Shola Jeremiah is a fast-rising actor cum movie producer, he started up as a continuity, trained under Yinka Quadri and Taiwo Hassan (Ogogo) and Abbey Lanre in Odunfa caucus over a decade ago. He shot his first movie in 2010/2011 titled “Moyin Oluwa”. Besides Acting, he also works as a Clearing Agent.
His life took a turn when he married popular comedian Princess,
the courtship and marriage lasted for barely 6 months while the marriage itself
lasted for only 6 weeks. According to him, he became an object of ridicule and
hardly stepped out of his house, because his friends, family and colleagues
never supported his choice of bride, but he thought the marriage would work. He
was labelled, a gold digger who was hungry for fame and wanted to use Princess
to achieve all that.
Jeremiah in his first major interview after the marriage
breakup, he talked extensively
on what really happened in the marriage that many people don’t know about, how
he worked extra to make the marriage work, and real reason, his marriage to
Princess broke up, right before it even started. Below are excerpts of the
interview.
Can you shed more light on what you mean by you losing
everything after your marriage break up?
When we were together, there are lots of things that happened,
like we share lots of things together. Then as an actor, I also work as a
clearing agent, sometimes, if I get a job maybe through Princess or any other
person, I have to give her, her own percentage and what I mean by saying I lost
everything, was the fact that when I was married, I couldn’t do anything, there
was no time for one to even go to location, I was always indoor, I mean after
the marriage break up, people started mocking me, so I was too shy to go out,
and it was really bad because lots of them never supported my getting married
to Princess, at the first place. Saying the marriage would not work.
What were the reasons why they didn’t support you?
Maybe they knew her more than I do but I thought everything would change for good. We are from different background, and even when I started
complaining, I was advised to be patient, that things would change for good. It
was later that I realized that what my colleagues and senior colleagues were
saying, I could not control her was actually true, so when we broke up, I
couldn’t even go back to my family, location, I was just all by myself.
Would it be right, to say you were depressed at that time?
Yes. I was depressed, and the things people were saying, that I
married her for money and fame, made everything really complicated for me. Then, when I walked on the street, people would always talk about me and pointing fingers
at me; so all those things really affected me, at times, I would stay indoor for a
whole week without going out. Then, I saw lots of things on blogs and
newspapers.
Can you talk about the complains about Princess before you
married her?
According to her, in some of her interviews when they ask her,
why her marriage crashed, she said irreconcilable differences I would not want
to go deep into some things, I also believe in the industry, lots of people know
her very well, the kind of person, she is, then compared to the kind of man I
am, they felt, I could not control her.
What type of person is Princess?
She is a very nice person, but when it comes to her personal
life, I don’t think anybody can control her, and she is very temperamental, and
that has been my colleagues fears concerning the marriage that I won’t be able
to manage her but I went ahead because I believed I am not perfect too, so we
should both be able to merge things up.
How long did you both date before getting married?
No, not really, when we met, we use to hang out together, and within
3 to 4 months the issue of marriage came up.
Which one of you brought out the idea of marriage?
I met Princess through Bola, who happens to be our mutual
friend, and Princess was very nice, till date, but it is just that, when she
starts her drama, she will be out of control. So we started dating and even
travelled together. She even visited me on location, at times if she was not
comfortable with the hotel they lodged us in, she would change my hotel to another
one. After some months, her younger sister got married, that was on Valentine’s
day of that year and she had already introduced me to her mum and her younger
sister Yetunde. So she told me that she wanted me to be present at the wedding,
so I went on Friday. After her sister’s wedding, she came up with the idea,
that we should get married too at least, that we already knew each other and
whatever that is remaining, we will learn in the marriage, so I felt, she is
more exposed compared to me, so we will not have problem in the marriage, and
that was why I agreed to everything she said, and we started planning the
wedding, within a short period, we got married.
So what really brought about the separation?
Right from the beginning, I told her I didn’t want a flambouyant
wedding, but she insisted on having a big wedding, we started having issues
when she wanted to be in control of everything, she even tried to screen people
that I will relate with, so I told her that if you want to accept me, you have
to accept me with all I have, she treated my P.A Sikiru so badly, she used to condemn everyone that came around me, but I always accommodated her people, when I
started complaining, she promised to change, and apologized, and anytime, we
had any issue, she would start shouting, I am more of the reserved type,
and that is why I have never granted any interview, if the need arises, I will
always refer people to her. Even at times, when I got a script and will want to
read and digest the script, she will insist I came over and spend time with
her. At a point, I got really tired of everything and I was like, the wedding
plans should be put on hold, and learn more about each other, she started
crying that I wanted to disgrace her.
