When I got info yesterday that Funke Akindele was in contention to be the Deputy of my incoming Governor, I began to run things through my mind. Why Funke? Why an actress? That was the very first thought that crossed my mind.
Then I read stuff online. Her infraction during the COVID-19 lockdown was brought up. Her ex-husband announced their separation. The critical question would be why such a person?
PDP has never ruled Lagos before. I doubt if the party has won a single LGA before since 1999. I know they have produced about 5 or so councilor’s since 1999. I know one was Jude when Funsho Williams was still alive, and another is Sola who is the only PDP councillor currently. Both are Onike/Iwaya axis, a stronghold of the late Funsho Williams of blessed memory.
APC/AC has dominated Lagos. They have held tight onto Lagos since May 29, 1999. Brutally tight. But is there anything that lasts forever? Nothing. Time and chance happeneth to all. Why do I use the term time and chance?
A certain Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, aka Jandor, decided that he had seen enough of the high handed way politics was played in APC. He silently went to work and created a socio economic platform called Lagos4Lagos Movement, based on the principle that Lagos MUST begin to work for all Lagosians. A principle that is necessitated by the reality that despite the massive IGR generated in Lagos, the growth and development of the state remains stunted because a handful of individuals had captured the state and kept it in their pockets. Such a system needs to be challenged.
Lagos4Lagos got to work in 2016 and within 4yrs became a force to be reckoned with in APC.
I’m part of the movement. I speak as an insider. Lagos4Lagos battled the powers that be, or rather, the power that be in APC for the control of the party because we had the majority. A majority who were tired of the status quo of repression and overbearing dominance in the party.
We held parallel congresses last year. And when it dawned on us that despite our popularity and numbers within the party, we would not be given the ticket in the party, we moved to PDP in January 2022.
Jandor eventually won the primaries in PDP. That victory changed the dynamics in PDP.
PDP is a party that is seen as a customer dada to APC. That means PDP is seen as a serial loser to APC. But the dynamics and spirit that Jandor has brought into the party has given PDP a new lease of life. Jandor and his L4L Movement has infused a spirit and mentality in PDP that has made the party begin to smell strongly victory at the polls. But there was one more thing left to do to make the picture clearer. Who will be chosen as the Deputy to Jandor?
Jandor is 44yrs, and a Muslim. Despite being that young, his followership and support base is not limited to youths. He has a broad range of supporters. But the demographics of the voting population puts the youths as the highest or largest in Lagos. And he can’t really choose someone much older, or much younger. Aside from the age consideration, gender and religion had to be considered.
Funke Akindele ticked the boxes.
She’s 44, same age with Jandor. She’s a Christian. The icing on the cake is that Funke is Jenifa and Jenifa is Funke. She is also Omo Ghetto.
Funke became a household name with her film, Jenifa.
Jenifa was originally a local girl named Suliat from Ayetoro. In order to catch up with the Joneses when she became an undergraduate, she chose to name herself Jenifa. The film was a hit, but not commercially. It grossed less than N20m. Hire A Woman stands at the 100th highest grossing Nollywood film at N20,863,135. Jenifa didn’t make the list.
The Return of Jenifa stands at number 67 with N35m. That was a 2012 film. Funke broke the barrier with her 2020 film, Omo Ghetto: The Saga. This film grossed N636,129,120! The highest in the history of Nollywood. The closest to that is The Wedding Party with N452,288,605 which is N180m less than Omo Ghetto.
To have a better understanding of how Funke Akindele became the Queen of films in Nollywood, we will have to dig into her background. N636m nor be beans. So, I ask this question: Who is Funke Akindele?
Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele was born on the 24th of August, 1977 to a medical doctor mother and a father who was a retired school principal. She is the second of three children (two girls and one boy).
She attended Grace Children School Gbagada, Lagos State, then went on to obtain an OND in Mass Communication from the former Ogun State Polytechnic, now known as Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. She also earned a Law degree from the University of Lagos.
Career
Funke came into the limelight after starring in the popular United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-sponsored sitcom, I Need to Know, which ran from 1998 to 2002.
She played Bisi, a curious but highly intelligent secondary school student. Her big break came in 2008 when she appeared in the movie Jenifa.
In 2009, she won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role as Suliat in the film Jenifa.
Could it be that her educational background in Mass Communication and Law impacted positively on her acting?
She is a mother of two children fathered by Abdul Resheed Bello, known as JJC Skillz whom she married in London in May, 2016. They recently separated. M
She is also a film producer and scriptwriter.
What could Funke be bringing to the table as a Deputy Governor? Her popularity, her fame, which transcends Nigeria.
She has a huge followership which can swing votes the way of PDP. Check the statistics below:
As at 2019 elections, there were 6.5 million recorded registered voters in Lagos. With the recent upsurge in registration of voters in INEC Lagos, we might have as much as 7m to 8m registered voters in Lagos before the 2023 elections.
2007
AC (Fashola) – 599,300
PDP (Obanikoro) – 383,956
Difference – 215,344
2011
AC (Fashola) – 1,509,113
PDP (Dr. Ade- Dosumu ) – 300,450
Difference – 1,208,633
2015
APC (Ambode) – 811,994
PDP (Agbaje) – 659,788
Difference – 152,206
2019
APC (Sanwo-Olu) – 739,445
PDP (Agbaje) – 206,141
Difference – 533,304
With all the intimidation APC/AC deploys on PDP during the elections, the highest turn out was 2011 when Fashola was reelected with 1,509,113 votes which likely had votes from PDP members based on his performance in office after he became Governor in 2007.
From the records above, there is a silent majority of about 6 million voters who are silent because they aren’t happy with the way things are going in Lagos. Aside from this silent majority who are so angry, hungry and disgruntled that they will cease to remain a silent majority and come out to vote in their hundreds of thousands, quite a number of those who had voted for APC in past elections like me, will be voting for PDP in the coming election.
I see PDP springing a victory over APC for the first time in 2023. Figures don’t lie. Politics is local. How local can you get when you are a combination of Jenifa and Omo Ghetto?
I sense victory. I smell victory.
Jandor 2023… It’s time.
PDP… Power to the People.
Kent Olayemi Olaleye
Writes From Lagos