Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele-Bello popularly known as Jenifa or Funke Akindele is a Nigerian actress and producer. Funke starred in the sitcom, I Need to Know from 1998-to 2002, and in 2009, She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Beat Actress in a leading Role. She rose to fame for her role in the movie titled Jenifa,the Omo Ghetto trilogy also contributed to her fame. Funke Akindele played the role in the show Jenifa’s Diary, for which she was named the Best Actress In A Comedy at the 2016 AMVCA.
Born: 24th of August 1977
Nationality: Nigerian
Education: Grace Children School Gbagada,Lagos Model College,Ogun State Polytechnic, University of Lagos.
Marital Status: Married
Spouse: JJC Skillz
Occupation: Actress and Producer
Early Life
Funke Akindele was born on the 24th of August, 1977 in Ikorodu, Lagos State. Funke is the second of three children, two girls and one boy. Her father is a retired school principal and her mother is a medical doctor. She attended Grace Children School Gbagada, Lagos State, for her primary education and Lagos State Model College, Igbo-kuta for her secondary education.
She obtained an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Mass Communication from the former Ogun State Polytechnic, now known as Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. She later went to the University of Lagos to study for a law degree.
Career
Funke Akindele came into the limelight after starring in the popular United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA), a sponsored sitcom,I Need to Know, which went from 1998 to 2002. Olufunke played Bisi, a curious but highly intelligent secondary school student. Her breakthrough came in 2008 when she appeared in the movie, Jenifa.
In 2016, in an interview, Funke Akindele stated that she was acting less in the Yoruba movie industry at that time because of piracy. She plays the lead character in the ongoing TV show, Jenifa’s Diary, alongside Falz, Olayode Juliana, and others. The show is a spin-off from the movie Jenifa.
In January 2018, there was a rumour that Funke would get her Hollywood debut in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War as she was listed as a cast on IMDb. Some weeks later, her name was replaced with that of fellow Nigerian Actress, Genevieve Nnaji. In February 2018, it was said that Senate President and chair of National Assembly, Dr Bukola Saraki has advised Marvel Studios to feature Akindele in Infinity War.
In July 2019, Funke started a new web series, Aiyetoro Town, a spinoff from her popular TV series, Jenifa’s Diary. She is the CEO of Scene One production. She made her directorial debut in the 2019 Political drama film, Your Excellency.
Funke Akindele-Bello runs a non-governmental organization known as The Jenifa Foundation, which aims at providing young people with vocational skills. She has endorsement deals such as being a brand ambassador to Dettol and IrokoTV. In 2018, She was signed as brand ambassador for Keystone Bank. Olufunke signed an endorsement deal with Was Nigeria, a company that produces detergent and bar soap in 2019.
Her movie, Omo Ghetto currently holds the record of becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time in Nigeria, breaking the four-year record of The Wedding Party. The movie grossed #468,036,300 after maintaining its number one spot for 3 consecutive weeks.
Personal Life
Funke Akindele got married to Adeola Kehinde Oloyede on the 26th of May, 2012. The couple divorced in July 2013 citing irreconcilable differences. She later got married to Nigerian rapper, JJC Skills in May 2016 in London.
There was a rumour about her being pregnant, which was a top search by everybody on Google in August 2017. Funke Akindele-Bello gave birth to twin boys in December 2018 and she also has stepchildren.
In April 2020, Funke was arrested and charged to court for hosting a birthday party in honour of her husband during the lockdown. She later appeared in a Nigeria Centre for Disease Control video to raise awareness about Corona virus.
She and her husband were sentenced to a 14-day community service after pleading guilty to violating the lockdown order.
Nominations and Awards
She has been nominated as:
- 2010 Best Nollywood Awards as the Best Actress in leading Role
- 2012 Best of Bollywood Awards as Best Actress (English)
- 2013 Nollywood Movies Awards as Best Actress in a Leading Role
- 2016 Nigeria Entertainment Awards for Best actress series
- 2017 Nigeria Entertainment Awards as Best lead Actress
- 2021 net honours as most searched actress
- 2021 Africa Movie Academy Awards as Best Actress in a Leading Role.
She has won several awards such as;
- 2009 Africa movie Academy Award as the Beat Actress leading Role
- 2009 Nigeria Entertain!Ent Awards as best actress
- 2012 Nigeria Entertain!Ent Awards as Best actress
- 2012 Nollywood Movies as Best Actress (indigenous)
- 2012 Zulu African Film Academy Awards as Best actress
- 2013 Nollywood Movies Awards as Best actress (Indigenous)
- 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards as Best actress (leading role)
- 2014 AMVCA as Best Actress (comedy)
- ELOY awards as Brand ambassador of the year in 2014
- 2016 AMVCA as Best Actress in Comedy Role
- 2016 Naija FM Awards as Sitcom of the year and Best Actress in a comedy
- 2016 Africa Entertainment Legend Awards as the Best Actress of the year
- 2016 Ghana Movies Awards as Best Actress Africa Collaboration.
- 2017 AMVCA as Best TV series
- 2017 Nigeria Entertainment Awards as Best lead Actress
- 2020 AMVCA as Best Actress in a comedy
- 2021 Net Honours as Most Popular Actress
Net worth
Funke Akindele is a Nigerian actress, producer, director and philanthropist worth about 4 million dollars.
Social Media Handles
Instagram: Funkejenifaakindele
Twitter: funkeakindele
