What the Nollywood Actor’s Divorce Drama Taught Me About Starting Over

Maybe it is because we live in a time when relationships can begin in the brightest possible way. There are beautiful photographs, family celebrations, congratulatory messages and all the excitement that comes with believing two people have found something that will last. Then, sometimes much sooner than anyone expected, the same relationship becomes a public conversation about separation, disappointment and what went wrong.

That is what makes the story surrounding Nollywood actor Akin Olaiya and his wife, Nafisat Feenah Hammed, particularly interesting.

The couple got married in June 2025, but their marriage has now ended, with both sides offering different perspectives about what happened. Akin announced the dissolution of the marriage and spoke about separation and attempts at reconciliation, while Nafisat confirmed that the marriage had ended but disputed aspects of his account and made serious allegations concerning her experience during the relationship.

Those allegations remain allegations, and I think it is important to say that clearly. We were not inside their home. We did not experience their relationship. We do not know every conversation that took place between them, and social media certainly cannot give us the complete picture.

That is where I think we need to be careful.

Celebrity relationship stories can easily become entertainment for people who are watching from a distance, but for the people involved, these are not just trending topics. They are real experiences that may involve pain, family, disappointment and decisions that could affect their lives for years.

So, rather than pretending that I know exactly why Akin Olaiya’s marriage ended, I find myself thinking about something else: what happens to a person when a chapter they expected to last suddenly comes to an end?

Because that question applies to far more than marriage.

A business can fail.

A job can disappear.

A friendship can end.

A career can take an unexpected turn.

A plan you spent years building can suddenly stop making sense.

And when something like that happens, it is very easy to look at the ending and conclude that you have failed.

But I don't believe every ending is a failure.

Sometimes an ending is simply an invitation to begin again, even when you did not ask for a new beginning.

That is probably the part of this story that speaks to me the most. Whatever ultimately happened between Akin Olaiya and Nafisat Hammed, life does not stop because one chapter has closed. There is still a future to build, decisions to make, lessons to learn and, most importantly, a life to continue living.

And continuing does not always mean immediately replacing what you lost.

Sometimes it means finding yourself again.

Sometimes it means rebuilding your confidence.

Sometimes it means discovering a side of yourself you neglected while trying to make another part of your life work.

And sometimes, it means becoming more financially independent.

That last part is particularly important because financial independence is one of those things many people only think about after something goes wrong. We often wait until we lose a job, experience a major life change or find ourselves financially dependent on another person before we start asking whether we have built enough skills and income streams of our own.

I think we should ask that question much earlier.

Not because we should expect our relationships or careers to fail, but because having your own skills, knowledge and ability to create income gives you something that money alone cannot buy: options.

And this is where our smartphones become more interesting than we sometimes realise.

For many of us, the same device we use to watch celebrity news, scroll through Facebook, check WhatsApp and follow trending stories can also become a classroom, a creative studio, a marketing tool and the starting point for an online business.

The difference is what we decide to do with it.

Imagine someone going through a difficult personal season and deciding that, instead of allowing the situation to consume every part of their life, they are going to learn something new.

Maybe they learn graphic design.

Maybe they learn video editing.

Maybe they start writing.

Maybe they learn social media management.

Maybe they discover affiliate marketing.

Maybe they start creating digital products.

Or perhaps they discover something they have always wanted to do but never believed they could actually begin.

Music is a perfect example.

One of the things I find fascinating about today's digital world is how much easier it has become for ordinary people to experiment with music creation. You don't necessarily need to own an expensive recording studio before you can begin exploring your creativity.

If you have ever written lyrics inside your phone's notes app, hummed a melody while walking, imagined yourself making an Afrobeats song or heard a beat and thought, “I could create something like this,” you already have the beginning of an idea.

With the Music Creation service on Auxi Sherpa, you can explore creating your own songs, writing lyrics, making beats and experimenting with different music ideas directly from your smartphone.

And no, I am not saying that picking up your phone today automatically makes you the next Davido.

That would be unrealistic.

What I am saying is that you no longer have to wait for someone to discover you before you start discovering yourself.

That distinction matters.

is another example of what happens when creativity is developed over time, combined with experience, collaboration, consistency and an understanding of what audiences want.

For someone just starting out, the lesson isn't to copy.

It is to start creating.

Create the first song.

Write the first lyrics.

Make the first beat.

Record the first idea.

Post the first piece of content.

Learn from the first mistake.

Then make another one.

Because creativity becomes much more valuable when you stop treating it only as something you enjoy and begin asking whether it can solve a problem, entertain an audience or create value for someone else.

