Can Funke Akindele bring the change we need?
Olufunke Akindele, popularly known as “Jenifa” owing to the character she played in the self-named 2008 movie.
Funke obtained a National Diploma in Mass Communication from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and later moved on to acquire a degree in Law from the prestigious University of Lagos, Akoka.
She came on the scene in 1998 when she featured in the famous Sit-Com that was sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); I Need To Know.
All through the show, Funke played the character called ‘Bisi’, an intelligent and inquisitive secondary school student. She later went on to feature in top Nigerian movies in the early millennium, movies such as; Sharon Stone, The Narrow Path, Egg of Life, Aje Metta, Atlanta, and many others. Funke is one of the few Nollywood actresses that take on Yoruba and English roles.
In 2008, Funke released her movie ‘Jenifa’ where she played a typical village girl that moved to the University Of Lagos. Fascinated by all she saw and the stories she heard, she went into prostitution to make some money and become a ‘Bigs Girl’.
The movie was nominated in 4 different categories in the African Movies Academy Awards (AMAA). She got two awards and also won another award at the Nigerian entertainment awards.
She went ahead to take the lead character and also co-produced the movie ‘Omo-Ghetto’ in 2010. The movie didn’t gain much popularity, until ten years later when she released ‘Omo-Ghetto: The Saga’ which did so well and became the highest-grossing Nollywood movie of all times.
Funke Akindele has since acted in over 50 Nollywood movies and has won more than 20 awards as an actress and as a producer.
This year, she has surprisingly decided to take part in politics, as she was declared as the running mate to one of the PDP’s gubernatorial candidates for Lagos state; Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran alias “Jandor”. He won the party primaries, thereby, moving him and his running mate, Funke, a step closer to the office.
Funke stated during the primaries that her acting career will be put on hold for her political ambitions.
She further stated that her major reason for delving into politics is because she has a deep passion for helping people and her political position might just make it easier to reach more people.
#Spotlight takes you through success stories of various Africans in all spheres of life achieving amazing feats and breaking boundaries in Africa or abroad. In this edition, we are looking at Funke Akindele’s amazing journey from Film making to politics.
