Since Funke Akindele emerged as the running mate to Jandor, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, many of her colleagues in the movie industry have distanced themselves from her political ambition.
A check by Kemi Filani found that none of her colleagues, not even her off-and-on bosom friend, Eniola Badmus has posted Funke Akindele’s political ambition on their Instagram pages, nor campaigned for her.
Leaving Funke Akindele to stand alone in her campaigns without any help from the entertainment industry, the majority of them chose to pitch their tents with the ruling party in Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC).
Some of the reasons why Funke Akindele has been left alone have now been unveiled by City People.
Reasons why Funke Akindele’s colleagues abandoned her
One, she is from the Yoruba genre of the industry but she rarely features in Yoruba movies. She concentrates only on her personal projects and English genre movies.
Also, the competition among the movie stars would not allow them to support one another’s political ambitions.
“Everybody wants to be on top, so supporting just one person to get to the top is too much of a risk for them. Besides, most of them depend on politicians for survival. To now go against politicians is too much a risk for the stars.” a source told City People.
Observers noted that Funke Akindele has always been a lone minder, who doesn’t keep friends in the industry. Whatever relationship she has with anyone in the industry is purely professional.
Also, Funke Akindele doesn’t associate with most of her colleagues, especially those in the Yoruba genre of the industry. She hardly attends their events. She doesn’t invite them to hers either.
Interestingly, she is a product of the Odunfa Caucus, an association that is rated strongest in the Yoruba movie industry and an Odunfa Caucus’s endorsement alone would have helped boost her political ambition, but the caucus has kept mute on her issue.
The reason is that she doesn’t attend their events or associate with them. Even when the founders are celebrating birthdays, she doesn’t honor them with her presence.
Though, it was learned that Funke Akindele often reaches out to her colleagues in times of trouble and supports them financially. For example, she contributed to Kemi Afolabi’s fund for treatment.
She took care of and paid the medical bills of Bimbo Success when she was sick, and so many other cases like that.
The MC Oluomo and Tinubu factor working against Funke Akindele
A reliable source further disclosed that the Yoruba movie industry can not support Funke, because of MC Oluomo’s influence in the industry.
“MC Oluomo is like a godfather to many in the Yoruba movie industry. He has been of great help to about 85 percent of stars in the industry. They often run to Oluomo in times of trouble, and he has never turned them down.
He supports them financially for their movie launch and other ceremonies, so they can’t go against him just to support Funke Akindele.” the source spilled.
It was also revealed that Lagos is an APC state, and the probability of another party winning the governorship election in the state is going to be a big war. That is why going against APC in Lagos is like putting the whole TAMPAN body in trouble.
Another source revealed that the Tinubu-led APC government has always carried movie stars along in government programs, especially the Yoruba movie stars.
How TInubu has been there for Yoruba Nollywood
During the burial of the late Moji Olaiya, it was Tinubu, who took care of the bill for bringing her corpse back to Nigeria and giving her a befitting burial. Immediately the association visited Tinubu and told him about their plight, he pronto gave them all the money they needed for the burial.
Also, when star actress, Ngozi Nwosu, was down with sickness, it was the APC government in Lagos that rescued her. Fashola paid her medical bills.
Olaiya Igwe also recently got financial support from the APC government. A few months ago, when Kemi Afolabi needed financial assistance to travel abroad for treatment, MC Oluomo contributed his quota.
Besides, a few months ago, the APC government gave Iya Awero a house in Lagos.
The movie stars would rather consider what would benefit them first, instead of fighting for what may eventually destroy them. In this instance, everybody has to carry his/her cross.
Well, Funke Akindele is not the first movie star to venture into politics. Stars such as Tonto Dikeh, Desmond Elliot, Banky W, and a few others have also ventured into politics and didn’t get enough support from the industry either.