That is where a hobby can begin to become a digital opportunity.

Someone might start by creating short music clips for TikTok, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. Another person might create background music for content creators. Someone else might develop beats, songwriting services or digital music products. Another person might build an audience around their journey of learning how to make music from a smartphone.

The possibilities are not guarantees of income, of course. Building anything worthwhile takes time, practice, consistency and an understanding of your audience.

But the opportunity to begin is already in your hands.

And that is why I think starting over should not always be viewed as punishment.

Sometimes starting over forces you to ask better questions.

What do I actually want?

What can I learn?

What can I create?

What skills do I have?

What skills do I need?

How can I become less dependent on circumstances I cannot control?

How can I build something that remains mine regardless of what happens around me?

Those questions can completely change the direction of a person's life.

It is also why I don't think we should look at somebody's difficult chapter and assume we understand their entire story. A wedding photograph cannot tell us everything about a marriage. A divorce announcement cannot tell us everything that happened behind closed doors. A successful social media post cannot tell us everything about someone's financial situation either.

We see snapshots.

People live the full story.

And perhaps that should encourage all of us to spend a little less time judging other people's chapters and a little more time writing our own.

If your relationship is going through a difficult period, seek appropriate support and give yourself room to process what is happening. If your business has failed, learn from it. If you lost your job, start looking at what skills you can develop. If a dream didn't work out, don't automatically conclude that you are incapable of achieving anything.

Sometimes the plan failed.

That does not mean you failed.

There is a difference.

And when you understand that difference, starting again becomes less frightening.

You begin to realise that you can take what you learned from one chapter and carry it into another.

You can turn experience into knowledge.

You can turn knowledge into a skill.

You can turn a skill into a service.

You can turn a service into an online business.

And you can eventually turn that business into another source of income.

That is the bigger opportunity I see in the digital economy today.

Not the promise of overnight wealth.

Not the idea that everyone will become an internet millionaire.

But the simple fact that technology has lowered the barrier to entry for people who are willing to learn and create.

Your phone can help you learn.

Your phone can help you create.

Your phone can help you market.

Your phone can help you communicate with customers.

And, if you use it intentionally, it can become part of the foundation for something that belongs to you.

So, while the internet continues to debate what really happened between Akin Olaiya and Nafisat Hammed, I think there is a more useful question for the rest of us.

What are we building while we are watching other people's lives?

That question is not meant to shame anyone for enjoying entertainment. I enjoy entertainment too. But there comes a point when consumption needs to make room for creation.

If you spend hours following someone else's relationship, perhaps you can spend one of those hours learning something that improves your own future.

If you constantly watch people making money online, perhaps you can spend some time learning how they do it.

If you have always wanted to create music, perhaps you can stop waiting for the perfect opportunity and experiment with what you already have.

If you have an idea for a digital product, perhaps today can be the day you finally write down what it is and start figuring out how to build it.

Because the truth is that none of us knows exactly what the next chapter will look like.

That is both frightening and exciting.

A relationship can change.

A career can change.

A business can change.

A person's plans can change.

But your ability to learn, adapt and create can travel with you.

And maybe that is what I take away from Akin Olaiya's marriage ending.

Not the gossip.

Not the social media arguments.

Not the pressure to choose sides in a relationship none of us personally experienced.

The bigger lesson for me is that life can close one door without closing every door.

Sometimes you have to grieve what ended before you can appreciate what comes next. Sometimes you need to sit with the disappointment. Sometimes you need to rebuild quietly before anyone notices that you are rebuilding at all.

But eventually, you have to ask yourself what you want your next chapter to look like.

Maybe it will be a healthier relationship.

Maybe it will be a new career.

Maybe it will be a successful business.

Maybe it will be your first digital product.

Maybe it will be a new creative identity you never knew you had.

Maybe it will begin with something as simple as your smartphone, an idea and the courage to try.

That is why I don't believe starting over should automatically be seen as going backwards.

Sometimes you are not going backwards.

You are simply taking a different route to where you are meant to go.

And if there is one thing I hope readers take from this story, it is this: don't allow one difficult chapter to convince you that your entire story is finished.

Learn.

Heal.

Create.

Build.

And keep moving.

Because the chapter that hurts today may eventually become the chapter that taught you how to build the life you really wanted.

If you have an article, opinion piece, entertainment story or news story you'd like published on Global New Arena, or you're ready to begin your journey toward building a profitable digital business from your smartphone, I'd love to hear from you. 

Send me an email

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