13 female artists who have ‘second hand’ husbands

Nigerian Artiste, Etcetera has said that Nigerian female celebrities marry second hand husbands citing Tiwa and Teebillz as his reference.
He believes it is a normal thing in Nigeria that when you can’t buy a brand new car you go for a second hand one. Because in the true sense of it, a second hand is a second hand, whether car or husband. Here is a concise list of female entertainers in Nigeria who are truly married to second hand husbands.

Mercy Aigbe-Gentry
Mercy Aigbe-Gentry falls into the category of celebrities that married second hand husbands. Her husband, Lanre Gentry was previously married with three children to show for it. Lanre is said to have completed his divorce process. However, Mercy Aigbe also had a child before getting married to her Mr. Gentry.

Mercy Johnson
Mercy Johnson’s marriage to Prince Okojie was a celebrity marriage that almost didn’t hold. This was due to the scandal that rocked the preparations for the wedding as the wife of the man wanted to stop the union. Mercy Johnson’s husband, Prince Okojie’s had two children before he married Mercy.

Nse Ikpe Etim
Lovely actress, Nse got married in a civil ceremony on Valentine’s Day last year and followed it up with a traditional marriage two months later in Akwa Ibom. Her husband, Clifford Sule had already fathered a son from an earlier relationship before getting married to Nse.

Laide Bakare
Laide Bakare is another second hand wife, who got married to a second hand husband. Alhaji Mutairu Atanda Orilowo. She left her former husband, Olumide Okufulure after the pair fell apart. Though there was controversy when her former husband claimed paternity of her child with her new husband, she is always quick to tell the world she is happy with her new husband. However, her new tokunbo husband is currently facing fraud charges with the EFCC.

Foluke Daramola
Foluke Daramola recently celebrated her one year marriage anniversary to her second husband, Kayode Salako. Mr Salako already had three sons from his wife before he got married to Foluke.

Oh by the way, Ms. Uduak, a blogger has written a memo to celebrities with second hand husbands.

Read her article below:

In recent times, we have seen highly controversial weddings among female celebrities. The issue to my knowledge, in the public domain, is not whether these husbands were “second hand” husbands but rather whether they fulfilled their responsibilities to their children or ex-spouses( where a prior marriage was concerned) before attempting to remarry, okay perhaps Actress Funke Akindele’s marriage might have been the exception to the rule; but that was justified under Islamic religion where a man can have more than one wife.

However, more direct non-religious examples of controversial weddings follow:

Take for example: 1) Mercy Johnson who married a man who was allegedly still married in Italy, his Italian Nigerian wife even produced valid marriage documents yet Mercy Johnson married him. To resolve that issue, the man at the time of the wedding, and within 24hours, sought for a traditional divorce of his Italian wife in Nigeria. The jurisdictional issue whether he was still married in Italy remained. To date, we are unsure whether his wife in Italy filed for a divorce. For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone will say ‘yes’ to a man that has not broken ties  from a previous marriage i.e. he is still married with two kids. Divorce and marry, the law permits you to do so. Don’t take someone to the altar while you are legally married to another, especially where your soon to be wife allegedly has no clue.

The second example is the Tiwa Savage case. Tiwa Savage’s marriage to T-Billz was controversial regardless of the luxurious weddings and fan fare. Initially, most were very happy for her. She is the darling of the industry. However, when a Nigerian-American Los Angeles based woman emerged on the internet, complete with pictures of T-Billz with two children he fathered by this woman, and accused T-Billz of not providing for his children and not having contact with them for some years now, it became quite embarrassing to watch and imagine that this was who Savage wanted to spend the rest of her life with. To my knowledge, there was no explicit denial by T-Billz of the accusations, rather, he made  a statement on how he tries to be the best father.

Meanwhile, you had Tiwa Savage singing praises on how T-Billz was the best and believed and invested in her when others wouldn’t.

If you all recall, I responded here on AML that, there was mixing of business and pleasure. Your manager is supposed to believe in you and invest in you the way that he does, even if you are a female artist, it is no different than his investment in a male artist.

Anyway, fast forward, these two are now married and a colleague writes an article that refers to her choice for a husband as a second hand husband. While he does not name Tiwa and T-Billz, the clear inference given the facts he cites is that he refers to them.

T-Billz and Tiwa in response are clearly hurt and have taken to (instagram) to air their opinions. I am not sure Etcetera’s article warranted a response. There will be many that will hold the opinion that T-Billz is  a”second hand” husband. That is their issue and prerogative. On the flip side, there will be many who do not hold such opinion and can appreciate the role a manager has in the career of an artist and that, but for his business sense and vision, the deals brokered and the strategic placement of the Tiwa Savage brand,to become successful would not have occurred. Arguably, that they happen to fall in love does not make him 2nd hand.

I think the only thing T-Billz should be concerned about is taking care of his existing children with the woman in L.A. so we don’t see such spills on the internet making his private affairs with Tiwa one for dissecting. He does have a duty to protect her,  doesn’t he?