Okagbare and Ighoteguonor

Nehru Odeh

Jude Ighoteguonor, former Super Eagles player and estranged husband of Nigerian sprinter and Olympic silver medalist, Blessing Okagbare, has opened up on their divorce saga.

Ighoteguonor, who, according to the Guardian, said he had moved on, debunked earlier report that he was seeking N100 million naira from the sprinter  who had filed for divorce. The former Eagles player, who had initially refused to speak on the divorce, however said he does not need a dime from the sprinter.

“I don’t need a dime from her,” he said. “She filed for a divorce with so many allegations and my lawyers, in turn, replied her lawyer.”

Ighoteguonor added: “My philosophy in life is very simple. I don’t get hard on myself over material things. I have long moved on since 2018. Women are fragile and sometimes they just want to be let loose and fly only to regret later. She knows me and she knows the truth.

“I love my wife, we have come a very long way from my active days as a footballer but when a woman is no longer interested in a relationship, there is nothing you can do about it.”

Okagbare and Ighoteguonor’s marriage was celebrated in Sapele, Delta State in 2014 shortly after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, where she emerged as double sprint champion. But things began to fall apart in 2018, and the couple reportedly went their separate ways amid allegations of infidelity, laziness and other irreconcilable differences. Okagbare is said to have filed for a divorce.

However, Ighoteguonor told Topsportsafrik yesterday that it was not his style to discuss his marital affairs in public even though they are public figures, adding that he had moved on.