I Didn’t Know She Would Go Far – Bunmi Nelson Regrets Looking Down On Funke Akindele

Nigerian actress Bunmi Nelson has expressed regret over underestimating her colleague, Funke Akindele, saying she never imagined that the actress would become as successful as she is today.

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

She recalled that Funke Akindele approached her for help in 2006, but she failed to take the opportunity seriously.

ALSO READ:

• Funke Akindele Urges Youths To Shun Get-Rich-Quick Mentality, Embrace Hard Work
• She Doesn’t Tolerate Nonsense – Saka Speaks On Funke Akindele’s Strictness

According to Nelson, she would often ignore Akindele’s calls despite having the opportunity to support her at a time when the Nigerian movie industry was less crowded.

“If I knew Funke would go far like this, I would have held her tight,” she said.

Nelson also advised people against looking down on others, stressing that nobody can predict how far another person will go in life.

“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 shoe lace,” she said.

She recalled how Akindele once approached her because she needed a house for a movie shoot.

According to her, she used to make her house available to people for filming and had also worked in a soap opera at the time.

“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 that she wanted to shoot,” she explained.

Nelson admitted that she failed to recognise the opportunity in front of her, saying she often ignored Akindele whenever she called.

“The mistake I now made was I just felt… she will be calling me then, I will just ignore. I don’t know if it was my village people ooo,” she said.

She further revealed that she believes she missed a major 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 them to join the Yoruba movie industry,” Nelson said.

Reflecting on the experience, the actress said one of the biggest lessons she has learned is the importance of 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.