Funke Akindele: Enough tantrums against the little girl's dreams and aspirations, by Adeshola Komolafe

Funke Akindele

Funke Akindele is not just a woman, but a true warrior, role model and embodiment of the Nigerian spirit. More importantly, she is Nigerian and Lagosian through and through. Its existence and its aspirations should not attract so many unfounded, childish and obtuse reactions, except for those whose egos, machismo, clandestine plans, nepotistic tendencies, dark fixations and obvious failure and lack of tact, are threatened by it and the light it potentially brings.

Something very bad and sinister is slowly creeping into the very fiber of our collective identity and our aspirations as a people.

It's like a virus that sneaks in without notice and begins to disengage and denigrate every function of the human body, until the wellness center can't hold on any longer.

Over the years, this social "virus" has morphed into many shapes and sizes and can be found ubiquitously in every culture and region of the country. You can call it the crab mentality, pull down syndrome, villagers, stereotypes, gender and ethnic bias, etc. Whatever its nomenclature, if nothing is done soon to stop it, rather than stoke it, our children will pay for the sins. of their fathers.

Unfortunately, Funke Akindele, another girl-turned-sister, mother, employer, creative and potential Deputy Governor of Lagos State on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) platform, is set to be victim of Nigeria's longstanding hypocrisy. and a gross injustice to the female gender, widely perceived by many as weaker vessels.

Until a few days ago, she was widely regarded by everyone as the darling of the movie industry, Nollywood, due to her fun role of Jenifa and other very interesting roles that she has played over the years. Her work has also earned her local, state, national and international recognition for her hard work, creativity and advocacy for social, economic and political change. However, the moment she dared to dream; to turn his aspirations from thin paper to thick action, many Nigerians not only raised their eyebrows but were also very quick to throw nasty word-destroying rocks and molds at him.

What is his crime? Dare to dream big; Damn! Dare to dream at all. Dare to change the status quo. Dare to shine her light so that every young girl and woman in Nigeria can unknowingly have "permission" to do the same.

No rich and developed country has truly achieved its hallowed and enviable status within the league of nations of the world without the conscious recognition of the invaluable contributions and participation of women and girls in their growth and development . In fact, the United Nations, the European Union and other international bodies continue to press for greater participation and inclusion of women in all sectors, especially in governance, in order to achieve coherent and sustainable goals. ...