They had to call my elder brother to intervene, so I was like,
okay, if she still insist on the wedding arrangement, she brought the idea of
Aso-ebi, with an intention of having my people in the picture, I appointed a lady from my church
to sell to my people, and once she is done selling, she should take the money back to
Princess. Along the line, the lady had issues with people she sold clothes to
and some were unable to pay, Princess took it on me, until the case was
resolved and I was vindicated. Also we had issues as regards to the invites we shared, I happened to be my church's choir coordinator, and my choristers wanted
to come and perform and as at that time, there was no more enough invites
for individual. So I told them to write their names in a sheet of paper and I
will attached it to one invite and give it to the wedding planner so they could come in convoy, so the wedding planner took it to Princess, and Princess said
no, she wouldn’t allow them, so I was like okay let’s wait and see what will
happen on the wedding day, I quickly went to get something, on my way
coming, the wedding planner called me that I need to iron that same issue out
with Princess, so that those people will not face any form of embarrassment, so
I called her to talk about the issue, she told me that she is very busy, that I
should go to my room, so I said okay.
The next morning, I left the hotel as early as 6am to go and get the bride’s item at Ishaga, then the wedding planner called me not to forget to iron the same issue out, so when I got back, I called her to settle everything, she said food will not be enough, I told her not to bother herself about that, she still insisted and said No, and that was when I got angry, she said, if any guests is coming from my side, they should come and take permission from her, before the person can get inside, that really pissed me off, and I told her, that she can’t do that except, she wanted to get married to herself. I said those people are coming and if you want to see the other side of me, don’t let them come into the venue, I now stood up, to walk out, the next thing, she grabbed my shirt from the back, tore everything, the chain my friend bought for me to use for the wedding, she destroyed everything including my inner wear.
Despite all she did, I didn’t touch her, I only removed her hands from my clothes, I went to my room and locked myself up, her friends were there, nobody supported her for her actions, she transferred the aggression on Bola, that she was the one that linked us up, the lady was crying and begging me, I locked myself up and promised not to go for the wedding, lots of people came and pleaded with me, even Ara, also did. I said no, later Mrs. Bimbo Fashola called me on the phone and said, she heard I was not at the venue of the wedding. that I should go and also that she is almost there. That was when I decided to go. I didn’t even bath, I just took my trouser, wore it and left. If you go through all the pictures we took for the wedding, you will notice that I was not happy at all.
Even the day we went to registry, we still had issues, Princess can make calls all day, I didn’t complain, but that morning, a friend called me and she started complaining that I received calls, so many drama’s like that. Her mother was at our house that morning, at a point, she said, she was not going to the registry, I said no problem, later I guess her mother spoke with her and that got settled. There’s this particular problem Princess has, her mother doesn’t see any fault in anything she is doing. When we got to the registry, Mrs. Fashola’s younger sister called her and advised her that she should respect her husband and also told her that even she, that her elder sister is the wife of the Governor of Lagos State still bow and respect her husband, so, she should be submissive. After all the drama that happened, I told her, I was not going for any honeymoon, she had to call our counsellor to talk to me, so I listened and we went for the honeymoon even during the honeymoon, lots of things happened that I can not even disclose.
We went to
Gambia, Ghana, after Ghana, we were planning to go to U.K but because of what
happened in Ghana, we were supposed to spend one month in Ghana we ended up
spending one week, lot of things happened, and I don’t want it to look as if I
want to spoil her name, so, I won’t disclose, so I made up my mind to come back
to Nigeria, because if I misbehave in that place, they might arrest me. A lot
of things happened in our hotel room, so I decided, it is better for us to come
back home, which we did. A lot of people were surprised that we came early, I
had to lie to cover up. When we got back if I don’t have anything doing, we could be indoor for a week, if I say I want to visit my friends, she won’t allow me,
except we go to Ozone Cinema together, that is when I can go out, but one
particular day, I told her, I was going to barb my hair, after my choir
practice, when I got back, she started shouting that I went to see another
woman.
