramola, Clarion Chukwura, Ngozi
Ezeonu, Kate Henshaw, Jennifer Eliogu, Stephanie Okere and many more have experienced
bitter pills of divorce and in most cases the reasons are not so dissimilar.
Most often than not, these super stars knew they were diving into troubled waters but for one
reason or another they just didn’t give a damn. Funke Akindele’s husband was known to have
fathered over ten kids by different women before Funke decided to settle with him.
Monalisa Chinda, who is romancing Lanre Nzeribe cannot say she is so wet behind the ears
not to know that the guy is known as a top playboy. Many Nollywood actresses have also
married at the expense of some other women who have had to relinquish their men to their
beauty, fame and influence.