It’s been a trend for some while now a recurring decimal if you will. A Nolly-wood actress will announce to the world that after years of diligently searching for that unique person – the one that fulfills her emotional, physical and spiritual needs that she had finally landed the man of her dreams. The media will celebrate the affair and their romance will dominate the pop culture media for months. Their every move would become subject of speculation and intense interest.
As the newly minted love-birds do the social rounds, all would seem to be going well on the relationship front. But the moment they decide to take the union to the next level by announcing their engagement, then all hell will break loose. Skeletons hitherto hidden in the closets will be laid bare; the carefully contrived image of a perfect couple in the making will give way to details that are at best sordid and unsanitized. Another woman will materialize and lay claims to being the legal wife of the man whom the actress had just proudly announced was her newly minted man.
A few years ago, popular and pretty actress Ini Edo was also caught with the story of another woman who had showed up soon after Ini and Ehiagwina had concluded wedding their plans. The other woman – Ruth Okoro, whom Philips was previously married to, had come out to lay claims to still being the legal wife. After back and forth, claims and counter-claims, it was apparent that Philips and Ruth were indeed divorced by the time he had made a commitment to marry Ini Edo. The whole affair was a media hit as several versions were woven. Today, Ini and Philips are happily married-defying naysayers who had predicted the union will not last a distance
Oby Edozien and Alex O
The current one involves the pretty actress – Oby Edozien. Last December, she got married to Nigeria’s 90s pop sensation – Alex O. Soon after the highly secretive marriage became public, another woman Fathima Abosom aker – a South African lady of Asian ancestry, came out to accuse the pop star of bigamy. She told the world she was still married to Alex O. and that Oby Edozien was a husband-snatcher.
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According to investigations, Alex O. and Fathima were married and the union appeared to have suffered irretrievable emotional and physical damage – necessitating Alex O. to have opted out of it. Fathima was said not to be willing to let go of the marriage, and the two have been living apart for years. It was during this time, that Alex O. met Oby while the pretty actresses was doing the post-production of her movie, which is the business Alex O. runs in South- Africa – digital animation company. The two were said to have fallen in love in the course of this collaboration, resulting in their hushed-hushed wedding last December. Oby was quoted to have said that there’s only one woman that Alex O. is married to, and that “woman is me” – Oby Edozien.
Another perspective from Kenny, a relationships specialist, noted that sometimes the fault may be from the ladies. “A man comes along with certain flash and dash and sweeps the lady off her feet. She throws all known cautions to wind and begins to frolic with the man-oblivious to what baggage he may parade. The man eventually tells her the truth about his other relationship entanglements, and she tells him it’s ok, I will deal with it. She, at this point is hoping to wean the man off of the other woman’s grip. She succeeds and then the other woman becomes a mad and emotionally wounded person and goes on negative publicity drive. Some of our female celebrities may have found themselves with similar scenarios, and I dare say it is not a unique thing to Nollywood actresses – people in Hollywood have experienced similar situations.
Funke Akindele
Popularly called Jenifa, 39-year-old Ikorodu-born funny actress’s marriage to Mr Kehinde Oloyede can be said to be one of the shortest marriage in the history of Nollywood. Everyone, aside the actress knew the marriage was bound to end before it even started. A superstar in the Nigerian movie industry and a University of Lagos graduate, walking down the aisle with a man who already has about 6 children from 3 women?
Talking about how the union went awry, the ever funny actress said: “I was abused emotionally and verbally. Really, I felt we could work things out when the trouble started two months after the marriage, but I made up my mind and shut the door of the marriage at him when the trouble was coming to me too much. I stooped to conquer him; buried my fame and name to make him my husband, but it did not work.
”At a point in time, I asked if it’s not the same man that was all over me before we married. He nearly got me off my career. He called me severally; I did not pick his calls but when he realized my silence was tormenting him, he took to Facebook. It’s alright. Ask him when did he come to my house last? He left me here in my rented apartment with nothing and he will just dash in and dash out. He gets abusive, caustic anytime we have a misunderstanding and often told me to my face, he’s going to his wife in Oshodi.”
Funke Akindele is however now back and better and we love that the girlpower in her has continuously made her project ahead in her career. She’s also happily married.
Mercy Johnson
In 2011, one Mrs lovely okojie sent out an open letter to Mercy Johnson to please release her husband and find a single man to marry. According to the woman, the man in question is the father of her two children and he was still legally married to her at the time. Read the letter below;
”My name is Lovely Okojie, legal wife of Prince Odianosen Okojie, the man Mercy Johnson is set to wed in a few weeks. I was referred to you to help me share my story after all else had failed to stop another woman from breaking my home. I used to have a sweet home but now Mercy Johnson is trying to destroy it. I’ve not been able to stop crying or sleep well for the past few months.