I Regret Underestimating Funke Akindele – Bunmi Nelson

Actress Bunmi Nelson has expressed regret for looking down on Funke Akindele in their early careers, saying she never envisioned the extent of Akindele’s success today. 

Nelson made the admission during an interview on the ‘Talk to B’ podcast with actress Biola Adebayo.

The actress recalled turning down an opportunity to work with Akindele when she was just starting out.

“If I knew Funke would go far like this, I would have held her tight. Because I can’t even see her back now. It was even Funke that took me to Odun Ifa”, Nelson said.

She said Akindele had approached her for help with location, even bringing veteran actress Mama Fali Werepe to her Magodo home to shoot.

“Then, I used to give people my house to shoot. I just love it. I used to do location then, and I was also in a soap opera. Funke now approached me and said she needed a house. She even brought Mama Fali Werepe to our house then at Magodo, saying she wanted to shoot there. Nelson, however, said she ignored Akindele’s calls at the time.

“The mistake I made now was I just felt… she will be calling me then, I will just ignore. I don’t know if it was my village people. I had every opportunity when Funke was calling me because the industry was not overpopulated like now,” she said.

Nelson said she missed a “big opportunity” between 2006 and 2007 when Akindele was encouraging people to join the Yoruba movie industry.

“I missed that big opportunity in 2006 and 2007 because she was telling me to join the Yoruba movie industry. If there’s anything I have learned in this life, it is humility. I’m more humble now than anything else because life has taught me the hard way that nothing is constant”, she stated.

Using the experience to caution the public, she said: “I didn’t see Funke Akindele going far; that’s why, in life, don’t underestimate anyone. Don’t look down on anyone except when you’re admiring their shoelace.”

The actress added that the experience taught her humility. “If there’s anything I have learned in this life, it is humility. I’m more humble now than anything else because life has taught me the hard way that nothing is constant,” she stated.