Funke Akindele Biography: Her Life and Business

Funke Akindele is a Nigerian actress, film producer, scriptwriter, and entrepreneur. She is popularly known as ‘Jenifa’, a character she played in a movie titled Jenifa. She has carved out a niche for herself in the Nigerian entertainment industry with the way she fondly interprets her roles which she has extended to her own soap opera ‘Jenifa’s Dairy’.

Funke Akindele Biography

Funke Akindele was born on 24th of August, 1977 in Ikorodu, Lagos State. She attended Grace Children Schools, Gbagada and Lagos State Model College, Igbo-kuta for her primary and secondary education respectively. Funke has an OND in Mass Communication from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Ogun State and a Law degree from the University of Lagos.

Funke married Adeola Kehinde Oloyede on May 26, 2012 and they divorced in July 2013 citing irreconcilable differences. She remarried Abdul Resheed Bello, known as JJC Skillz in London in May, 2016. Funke Akindele married Nigerian rapper JJC Skillz in London in May 2016. JJC Skillz announced the end of the union between him and the popular actress which lasted six years via his official Instagram handle on June 30, 2022. Funke Akindele gave birth to twin boys in December 2018 and has several step-children.

Funke Akindele’s Career

Jenifa decided to pursue a career in acting even though she is a trained lawyer. Acting comes naturally to her as we can all agree. One of her first movies was Naked Wire where she acted as a waitress. Her journey to stardom began when she played the role of a curious but brilliant secondary school student in a popular TV series, I Need to Know which aired from 1998 -2002. I Need to Know is a United Nations Population Fund sponsored Sitcom program created to enlighten the public on the issues teenagers face while growing up.

Funke has featured, written and produced many Nollywood movies especially Yoruba movies and has many hit movies to her name. Some of her hit movies are Maami, Iru Oka (Cobra’s tail), Omo Ghetto, Ojo Ketala (13thDay) and A Trip to Jamaica.

Funke Akindele got her major breakthrough when she played the main character in a comedy-drama movie, Jenifa where she acted as a ‘local girl’ from the village who went to Lagos for a ‘better’ life. The movie was not just entertaining and hilarious but a massive success which she did well to harness the potential. Jenifa inspired her ongoing TV series Jenifa’s Diary. Jenifa’s Diary has become a household name in most Nigerian homes and features talented artists such as Lota Chukwu, Folarin Falana (Falz Da bad guy) and Lolo, an OAP and TV personality.

Political career

Akindele was nominated as the Lagos deputy governorship candidate under Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) in the 2023 elections. Justifying her nomination, Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran monikered “Jandor”, noted that the actress added more value to his candidacy in the 2023 general elections. Confirming her deputy governorship candidacy, the actress stated that her acting career must be “necessarily put on hold”.

Record holdings

In 2024, Her movie A Tribe Called Judah became the highest grossing Nigerian movie of all time, breaking the record of her movie Battle on Buka Street.

Akindele has the most wins at award shows like AMVCA and Nigeria Entertainment Awards. She is the producer and director of the three highest grossing Nollywood movies of all time, A Tribe Called Judah, Battle on Buka Street and Omo Ghetto: The Saga.

Other Business Interests of Funke Akindele

Funke is not just successful in acting, she is also a skilled entrepreneur. She owns an acting school, Scene One School of Drama. Scene One School of Drama teaches aspiring actors, producers and dancers how to develop their talents and be the best in their creative careers. The courses offered in the school are Traditional and Contemporary Dance, Music, Introduction to Drama, Etiquette and Manners and much more.

Funke Akindele is also the CEO of Scene One Production. Scene One Production is a content production company for television stations and movies. Scene One production also has entertainment platforms- www.sceneone.tv and a mobile app for watching TV series, Nollywood movies, TV shows and music. She has a lot of endorsement deals with different brands.

Controversy

In April 2020, Akindele was arrested along with JJC Skillz, her husband at that time. She was charged for having a birthday party for her husband during a mandated lockdown to curb the spread of the Corona Virus. She later appeared in a Nigeria Centre for Disease Control video to raise awareness about Corona Virus. The actress and her husband were sentenced to a 14-day community service after pleading guilty to violating the lockdown order.

Philanthropy

Funke Akindele is a caring and generous person. She founded Jenifa’s Foundation, a non-governmental organisation. Through Jenifa’s Foundation, Funke gives back to society. The organisation empowers and helps young people discover their talents in acting, music, and dance.

Awards Won by Funke Akindele