There has been an alarming increase in divorce rates globally, especially among celebrities. In Nigeria, no sooner does a celebrity marriage take place than it collapses, with irreconcilable differences often mentioned as the cause. IVORY UKONU takes a look at a few celebrity marriages that broke up in 2023.
Dilly and Fifi Umenyiora
After many years of projecting themselves as the ultimate couple, businessman Okwudili Umenyiora, aka Dilly, and his wife, Fifi, ended their 15-year-old marriage, formally confirming that not all that glitters is gold.
The erstwhile power couple had some challenges, but managed to keep it under wraps. Dilly, who is the chairman of Dilly Motors and The Dredgers Association of Nigeria, claimed his marriage crumbled due to irreconcilable differences. The marriage was blessed with three kids while it lasted. The couple has since moved on separately.
From a royal background, Dilly is the older sibling of USA NFL player, Osi Umenyiora, who married Leila Lopes, a former Miss Universe in 2015. His stepfather owns Germaine Motors and he is the half-brother of Nicole, wife to rapper, Naetochukwu Chikwe, aka Naeto C, Nicole’s mum was married to his dad until he passed on in the year 2020.
Gani and Mojisola Adams
The once celebrated union between the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Otunba Gani Adams and his wife, Mojisola, has unfortunately ended, with both of them going their separate ways. Mojisola has allegedly relocated to the United Kingdom with their children. Sources close to THEWILL allege that she decided to relocate abroad because she could no longer tolerate her husband’s weakness for women. A few years ago, Mojisola had claimed in an interview that she was advised not to marry Adams, but she had gone ahead, insisting that no marriage was perfect. Otunba Adams recently took a younger woman, Joy Onojaife, a former Delta State beauty queen, as his wife. The traditional wedding ceremony, a private one, however had some very prominent personalities in attendance.
Joy is the daughter of Lagos-based architect, Lucky Onojaife. She is a graduate of Physiology from Delta State University.
Gumsu Abacha and Mai Mala Buni
Gumsu Abacha, daughter of late military Head of State, late General Sani Abacha, has ended her two-year-old marriage to Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, for reasons best known to her, although she claimed to have been emancipated and liberated since she quit the marriage.
Rumour had it that the marriage was troubled, but the couple made sure to conceal this from the public. Gumsu became Buni’s fourth wife in March 2021. The wedding Fatiha was simple. It was an Islamic affair attended by friends of both families. The wedding ceremony can be described as the quietest event in the Abacha household in recent memory.
Before then, Gumsu was married to Cameroonian multi-billionaire, Bayero Fadil Mohamadou. They separated in 2019 after almost 20 years of marriage that produced five children.
Fareeda Abdulkabir and Ademola Okulaja
Less than two months after popular Lagos skincare entrepreneur and boss of House of Phreedah, Fareeda Abdulkabir and her partner, Ademola Okulaja tied the knot in a lavish wedding ceremony, the marriage has broken down irretrievably.
The drama that followed the collapse of the Okulajas’ dominated the social media space for many weeks. It is still being talked about because a large sum of money, about N100 million, was spent on the wedding ceremony and the erstwhile couple threw caution aside and washed its dirty linen in full glare of the public.
Fareedah and Ademola’s love story started two decades ago when they began an off and on relationship until Ademola completed a prison term in London and returned to Nigeria to take his relationship with Fareedah to the next level.
They had barely settled down to enjoy their marriage when the centre could no longer hold again. Fareedah, who will be 50 next month, accused Ademola of body shaming her, always referring to her as someone with the body of an 80-year-old woman. For that reason, according to her, she preferred to undress or dress up outside his view, preferably in the bathroom.
She claimed that he refused to accept her the way she was. He also put her under undue pressure to go under the knife for a liposuction and Brazilian Butt Lift procedures to make her look more attractive for him.
She also accused him of suffering from erectile dysfunction which prompted them to go run helter-skelter in search of a remedy for his issue, including going the traditional way by visiting herbalists.
Fareeda claimed that Ademola cheated on her without shame or remorse and that he was emotionally attached to a certain married woman (name withheld) whose romantic love message she intercepted on his phone and burst the bubble. In his defence, Ademola claimed they attempted to go for In Vitro Fertilisation, IVF, so she could bear a child, only for him to discover that she had no womb. He accused her of being a nymphomaniac who cheated on him with 12 of his friends, a major reason he wanted to call off their wedding at a point, but was prevailed upon not to do so by well-wishers.
He also said that no sooner did they tie the knot than he began to experience excruciating headaches and after a series of comprehensive tests which turned up nothing, he was forced to go spiritual only to find out that his wife was fetish. This is what he said prompted him to move out of their matrimonial home.
Ademola denied cheating on Fareeda and only had one affair outside his marriage after he moved out. Judging by the manner they both washed their dirty linensin public, it was obvious that they had no intention of patching things up.
