By Adedayo Odulaja and Olamide Jasanaya
Penultimate week, media reports focused largely on problems in the celebrity marriage between Tiwa Savage and her husband, Tunji Balogun popularly known as Tee Billz.
Tiwa Savage, who is the leading lady of Mavin Records and unarguably Nigeria’s biggest female music act at present, was reported to be putting up with the 5-month old marriage as allegations of lack of trust and even violence kept popping up.
By the turn of last week, the attention seems to have shifted a bit from what can be described as a media/blog circus on Tiwa Savage and her husband.
And it has shifted to yet another celebrity marriage, which unlike that of the ‘Doro Diva’ as Tiwa Savage is also fondly referred to, has seemingly gone past the stage of redemption.
Just a few weeks ago, if Ini Edo’s name had been mentioned in the media at all, it had to be for either for one or more roles she has played or movies she has produced so far.
But all that changed last week when the rumour mill went agog that the popular Nollywood movie star’s marriage with a Nigerian businessman based in the United States, Phillip Ehiagwina, was headed for the rocks.
At first, many thought they were nothing beyond speculations based on the already overflogged matter that the actress was yet to give birth to any child since she got married to Phillip Ehiagwina in February 2009 in the United States.
Interestingly, the marriage was contracted after several allegations by Phillip’s first wife, Ruth, who felt bitter that Ini was taking over the heart of the man that promised her heaven and earth in the beginning, saying the Nollywood star would feel what she went through before her marriage to the US-based businessman crashed.
Phillip’s former wife, Ruth, to whom he was married for 5 years also, said Phillip was just deceiving girls all over the place, warning Ini Edo to be careful, a piece of advice that became a clearly prophetic prediction just a few years after.
Aside her former husband reportedly asking Ini Edo’s family for a refund of the bride price he paid to marry her, gossip reports indicate that Ini Edo’s hands were not clean as were as she alleged had an issue with an unidentified young woman and her friends who accuse her of dating her boyfriend, a certain Lewa in the Lekki area of Lagos. Although it only became public knowledge last week, Ini Edo’s marriage is said to have crashed for well over a month now.
The rumours of Ini’s crashed marriage increased even more when the actress altered what has been her bio on her social media pages for years. In fact, looking back now, perhaps there was more to the prayerful plea made on a Facebook account purportedly belonging to Nollywood actor and director, Desmond Elliot of behalf of Ini Edo just last month.
The plea, mainly for the Nollywood actress to be able to conceive before the end of the year reads: ‘We all know actress, Ini Edo, has been married for a while now without any issue. Many of us have laughed at her, insulted her, judged her without knowing the pains she goes through indoors. She has entertained us, made us laugh and has inspired many of us. Today, let us come together and pray for her. Ini Edo, this year, 2014 will not pass you by, you will not only get pregnant, you will also give birth safe and sound. As you write AMEN to this, may God answer all your hidden prayers. Why not write amen? Your amen is so powerful, just type amen on her behalf. God bless you.’
And according to sources, the marriage has been dogged by allegations of infidelity and lack of trust for some time but all the reports, which had the trappings of speculations changed on Thursday, October 2, 2014. That day, the actress, who had not posted anything on either her Twitter or Instagram page for exactly 46 days before the time, tweeted: ‘There is a conscious and malicious attempt to tarnish my image. I asked for a divorce from my ex-husband because of lots of irreconcilable differences. I never cheated on him.’
With the actress having immersed herself so much into the marriage and what would have been the 6th anniversary of the marriage just a month away, many are wondering what is next for her.
This is especially regarding the fact that unlike her bio and ring which can easily be altered, Ini Edo’s Twitter handle and her Instagram ID: Ini4phil refers to her former husband.
In her words when NET reached her, the actress said ‘There is nothing to say, as far as I am concerned, there is really nothing to say on my side anymore. I’ve made clear what I had the mind of making clear so there is nothing more to say.’
