From a messy split to celebrating their daughter's 10th birthday together: How Osas and Gbenro got here

• Osas Ighodaro and Gbenro Ajibade reunited to celebrate their daughter Azariah's 10th birthday.

• The moment marks a striking contrast to the public accusations that followed their separation years ago.

• Here's how the former couple rebuilt their relationship as co-parents despite their difficult split.

Nollywood actress, Osas Ighodaro and her ex-husband, Gbenro Ajibade, reunited over the weekend to celebrate their daughter Azariah's 10th birthday, with both sharing tributes online and a video showing the former couple dancing together at the party. 

It's become something of a tradition at this point, and that consistency is exactly what makes it worth talking about.

Ighodaro and Ajibade married in 2015 in a wedding big enough to be televised nationally, welcomed Azariah in 2016, and separated by 2018. 

The split wasn't quiet. In the months after, Gbenro publicly criticised Osas's parenting, accusing her of leaving Azariah home alone to attend parties and once sending the baby home through a stranger. 

He took shots at her again on Mother's Day, mocking the idea of her being celebrated as a mother at all.

That's part of what makes the last several years notable. Since then, the two have shown up together, or at least in close coordination, for nearly every one of Azariah's birthdays. At five, Gbenro surprised her at school with an amusement park outing. 

At six, both posted gushing tributes separately. By nine, he was flying in from the US specifically for her birthday, surprising her at the airport in a moment that went viral for how genuinely emotional it was. This year, for her 10th, he visited her school ahead of the big day, then joined Osas for a party where the two were filmed dancing side by side.

The public reaction has followed a familiar script too: admiration, mixed with a little wistfulness. Following videos of the day, commenters have noted that peaceful and safe co-parenting still exists. 

Others have gone further, praising Gbenro specifically for staying consistent despite living abroad, with various people noting that Osas had a child with the right person even if their romance didn't last.

It's a pattern worth noticing in Nigerian celebrity culture more broadly, where breakups are often messy and very public, and reconciliation, even just the platonic, parental kind, rarely gets the same spotlight. 

Osas and Gbenro didn't get back together, and nothing suggests they will. What they did do is recover from a genuinely public falling-out into something that shows how deliberate they are, at least for their child.

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