Music executive Ubi Franklin has shared one of the most emotional moments of his life, revealing how the breakdown of his marriage to Nollywood actress Lilian Esoro pushed him to the point where he allegedly attempted to take his own life.
Speaking in a video posted online, Franklin described how his relationship with Esoro moved quickly after they met in January 2015.
He explained that although they got engaged within months, there were early signs that she had concerns about getting married.
According to Franklin, Esoro failed to attend the dinner celebration he had arranged after proposing to her. He said she had returned the engagement ring and disappeared, leaving him embarrassed and heartbroken.
“On the 4th of January in 2015, that is when I met my now ex-wife. I engaged her on the 19th of March 2015 and after the engagement, I set up a nice dinner at Eko Hotel. I invited all my friends. Guess what, she didn’t turn up. She had dropped the ring and left. I was so embarrassed. It was a big thing on social media. Everybody was talking about it.”
He continued by describing the emotional weight of that moment.
“Have you ever cried to a point where you get to a certain level that you cannot cry again? That’s where I was. I couldn’t stay in my house. I rang to Iyanya’s house to see if I could find her because she disappeared and nobody knew where she was. They finally called me and said they found her. I started asking questions about what could have happened, and I got nothing.”
Furthermore, Franklin explained that Esoro later found him at a hotel and admitted she was struggling with anxiety about marriage. According to him, they reconciled and even travelled together to London while preparing for their wedding.
However, another setback reportedly happened shortly after they returned to Nigeria.
“You sometimes you feel that you are ready for something and when it finally happens, you find out you are not ready for it. Next thing, we started planning for the wedding. We flew to London and stayed for about a week. We landed Nigeria from London on the 6th of April 2015. That day was AY Live. We dressed up, went… everything was beautiful. The next day, I just entered the room to see that she had dropped the ring on the bed and she had left.”
Despite the repeated challenges, Franklin said Esoro returned again months later and assured him she was ready for marriage. They eventually got married in November 2015 and welcomed their son, Jason.
Their marriage, however, lasted only about a year before they separated. Following years of legal proceedings, their union was officially dissolved by an Abuja High Court in January 2021.
Meanwhile, Franklin stressed that both of them handled the separation with maturity.
“I said Okay, fine…You start planning the wedding. She planned the wedding and we got married. Unfortunately, we went our separate ways. But, I will tell you something: we didn’t go on social media to fight ourselves. We didn’t kill anybody. We became good friends. Sometimes she is angry with me, sometimes I am angry at her.”
The businessman then made his most heartbreaking revelation, saying the emotional burden of the failed marriage almost cost him his life.
“I remember one time, I bought a red CLA, and I drove that car to the 3rd Mainland Bridge to go and commit suicide. The only luck I had was that my cousin came to save me. Several times I tried to commit suicide but he came to save me. I was so embarrassed; I didn’t know what to do. I felt like What have I done to deserve all of this… I had a good career going on for myself. I had one of the biggest artists at the time in the country, and I felt this was just the time for me to settle down.”
Moreover, Franklin said time has helped him see the experience differently. He explained that although the marriage ended, it also gave him the greatest gift of his life, his son.
“Sometimes, I feel this relationship didn’t work because it was meant to be that way. Tell me, till today, I can’t really explain what happened. We are very good friends; we co-parent very well, and we celebrate events of our son. Sometimes I always believe that, regardless of all the pain, the best result that I got from that was my son.”
He also encouraged people not to allow painful experiences to turn into bitterness.
“The lesson here is that when something happens to a human being, you have to hate the human being. No! That is not the case. If something happens between you and somebody, the lesson is for you to learn from the process and keep it moving.”
The revelation has renewed conversations about emotional well-being, the importance of seeking support during difficult times, and the value of maintaining healthy relationships after separation.
