Funke Akindele Quits Nollywood To Pursue A Career In Politics 

The 44-year-old actress, dubbed “Jenifa” for her performance in Jenifa’s Diary, which made her famous in Nollywood, could be hanging up her acting boots.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Filmmaker and politician Funke Akindele has said that she intends to leave Nollywood in order to concentrate on her political career, with “Battle on Bukka Street” perhaps being her final production.

Akindele stated that she was prepared to pay the price of entering politics, which would include temporarily putting an end to her career in the Nigerian film business when she announced her PDP deputy governorship campaign in July.

The director said that “Battle on Buka Street,” her most recent picture, is her last one before entering further into politics in an interview with Punch’s Deji Lambo.

The actress, who is vying to become Lagos State’s next deputy governor, asserted that she will still be there in the background to mentor and supervise the new hires; she is only enabling them to carry out their duties.

When questioned about her role in the new initiative, Akindele disclosed this information. She said: “a great change has happened positively if you noticed. From being an actor, I also write, produce, direct and discover new faces. So, I have passed the baton of production to the young people because I have moved into politics now. So, ‘Battle on Buka Street’ is like a farewell because I am going to be the next deputy governor of Lagos State. So, I am passing the baton to the new ones because we need to give them an opportunity. Yes, I will be in the background to advise and supervise them, but let them be the face, let us celebrate them, are you not tired of seeing old faces?”

She continued by outlining the challenges involved in making the film.

“It was tedious; I filmed ‘Battle on Buka Street’ when I was really down, emotionally I was down, and this was before politics. So, rather than sitting down crying, I had to braze up because a lot of young people are looking up to me in the entertainment industry as we do work together. So, I can’t just sit down; I just pushed past all the pain and put the emotions into the project and today we see the big thing happening and I am excited about that,” she said to Lambo.

When Olajide Adediran, the PDP’s candidate for governor in Lagos, chose her as his running partner for the general election in 2023, the Nollywood actress announced in July that she would be entering politics completely.