Ex-Super Eagles star, Odion Ighalo, and wife, Sonia, in matrimonial squabble? So, it seems, as the couple did not release their usual family Christmas photos in December 2019. They have also deleted each other’s pictures from their Instagram pages, reports Ferdinand Ekechukwu
Celebrity marriage crisis making the Instagram home has been a rising trend of recent. The latest is that of Super Eagles’ former striker, Odion Ighalo, and wife, Sonia, being in matrimonial squabble. For choice of a better word, not a good one for the footballer and his partner going by what they represent to their fans and followers who see them on Instagram as ideal couple. Rumours have been that their marriage has been in crisis since Odion completed his multi-million naira building in Lagos which he has often visited without Sonia and their three children who are based in London.
Though, they did not officially speak about it then in 2019, their actions would give them away as they stopped giving out marriage vibes which they usually do together. In 2018, the Ighalos wowed Nigerians with their beautiful Christmas photos. It was during Christmas same year that the footballer, who plays for Shanghai Shenhua in China, celebrated the opening of his mansion and gifts his beautiful wife a brand new Range Rover Sport to celebrate her as well. He posted pictures with friends and family members during the housewarming party.
His wife, Sonia, had also taken to her Instagram page to share videos of the mansion and the celebration on her Instagram story. The beautiful lady also prayed that God should continue to bless her husband. As they used to be the envy of Christmas photos, last year, they never posted any picture of their family to celebrate Yuletide. Rather, the ex-Super Eagles star posted photos of himself alone to wish his fans a happy new year. They also did not celebrate each other on their 10th wedding anniversary last year which was looked out for.
However they did celebrate during their ninth wedding anniversary with a dinner in 2018. It was star studded with celebrity musicians, comedians and actors. Commemorating their ninth wedding anniversary, Ighalo posted a cute picture from the night party with the mother of his kids and captioned it with a simple message: Happy anniversary to us#emo… @ighalojude “Happy anniversary to us.” The anniversary message was completed with hashtags such as “#9years,” “#nov14,” “#blessed” and “#Godisthegreatest.”
The duo had unknowingly reacted to the trending rumours of their marriage dispute as they deleted each other’s pictures from their Instagram pages. Their Instagram handles further shows that the striker and his wife, who are fond of praising each other on the Instagram, have deleted all the posts that link them together, hence giving considerable room for the roving rumours.
Reports of their matrimonial crisis continued for most of the week with reports that their 10-year-old marriage had crashed when the duo, who wedded in 2009, un-followed each other on Instagram. Not long after, they deleted photos on their separate Instagram pages on January 4.
Few hours after, Sonia debunked the rumours, claiming they are still legally married. She dismissed the rumours that she and her husband had separated on the grounds that she is still traditionally and legally married to the Shanghai Shenhua forward. The rumours surfaced after Sonia slammed Ighalo on Instagram for celebrating barely days after losing his sister. Unsurprisingly, this led to rumours that their marriage might be on the rocks. But Mrs. Ighalo took to IG to assure their admirers that they were still, at least legally married. “To those of you panicking, Jude and I are still traditionally and above all legally married. No leave, no transfer”.
The happenings in the home of the Ighalos never revealed anything strange as it is with most homes where the couple acknowledges each other. To the popular footballer who made the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations’ top scorer with five goals, “My wife has been very crucial to my impressive career. She has been able to build a good home and she makes me and the children happy. She is everything to me.” A proud family man who has taken his personal life away from football doesn’t talk much about his family and relationship.
The player traveled to Europe for the first time after a FIFA Agent discovered him, and first played as a professional in Lyn Oslo – Norway where he scored nine goals in 20 games before moving on to Udinese – Italy where he scored a goal in six appearances. Then Granada came calling where he scored 16 goals in 26 matches in a season and also scored 17 goals in 95 appearances between 2011 and 2014 before getting his breakthrough in the English League with Watford.
Ighalo’s childhood sweetheart was once asked her challenges of getting married to a footballer. “That one is not easy o,” she responded. “Many people see us in the public as if we are always happy but they do not know what we go through inside but by the grace of God, we are pushing on.” She even took it further to explain that decisions on the moves to make. “Yes, as a wife, we need to decide together for his benefit, for the benefit of the children and for everybody because he is not single but married with three kids. So we always decide what we really want.”
On a different occasion, Sonia noted: “Anytime, before he goes out to play a game, I always pray for him and wish him the very best. It’s been God; He has been so faithful to us and we give Him all the thanks. There’s nothing much that I really do behind but I do encourage him as my husband anytime he’s out there playing,” The wife doesn’t take it mildly with any perceived threat or infringement to his home. Instances abound.
There was a random lady who showed affection to her husband on Instagram post. Jude Ighalo’s wife swiftly called the lady out, after noticing what the lady wrote to her husband on a social media post about their match against Zambia during a Nations Cup qualifier. The random lady, though appeared to be married with two kids, had called the football star ‘babe’. Mrs. Ighalo took a screenshot of the post and wrote; “Bitch always want to show yourself, @iamhelenbrown #shametowomanhood#olosho”. Another instance when she called out her brother in-law on social media for using their house for a party while they were away. She threatened to disrupt the planned party.
