Nollywood actress, FunkeAkindele, is the latest star going through
the travails of separation just after 14 months of her celebrated
marriage to estate developer, Kehinde Oloyede writes BIODUN KUPOLUYI..
Though Kehinde was the first to go public with the news of their
separation via popular social network site, Facebook, The Return of
Jenifa star gave her ears to her in-laws who felt she could still change
her mind and that separation actually is not the solution to the
problem. However, Kehinde’s Facebook divorce notice made it easier for
the star actress to call it quit finally; “That place is not for me, I
have been through hell and back,” she told E24-7MAGAZINE on Friday. The
press statement released by her management, NEECEE Entertainment and
signed by Ayo Ola Mohammed on the separation eventually cleared the air
on Friday evening. It reads “On behalf of our client, star actress,
FunkeAkindele, we want to formally inform you that after due
consultation and consideration, she’s now separated from Mr.
KehindeOloyede as his wife. She hereby urges her fans and all concerned
to pray and wish her the best as she moves on in her career. Kindly note
that this is the first and only official statement from FunkeAkindele
on the matter and she will be glad her wish is respected.” The terse
statement debunked claims online and a national daily newspaper that she
sent sms that her marriage was intact.
Though the marriage was conceived over a year ago, many reasons such
as long shooting days spent on various locations, and a cocktail of
sundry options that are regular fixtures in celebrity life splits
contributed to the premature termination of the relationship.
Sources close to Funke disclosed to E24-7 MAGAZINE that the humorous
actress had never had it so bad and despite her high profile status, she
wanted to stay in her marriage to work things out, but there were too
many bumps on the road, and eventually the vehicle of their love tumbled
and crashed beyond repair. She hinted that she only enjoyed the first
two months of the marriage. “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.”
At Oshodi, she said, she received a warm welcome from the wife, Fadekemi, but constant humiliation from Kehinde.
“She was really loved by the kids at home; she enjoyed taking them
out to eateries and stores. Sometimes, they spent the weekend with her
and she followed them to school. The children will surely miss her,” our
source, close to the family, said. Now that the cookie has crumbled,
Kehinde, she said has been calling and sending text messages begging her
to come back.
“He sent me sms that he has seen a buyer for his house at Adeniyi
Jones for N40million. He asked me if he should sell it and that if he
does, he will buy me a new car and a rent me a new apartment. Why now? I
don’t need all that, I want my sanity.” After she ignored him, he sent
her another text abusing her and calling her names. “So you can see that
he does not mean well for me,” she re-iterated. E24-7 checks frevealed
as at Saturday evening Kehinde was combing the nooks and crannies of
Ikorodu to locate Funke’s dad’s house. He boasted: “I will do anything
to win my wife back.”
Over the past few months, Funke and Kehinde had started to see things
differently so the need to pull out became inexorably high. It was
revealed exclusively to E24-7 MAGAZINE by sources close to Funke, that
she was ready to go on with Kehinde’s warts and all but for the fact
that loyalty has never been his strong point- his children from
different women tell it all. Kehinde, our source hinted, has a roving
eye when it comes to the opposite sex and this often causes friction
between him and his celebrity wife. There are tales about his dalliance
with his Personal Assistant, Funke. Observers of the marriage from
inception feel that when fame and money come to a meeting point in a
relationship, it will result in problems if the couple are not committed
and disciplined. Moreover, a byproduct of this alliance is usually ego
and it kills celebrity marriages faster than one can open the pages of
tabloids and magazines. But this is not the case with Funke. “I respect
him to the end but he chose to treat me that way. He said he wanted to
clip my wings.”
Funke and Kehinde rarely spent substantial time together even at the
peak of their marriage. Both kept to hectic schedules by virtue of their
chosen professions. While Funke is often involved in back-to-back
shooting on movie sets, Kehinde jumps from one construction site to
another; pressing buttons for his political ambitions; and keeping dates
with his wife at home and other women by the side. This sort of
arrangement invariably makes keeping faith with the vows of the union
very difficult. In the long run, suspicion will rear its ugly head and
the couple will eventually drift apart, especially when they don’t live
under the same roof. This is best exemplified in Funke and Kehinde’s
break up.
Besides, Kehinde’s disturbing and haunting pasts have repeatedly
stared Funke right in the face, and according to E24-7 MAGAZINE’s
impeccable source, Funke learnt shockingly that her once beloved hubby
was expelled from the University of Jos almost as soon as he was
matriculated as a student of the ivory tower. His admission, according
to our source, was faulty right from the beginning and since that first
attempt at tertiary education went awry, he shut his door at education.
When he returned from Jos, he found strength in his entrepreneurial
skill coupled with the influence and support of his mother, a market
leader and successful businesswoman; he became an estate developer,
building chains of shops in Oshodi market.
Gradually, he crept into politics and his popularity soared that he
became a well-known grassroots politician and a great mobilizer. More
than twice, Kehinde, who belonged to the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP), and his supporters have clashed with the NATIONAL UNION OF ROAD
TRANSPORT WORKERS (NURTW) Treasurer, MusiliuAkinsanya aka MC Oluomo an
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) loyalist. Kehinde has also contested
for elective posts twice; most recent, was the Oshodi/Isolo Constituency
1 House of Representatives in 2007 which he also lost.
Many years after, he reawakened his political ambition and quickly
re-aligned himself by joining the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). To
shore up his image, he found in Funke who has become monstrously popular
with her movie, Jenifa and the sequel, The Return of Jenifa, a ready
tool. He convinced the favourite actress to lead him to the Leader of
the Action Congress of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom he had
assaulted many years ago during the market women leadership tussle
between his mother, AlhajaAlmaroof and the late Iyaloja General
AlhajaAbibatMogaji. After he atoned for his ‘sins,’ he joined the train
of well- wishers that went to London to felicitate with the former
governor when one of his sons graduated from a university in London.
Reliable sources told E24-7 MAGAZINE that Kehinde’s lost bid to win the
contract to rebuild Oshodi market really threw him off balance and that
probably made him to turn the heat on his latest wife, Funke who wanted
his attention.
Despite the ill-fated turn that the relationship has taken, many of
Funke’s fans can’t help but wonder if she hadn’t known that the union
was doomed to fail from the onset. The reason for this thinking is not
far-fetched; firstly, Funke opted for the Muslim marriage even when many
thought that she would go to the court registry to cement her marriage
with Oloyede.
Secondly, sources close to the family said Kehinde was
warned by spiritualists not to venture into the marriage but he declined
and did not share it with Funke. In the same vein, Funke was told not
to go into it by her parents but she asked them to respect her wish. And
as it plays out, she is free to remarry anytime she pleases without
unnecessary legal impediments. This and many other factors contribute to
the opinion shared by many of her fans that the delectable thespian
knew that the future of her marriage with Oloyede will not be as long,
colourful and bright as it appeared with all the glam. It’s just too
quick and too fast to break. Now that the requiem mass has been sung for
the once celebrated union, one cannot but remember the view of
controversial actress, Tonto Dikeh, who declared that Nollywood brides
often marry “horribly.” Sources close to Funke, who has returned to
Asaba’s movie location on Saturday morning, believe that though her
action may not make perfect sense to many now as the confusion created
may be laughed at while she goes through the tears, she’s confident that
she will smile again.
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