Funke Akindele

Personal Information
Real Name	Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele
Birth Date	1977-08-24
Birthplace	Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria
Career & Achievements
Active Years	1998–present

Early life

Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele was born on August 24, 1977, in Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria. She is the second of three children. Her mother is a medical doctor, while her father is a retired school principal.

Akindele obtained an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Mass Communication from the former Ogun State Polytechnic (now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic). She went on to study Law at the prestigious University of Lagos, graduating with an LL.B degree.

Career

Akindele's acting career began in television when she starred in the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-sponsored sitcom I Need to Know, playing the role of Bisi, a curious schoolgirl, from 1998 to 2002.

Her major breakthrough came in 2008 when she produced and starred in the comedy-drama film Jenifa. The character, a hilarious and grammatically-challenged village girl trying to fit into university life, became an instant cultural phenomenon. In 2015, she spun the character off into a highly successful television series, Jenifa's Diary, which ran for multiple seasons.

In the 2020s, Akindele established herself as the most commercially successful filmmaker in Nollywood history, directing and producing three consecutive films that broke the domestic box office records:

Omo Ghetto: The Saga (2020) — Grossed over ₦636 million, breaking the 4-year box office record of The Wedding Party.
Battle on Buka Street (2022) — Grossed over ₦668 million, setting a new record.
A Tribe Called Judah (2023) — Grossed over ₦1.4 billion, becoming the first Nollywood film to surpass the 1 billion naira mark.

Politics

In July 2022, Funke Akindele was officially unveiled as the deputy governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 Lagos State gubernatorial election alongside governorship candidate Olajide Adediran. She paused her acting career during the campaign. The ticket finished second in the election.

Personal life

Akindele married Adeola Kehinde Oloyede in May 2012. The marriage dissolved in July 2013. She later married Nigerian rapper and producer Abdul Rasheed Bello (popularly known as JJC Skillz) in London in May 2016. In 2018, she gave birth to twin boys. In June 2022, JJC Skillz announced their separation.

Filmography

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