There was a marriage many believed is made in heaven and consecrated here on earth.

Every time they stepped out, beautiful and leggy Biola, the former Managing Director of MNET, MakanjuolaAlabi, otherwise known as Mako, cut the picture of a perfect couple because of the sheer chemistry they radiate. Holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes was an unconscious routine.

Despite having been married for over a decade, the couple never passed up an opportunity to steal away and spend time alone, away from the bustle of Nigeria. But all that has ceased now with the news that Biola and Mako have parted ways. Their friends are in shock; so are the young couples who look up to them. What could have happened between Biola and the man she once described as her biggest supporter, ‘a wonderful man and a beautiful person all round’?

When there is conflict, an otherwise lovely song becomes a byword. When the going was good between them, they planned to build castles in the air, have a fortress of a home with their kids rolling and frolicking on the lawn while they hold hands and give themselves a pat on the back for shaming critics. The plans were lofty and lovely. But things did not quite go as planned as the character traits of the two partners conflicted with their starry-eyed dreams.

As things stand, the once loving couple don’t talk. Bliss deserted their marriage in unexpected hours, like a crushed knight fleeing the gates of a fallen fortress. To Mako, the love that warmed the inner cockles of his heart soon became the thorn that pierced his lungs while he inhaled the fragrance of passion. Thus his marriage to Biola crashed irredeemably, while they were busy doing other things.

The couple certainly fell out of love, forgetting that where there is no love, there is no ardour. They simply stopped tolerating each other. They could no longer bear to live as man and wife while their passion subsided and their home became a wretched cove of distrust and hatred.

And contrary to belief that the marriage recently hit an iceberg, the couple allegedly separated from each other a long while ago but they succeeded in keeping it under wraps to avoid the noise and scandal that could result from undue media exposure.

While no one is sure if they would ever reconcile and remarry, it is an open secret that the couple are happy without each other. Mako, for instance, is having the time of his life.

Sources around the Alabis are blaming Mako’s dwindling finances for the crash of the marriage and the fact that he is allowing the consequent frustration and depression get to him. Mako was a former Managing Director of Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA). In the early days of former Governor BabatundeRajiFashola, he was one of those who quickly cleaned out yet, was not coy to let the world know. He lived large and spent money like a drunken sailor.

When reports of his la vidaloca lifestyle got to the conservative Fashola, and was presented with damning evidence of alleged financial misappropriation and abuse of office, Mako was fired. There was a lull in his finances but soon bounced back with VIMedia, a provider of premier, high-impact outdoor and indoor advertising solution in Nigeria. But business has not been as good as before and this, among other things, sources are insisting may have affected the marriage.

Biola did not help matters either. After quitting her high-profile job as managing director, MNET Africa, she floated BiolaAlabiMedi, a content creation and consulting company working across the world in broadcast, telecommunications and digital industries. She also ventured into movie productions and is the brain behind box office hits like Banana Island Ghost and Lara and the Beat.