Fareeda was formerly married to Foluke Daramola’s ex-husband, Tunde Sobowale, son of a former Commissioner for Education in Lagos State, Professor Idowu Sobowale. They got married in 2015, but the marriage did not last.
Ninalowo Bolanle and Bunmi
Nollywood actor, Bolanle Ninalowo, decided to end his 17 year-old marriage to Bunmi over irreconcilable differences. The couple, who had been together for nearly two decades, first met in 2004 and started a journey that led to marriage in 2007.
This is not the first time that the couple’s relationship has made news headlines. In 2017, Bolanle confirmed that after living together for 12 years, he and his wife had decided to end things. They reunited in 2018. In November 2022, they celebrated the 18th anniversary of their marriage by sharing moments of joy on social media. However, despite the outward appearances of a harmonious relationship and heavy public display of affection, they both decided to move on with their lives.
Early in the year, Nollywood actor, Wunmi Toriola, announced that her marriage had crashed. She was quick to debunk allegations of violence while the marriage lasted. She said that her four-year-old marriage ended because her ex-husband always rubbed her fame in her face when they had arguments.
“I got married to a young man, we had our lives coming up. I used to believe we could work things out, but at a point when you have issues in marriage and keep letting you feel your celebrity status is on the rock. Things that would have been settled,” she had said.
Wunmi is open to being a second wife as long as the union makes her happy.
“I used to have the mindset that I cannot be a second or third wife but that has changed because I am after-one now. If I see an after-one like me or a widower, I will marry him. What matters is my happiness.”
The union produced a child while it lasted and according to her, her ex-husband remains fully engaged in co-parenting their child despite their split.
“I even realized that co-parenting is going better, we could have even ended up being friends.”
Yomi Gold and Meenah
Yoruba actor and producer, Yomi Alore, aka Yomi Gold, announced the end of his second marriage to his wife, Meenah, in January 2023. This was less than a year after they got married. He took responsibility for the collapse of the marriage, tagging his wife a ‘good person’ who didn’t deserve a man like himself and would make a loving partner to a better man.
He said, “Meenah and I decided to go our separate ways. I want our families, friends and fans to understand. This is no time to judge anyone. When love dies in a relationship, no one should force it. Meenah is a good person. She doesn’t deserve a man like me. She will make a great and loving partner to a far better person than me. I am not perfect. I will work on myself and be a better person.” The marriage was blessed with a son before it crashed.
Yomi was previously married to Victoria Ige, but their marriage broke up, too.
Damola Olatunji and Bukola Arugba
The news of the abrupt end of Nollywood actor, Damilola Olatunji’s relationship with his colleague, Bukola Arugba didn’t come as a surprise to many. The signs were already visible, despite the fact that the two tried to cover it up. Fans started suspecting that there was trouble in their paradise when the two started shunning each other’s celebrations and going on vacations alone. Eventually, Bukola announced that they were both going their separate ways. Although she didn’t give reasons for falling apart from her partner, THEWILL gathered that Olatunji’s philandering attitude crashed the relationship which produced a set of twins, a boy and girl. Aside from his love for anything in skirt, he is also a deadbeat father who leaves most of his financial obligations to the mother of his twins.
The actress did all within her to save her marriage, but Olatunji was hell bent on going astray. The couple were not married legally for the years they spent together, but they had an introduction ceremony.
Ironically, the two thespians met while Olatunji was busy philandering. The actor was married to a United Kingdom based lady, Raliat Abiodun-Olatunji, before meeting Bukola Arugba.
Olatunji and Raliat got married in 2013. They had both their registry and customary wedding which however crumbled in 2014 as a result of infidelity on the part of the actor. While Raliat was busy preparing to get her husband documents to secure his UK visa, Olatunji was having an affair with Bukola Arugba and even impregnated her. It was when Raliat came back to Nigeria from her UK base that she got to know about her husband’s infidelity. He denied being unfaithful to her but he shouldn’t save his marriage as Raliat ended the relationship without conceding to divorce. The union produced two children (twins) before it crashed.
Israel DMW and Sheila Courage
Davido’s personal logistics manager, Israel Afeare, parted ways with his wife, Sheila Courage, over marital crisis.
The couple tied the knot on Thursday, October 20, 2022, at a traditional ceremony held in Benin City. Israel claims Sheila deceived him into thinking he could have peace with her, adding that herself and her family extorted him unnecessarily. But Sheila accused Israel of physical and emotional abuse while they were together. She claimed that she was locked out of her home for no reason and constantly threatened, adding that Israel brought hoodlums to invade her mother’s shop and assault her.
Sheila claimed that the genesis of their problem was that each time she tried to encourage him to be productive and venture into business, he would tell her that Edo men can’t be controlled. She accused him of projecting himself to be what he isn’t by parading all kinds of certificates from church and claiming to be born again. The marriage, which was consummated in October 2022, produced no children.
