Being a celebrity is one thing many people will forever cherish, as they are always held in high esteem with all the accolades of superstar status accorded them. One cannot but envy the superstars. But that is how far their paparazzi tales go, as the issue of single parenthood and crashed marriages among them stick out like a sore thumb. However, some of them still cherish their marriages, but such are very few. In this special report, AJIBADE ALABI examines why most Nollywood marriages fail to endure, and why some of them, despite all odds, still stand the test of time.

Marriage, that eight-letter word, is one institution God said in His Holy book, the Bible, must be respected. In fact, the Holy Bible goes further to let us believe that God created woman out of the man's ribs, which was interpreted to mean that since a woman was created out of man, it is a MUST for a man to get married so as to “recover” his missing rib from the woman, as the woman is expected to permanently be his life partner. To summarise, a verse in the Holy Bible said, “What God has joined together let no man put asunder.”

But it seems none of our celebrities whose marriages have crashed, whether by omission or commission go through this verse in the Bible. Not keeping a marriage among celebrities in Nigeria is not only in vogue but also becoming the order of the day, as the married among them are opting out for reasons difficult to fathom.

Monalisa Chinda, four years ago walked out of her marriage without any concrete reason. Before her, Foluke Daramola, after much denials of problem in her marriage, finally called it quit with the marriage, though she has since re-married to society big boy, Kayode. Eucheria Anunobi also called it a day with her marriage, citing lack of love from her husband. “I went into my marriage blindly, that is why the marriage did not survive,” Eucheria Anunobi cited as reason why her marriage was thrown into the dustbin of history.

It is the same story with the marriage of Folashade Omoniyi, the one her fans passionately call Lepa Shandy. Her five-year-old marriage crashed due to what she called irreconcilable differences with her husband. She was later married to another man, and the result is the delivery of a baby girl last year. Ditto Lola Alao, the beautiful sexy Ebira, Kogi State actress. She called it quit with her husband due to the distance between them. And before one could say “action” her second marriage is already on a slippery ground, with unconfirmed story that the marriage has also packed up.

Another crashed celebrity marriage is the one between Owerri, Imo State-born actress, Ann Njemanze, and screen “bad boy” Segun Arinze. When the marriage was ordained a lot of people believed it was made in heaven going by the way and manner the couple was always seen together. The marriage crumbled following series of scandals, including infidelity on both sides. Same goes for the marriage of Saidi and Fathia Balogun; the marriage that produced three children crashed like a badly arranged pack of cards after both accused each other of insincerity. It got to a time Saidi Balogun warned Fathia to stop the use of his surname since he was no longer married to him. But Fathia would not hear of it, saying in as much as she had children for him, she would continue to use his surname. Also crashed was Bimbo Akintola's love story with Dede, the bad boy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti's band. It is an open story. It crashed before it began, as both parties threw caution to the wind, calling themselves a lot of unprintable names.

The inability of several female artistes to keep their marriages is truly a global phenomenon. Far away in America, singing star, Madonna, has in recent times fallen in and out of marriages. Even Janet Jackson had to dump her age-long lover. At the home front we have had failed marriages involving Victor Essiet and Peggy Umannah of the Mandators fame, and that of Evi Edna-Ogoli and her producer husband whom she had two children for. The celebrated marriage of American music star, Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston is one sour grape in the garden of love sex, drugs and violence as the regular feature in their relationship.

Not keeping a marriage among female artistes in Nigeria is not only in vogue but also the order of the day, as those married among them are opting out for reasons one could not fathom. For the last 24 months there have been not less than five crashed marriages in Nollywood.

Olaide Bakare's wedding, which produced an issue, is more controversial. She dumped her husband and announced in less than 24 hours that she was three months pregnant for her new husband. It was one of the most shocking news in the entertainment industry last year.

Funke Akindele's marriage to Oshodi big boy, Alhaji Kehinde Almoroof, was another marriage that created a crashed marriage record in Nollywood. After just a year into the marriage, it was pronounced “dead” by the husband via social network. And just when the industry was getting over the “wedding today, separated tomorrow” in the industry, the crash marriage story of Doris Simeon and Daniel Ademinokan crept in. It is getting so worrisome, as the industry that preaches decency to their viewers cannot practice what they preach. The case of Doris and Daniel is more worrisome, as it was later discovered that Doris lost her “home” to her colleague in the industry, Stella Damasus. It will interest people to know that Stella herself could not keep her marriage to Nzeribe for more than two years.

The jinx of marriage break-up in the industry reared its ugly head a week ago, when the “longest” marriage in the industry for the past 10 years was terminated. The six-year-old marriage of Ini Ebong Edobong better known as Ini Edo to Philip Ehiagwina came to abrupt end. The dissolution was announced by Ini Edo herself through her twitter and facebook page.

There are many reasons given why Nollywood actresses do not stay long in their marriages. One is that a lot of them are more concerned about the wedding than the marriage. They want to be associated with the glamour and paparazzi that goes with the wedding rather than the marriage, forgetting that there is a world of difference between marriage and wedding. So, after some months or years they find it difficult to cope with the reality of marriage. Another factor militating against their marriage is the high taste they have for themselves. Hardly would you see any of these so-called actresses who can proudly tell you that she married her childhood lover. By the time they got to that level (high class), they will begin to choose.

Now, the question is, after Ini Edo who next? Will the mystery of marriage continue in Nollywood? Or is there a voodoo in Nollywood that would not allow their marriage to see better years ahead? Time will tell.

@Daily News Watch

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