She won’t allow any member of my family visit me but her mother
has a personal bedroom in our house, her sister stays with us, even when my
friends and colleagues visit me, she will say, I have to go and meet them
outside, they can’t come into our house. I had to go and host my friends at
eatery. When she got back from Ghana after our honeymoon, she got pregnant,
later she started having sharp pain after test, we discovered it was ectopic
pregnancy. All the drama continue one particular night I drank on an empty
stomach and the thing disturbed me, I realized the pain was unbearable, so I
managed to my friend’s house and the wife happened to be a nurse, treated me, I
stayed in their house all through, my wife didn’t even bother to call, her
attitude was so unbearable for me, so when I got home the following morning I
told her to meet me up at her mum’s place. I called the mum, the next thing she
said I should not kill her daughter. I told the mum that I was not interested
in the marriage any longer, and Princess said, it’s just dawned on her that I
married her for fame and wealth, so I reminded her she started with the whole
wedding idea not me.
So she collected the keys to house from me, so I stayed with my
friend for two weeks, then she travelled out of the country to U.K and
displayed a picture of herself and a white guy holding themselves. So, I
removed my wedding band, later she got back apologized for everything, she even
invited me over for an event she was anchoring, initially I said no, but after
so much begging, I went, when I got there I met lots of my colleagues in the
industry there, like Iyabo Ojo, Niyi Johnson and many others.
We talked, my uncle also interceded and advised me to forget
everything that has happened and moved on, so I agreed. From there we both went
back home together, later on I discovered that I had toilet infection because I
stayed with my friend for 2 weeks before we settled again, and their toilet was
not good, so I got infected. She insisted we go for general test, maybe I have
sexually transmitted disease, I told her no problem, she can pick any lab she
wanted and I will undergo any tests she wants just to prove her wrong. At the
end of it, it was confirmed at the hospital that it was a toilet infection, I
was treated and all the while I was on treatment, we stayed away from each
other and no sexual relationship between us.
Due to the many drama that happened between us, she severe her relationship with Bola, our mutual friend, at a point, Bola was producing a movie and I was to coordinate the movie, Bola called me, that they will soon start shooting the movie and they have not seen me yet, I had to explain that Princess wasn’t feeling too fine and was even admitted at the hospital, so she decided to come over just to greet her, while she was seated there, Princess sent a message to her phone, that she did not want to see her again, so she stood up and left, I followed her to ask her question, she explained everything to me, so I was really angry and told her what she did was wrong, immediately she started shouting at me at the hospital that I wanted to kill her, that I invited her enemy over to kill her, the next minute, she asked for the security and instructed them to bundle me out of the hospital, we ended up creating a scene at the hospital, her mother was like, she is tired of the whole marriage issue, that if we want to go our separate ways, we should go instead of everyday drama, also that we should look at Funke Akindele, she doesn’t have so much drama in her marriage.
From there, I went to location, before I got back she already
invited my family members and told them that I infected her and that led to
ectopic pregnancy. I told her to bring all the test results and let us
calculate the time we started having sex, then it will be cleared that I never
infected her, the major problem was the tampax she was using for her menstrual
period not me. Right in front of our family members, she said she wanted me to
leave her life, and that was when I questioned her mother, that why is she always
in support of her daughter, even when she is at fault, the next thing, she got
angry, and said I can’t separate her from her daughter, that I should go and
ask of her at Ebute Metta, that she will use bottle to break my head, I told
her, she can’t try that, immediately Princess called Panti Police Station that
am threatening her life, few minutes later, five Policemen came, my family members interceded that it was a family issue, so the Police
left. I told her to get a piece of paper and write it down that she wanted me to leave her
life and sign, which she did. I explained everything to my uncle, and he said I
should not walk out of the marriage.
Princess attends C.S (Ayoni Movement, and I attended Celestial
Church, we don’t go to the same, immediately they close from church, she will
start calling me that why is my service taking so long and I will be like, you
can’t keep controlling me, I will go home when am done. At a point, she said I
should join her in her church, I told her things are not done that way. The
main reason why I now decided to leave the marriage was that, one particular
night, after our normal argument in the house, she stood to pick up something.
I was just fortunate to look at her direction, she was coming towards me with a
knife, then I stood up and ran, she started chasing me in the house to stab me. She said, she will kill me, and nobody will question her, because she is going
to say I was the one who tried to kill her.
I narrowly escaped, first thing the next morning, I picked my
credentials and some vital items and left the house for her. After three days
she started calling, begging and crying that I should forgive her. During our
harvest, she came uninvited, I was on the stage singing, she came and
started spraying me money, she humbled herself and greeted people, that was one thing,
she doesn’t do, so I was really surprised, she also went to my Sherpherd to
explain things to him and begged him to talk to me. After the service, I saw her
off, she asked when I will be returning home, I told her, am not sure yet.