When we made her aware of reported insinuations by her now former in-laws, the I’ll Take My Chances star actress sharply responded thus: ‘Well, anybody can say whatever they want to say. It is a free world and in such a situation, there are people who are hardly involved but who will come out to say all sorts but I am not disturbed in any way by what they say.’
Apart from the case of Ini Edo which is clear break-up and Tiwa Svage who seems ready to patch up things with her husband and ensure they make their union work, there are a number of celebrity marriages that have gone into the wind in the last two or three years.
Let alone looking as far back as September 2011 when NET wrote an editorial on celerity marriages and their ephemeral nature.
In most cases, cheating and irreconcilable differences have become a recurring decimal.
Such was the case with the engagement of Uche Ogbodo to Ato Ubby which came crashing just one month after, even before the consummation of their union and that of Daniel Ademinokan and Doris Simeon remains relevant for the controversial angles to it.
The cases of celebrity break-ups does not only have to do with Nigeria, of course, except that the prevalence in Nigeria is becoming as high as that of Hollywood. We still have a little less than 3 months to go this year but the number of Hollywood marriages that have crashed is near the ceiling in terms of numbers.
Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa recently ended their union after just 14 months of marriage, with the model initiating divorce proceedings against her rapper husband, citing the all-familiar ‘irreconcilable differences’ and seeking full custody of their son, Sebastian born in February 2013.
After being married for 23 years, one would think a union is beyond dramatic separation but Kris and Bruce Jenner proved that conventional wisdom wrong recently. After 11 months of separation, Kris Jenner, mother of the notorious Kim Kardashian and sisters, Khloe and Kourney, filed for divorce from her husband. Documents cite irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon are reported to have separated as far back as May this year while secretly working out a property settlement and custody agreement over their young twins. The cause of their split is linked to Nick’s decision to name 5 celebrities he had slept with, a list that include Kim Kardashian and which reportedly made his superstar wife, Mariah ‘jealous and mad,’ according to TMZ.
Melanie Griffith and Desperado star, Antonio Banderas have also announced their amicable split (whatever that means) after 18 solid years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. Married in London back in 1996, they have a 17-year old daughter, Stella.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announced that they are separating in March this year, having been married since December 2003 and given birth to two children. Robin Thicke and Paula Patton decided to split up in February after about 9 years of marriage and a dating relationship which dates to when they were just teenagers. Just for this year alone, and adding crashed marriages of less popular celebrity couples and those engaged to marry but who have split on the Hollywood front to the list would make it so long it would be close to an epistle.
The marriage involving former Nollywood pair, Daniel Ademinokan and Doris Simeon is now a subject of history books but it remains relevant for its controversial angles which still come up once in a while. The divorce tale of film maker, Jeta Amata and his actress wife, Mbong Amata, is perhaps the most shocking in recent times. After seemingly weathering the storm for about 10 years, many had thought of them as one of the few formidable unions in the industry. Sadly, the union fell like a pack of cards not long after. Jeta, now linked with Australian actress, Viva Bianca, said he let Mbong be so she could pursue her passion in acting.
Till date, various reasons are being pointed at as responsible for the crash of the marriage but what is clear is that Funke Akindele walked out of her one year union with ex hubby, Almaroof Oloyede, just one year after she got married to the politician and real estate contractor. One of the many reasons ‘flying about’, however, was that Oloyede is a serial womaniser and didn’t live up to the promise he made to the actress to keep his philandering ability in check, hence their constant arguments and eventual separation. Ms Akindele, conscious of the controversy the news will drag her way, tried to keep the news from prying eyes but it was a matter of time.
Chika Ike’s case is similar to Mbong’s. Married to her former husband, Tony Eberiri at a very early age, only that hers was allegedly marked with domestic violence. Shortly after she completed her divorce, she detailed the many challenges she faced while she was married.
So, prominent among entertainment related marriages that have crashed in the last one year include those of Jeta Amata and Mbong Amata, Laide Bakare (May 2013), Funke Akindele (July 2013 and Chika Ike (May 2013) and who knows who will join the list soon.
