For Ambassador Anthonio Dehinde Fernandez, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative to the United Nations, the last couple of months had been the most horrendous of his life. He was visited with a spate of deaths which claimed two of his former wives. The most recent was that of Beejay, his first American wife. Her death occurred in the United States a few weeks ago. The deceased, who was in her early 70's, was married to the billionaire for over three decades, and she was the mother of three of his children. While their marriage lasted, the American born lady was known to have held a special place in the life of the 82-year old celebrated businessman and ex-diplomat.
Tragically, the event of Beejay's death occurred barely three months after that of Aduke, Fenandez' second American wife, who died in Edinburgh Scotland, after a protracted battle with cancer. Aduke, was in her mid-60's, was married to Fernandez for 21 years and she was the mother of two of his children -Atinuke and Abimbola.
In 2003, the news of the Fernandez' crashed marriage had caused a wave of shock across the world. Since the couple was living in Edinburgh , Aduke ,went to a Scottish Court, to seek a 300million pounds pay out, claiming half of Dehinde Fernandez’s estimated 600million pounds fortune, at that time. Aduke pleaded the court to force Fernandez to sell his interest in gold, oil and diamond as well as luxury property around the globe, to settle her in the supposed 50 -50 splitting. She also claimed ownership of half of their Edinburgh property, their 25-acre Chateau de Bois Feuillette, in France and two plots of land in Palma, Majorca. Also, Aduke demanded for a fair share of all the sales of Fernandez' shares in his various companies.
But Fernandez refused to be brow-beaten by Aduke's demand. He, reportedly, moved out of their Georgian styled Edinburgh, property into Ritz Hotel, Paris,where he contested the action, claiming that he was not legally married to her. The warring couple later settled out of court, since Aduke could not substantially prove they were legitimately married. The couple had only solemnized their union with a traditional marriage rite, which was performed in Nigeria.
After the separation, Aduke has lived in the couple's 7-storey, townhouse in Edinburgh's West. Although, Aduke made several attempts to reconcile with her former husband, her effort turned out to be an exercise in futility. However, Fernandez' wife, Halima facilitated a reconciliatory meeting between them when she persuaded him to speak with Aduke on her sick bed on the phone. Fernandez and Halima were reported to have kept a close contact with Aduke until the event of her death.
Unlike his marriage to Aduke, which was mired in many controversies, Fernandez enjoyed a very eventful union with Beejay. The two were reported to have maintained a very close contact till Beejay breathed her last. So devastated was Fernandez by Beejay's death that he refused to mark his last birthday celebration.
No comments:
Post a Comment