Nigerian actor and filmmaker Emmanuel Ikubese has, for the first time, shared insights into his failed marriage and its fallout.
In March 2020, the former Mr Nigeria wedded celebrity makeup artiste, Anita ‘Brows’ Adetoye, in a talk of the town ceremony.
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By February 2021, rumours that the marriage had hit the rocks emerged after the actor removed his wedding photos from Instagram.
The couple also stoked the rumours when they unfollowed each other on social media.
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Big blow
For the first time since the high-profile marriage ended, Emmanuel, who recently premiered a movie about sickle cell anaemia, has spoken about his failed marriage and the toll it took on him.
Emmanuel, who was recently a guest on the Archives of Becoming Podcast, said that the failed marriage was a blow to him, stating that he can only speak from his perspective and not his estranged partner’s
“It was an identity thing. If you don’t find your identity, you always find yourself in moments like this. And for me, everything leading up to who I was from Kenya felt like that put me on the highway. And God needed a reset, and that was the reset for me.
“I’d always desired a family, and now I had gotten it. Anyone who knows me knows I’m very family-oriented, and for the very first time in my life, that made me feel like a failure. The wedding I had was very high-profile. It was one of the biggest weddings in Nigeria at the time, and I just felt like I’d failed,” he said.
Redemption
On the emotional toll the break-up had on him, the ‘Shuga’ actor said that he couldn’t explain the pain that came from that space because being divorced changed everything.
However, he said, on the other side of the pain he felt, God was waiting for him.
“It changed my life. It changed how I see life. It changed who I am, literally, because it felt like I had to go back to God, and I said, “Okay, God, where did I miss this?” And I thank God because it just felt like God was waiting for me.
“It’s like God trying to call your attention for a very long time, right, and now he’s like, okay, finally I get your attention, right, and I thank God that I took that to him, but it took me on a journey that was a really painful journey,’ Emmanuel said.
He added that after the marriage ended, God started to take him through a healing process.
“I was always a lost Emmanuel. It felt like I was this very popular person. It felt like the world was celebrating me. But you see, the world was celebrating someone who had not even found himself.
“I had not found myself. I didn’t even understand why I was in the industry. Fame just felt good, you know. I didn’t struggle for it. And I was living that life, doing everything. I didn’t understand the hurts that carried along the line. Everything didn’t start in 2020. 2020 was just a crash,” he said.
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