Funke Akindele-Bello, the Nollywood actress, has recounted how she was able to cope with the trauma that came after her failed marriage to Kehinde Almaroof Oloyede, her ex-husband.
The union between the film star and Oloyede was dissolved in 2013 — after a year together — due to what she described as “irreconcilable differences”.
But in a recent interview with Chude Jideonnwo, the 43-year-old recounted how naivety and societal pressure forced her into her first marriage.
She also narrated how “she almost died, lost some good deals” and was able to overcome the trauma during that period.
“You know, I just wanted to get married. I want to do things right, have children and all that. And I went into the (first) marriage, it didn’t work fine. And it ended in a very bad way, in social media, the noise was everywhere. I was actually filming and somebody called me and told me, I wanted to die,” she said.
“You know I cried, lost some good deals then. But I didn’t let it break me. What I did was that I collected all the scripts from the east. I would wake up by 3:30 am, and by 5 am, I’m out to the airport, waiting for the 7:30 am flight to Enugu. That was how I survived.”
The movie star also advised young women not to feel pressured into marriage or having kids by parents or friends, noting that marriage should be driven by love and not coercion.
“As a young lady out there, do not be pressured to get married. Get married because you want to get married, get married because you love him, you want to spend the rest of your life with him,” she added.
“Don’t get married because mummy and daddy are saying get married or your friend just got married, have children because you want to have children, you want to be blessed with children, you love children.
“Don’t have children because the society will say ‘ah she’s barren oh, 12 years, 6 years e never marry’ ignore the gossips, ignore the naysayers, give them ‘sorry the middle finger, I don’t care’. Yes, ignore because you have your life, do what makes you happy.”
In 2016, the actress got married to Abdulrasheed Bello, the Nigerian songwriter and rapper better known as JJC Skillz.
The lovebirds also celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary on Monday.