Later, one of my cousin called me from U.S, that she has been asking me
questions concerning Princess I will just say, everything is fine, but she is
going to send me a link to read through what Princess said, we are divorced,
that I used to beat her also, at a point I met Helen Paul while travelling out
of the country, and she said the same thing, that Princess said I used to beat
her. I was like Hellen Paul look at me very well, do I look or have power to
beat Princess, they started laughing. I told her I have lots of my cloths that
Princess torn in the process of fighting with me as prove, so if I walk out
of the marriage now, I am justified.
How true was it that you impregnated someone and that led to
your marriage break up?
That is not true at all, since I left the marriage, I have been
single till date and nobody had any child for me.
What year did you both get married?
2013, May, to be precise and everything plus courtship lasted for just six months. The marriage lasted for 6 weeks.
Would you say cyber bullying contributed to your break up?
No, that is the true, she is just trying to justify her actions.
It’s all lies if I had decided to be the wife in the marriage, then she will
take up the position of the husband, the marriage would have lasted. If I can
tolerate Princess till the day she brought out knife, then I will gladly say I
tried.
What were the things that attracted you to her when you first
met?
Well, I used to believe that two people from the same or similar
industry would understand each other more, and their marriage will last longer.
I also thought she will understand better because she is more exposed compared
to me, and most of her friends are male. They used to come to our house then,
stay, chat till late and I never complain or have problem about that. But she
dare not see me with anybody, not even my male friends.
Will it be right to say your age differences also contributed to
the break-up?
She is older than me, with a year, I was already aware of
everything before I agreed to the marriage. Our counsellor told her, she has
ego and wants to be in control of everything.
Have you both met after the broke up?
Yes, we met at the late Moji Olaiya’s artiste’s night, she was
the one that anchored the event. When I saw her I greeted her, she ignored me.
I didn’t push further, to avoid drama. Also later when I wanted to start the
divorce proceeding, I went to Ikoyi to get the wedding papers, later I realized
she already filed for a divorce and they have been looking for me, because I
stayed away from everybody when the marriage broke up for like a year.
The lawyer said I need to call to get the proceeding started, I
called her, and she said if I want to talk to her, I need to come to her
lawyer’s office. We met at the lawyer’s office, and we were asked why we wanted
to dissolve the marriage, I explained my part, the lawyer asked her if all I
said was true, she said yes, the lawyer told her, it was very wrong to let her
mum involve in our marriage, so the lawyer said, there’s still room for
reconciliation, if we are both ready. I told the lawyer, I was willing to
forgive and start all over again, if she is ready to change.
I also asked for all my belongings in her possession, wedding
suit and all that, she said, she has sold everything because it was her money,
I used in buying them. All the money we were given for the wedding, was kept in
her account and she never gave me account of how she spent all the money till
date. So we started the divorce proceeding. Then I was posted to Benin Republic
for work while I was there, my MD was like I should settle back with her, I
explained everything that transpired between us to him, he said now that we
have separated for some years she might have changed.
So I called her and we met at Unilag, we talked at length, I invited her to my house, while the divorce was still going on. She insisted I speak to a woman in her church, the woman prayed for us, and we started seeing each other secretly again, we were told to keep it to ourselves. We started seeing each other, throughout last year. I attended her shows, she came over to the Benin Republic to spend time with me as well, and everything was normal. I left Benin on Wednesday and I told her I will be in Nigeria on Saturday, I was at location from Wednesday, then Saturday I called her up, we both went for her show, even Mandy came, she recognized me and we told her, we were keeping it secret, Funke too was these at the show. Then during the Easter programme, I was supposed to take up a lesson at the church, she didn’t allow me go, I stayed back just to satisfy her. Then Easter Sunday, she said I should come to her place, I said I won’t be able to make it because I was supposed to sing, and my picture was on the poster for the program. I even sent the poster to her. When they even called us for the divorce proceeding, we told them, we have settled. So that Easter Sunday I got back in the evening on my way, I bought fruits and other things I greeted her, she said I should not greet her because I didn’t come on
Sunday, I explained things again, the next thing, she started
shouting that I should leave her life, I was so surprised, I said I thought,
you have changed. It is better we face our divorce, I picked up my stuff and
left. On my way, I called the counsellor and the prophetess that prayed for us,
it was as if she already called the prophetess, immediately I called, she
advised me to move on with my life. So I wrote the court that I won’t be able
to be appearing for the proceedings because of the nature of my job, but I
accept everything she says concerning the divorce.
Culled from City people
magazine
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