Long before Funke Akindele became Nollywood’s box office record holder, she personally invited Bunmi Nelson to work with her. Nelson turned her down, and years later, she says it’s one of the decisions from her career she regrets most.
Reflecting on her time in the industry, Nelson explained that her hesitation wasn’t really about Akindele herself, but about secondhand stories she’d heard regarding how the Yoruba film industry operated. “I’ve heard a lot about Yoruba industry. They will say you should say auntie. They will say you should kneel down. Then one person say you should carry bag,” she recalled telling Akindele at the time, describing a mix of expected deference and hierarchy that put her off before she’d ever experienced it directly.
What makes the decision sting more in hindsight, according to Nelson, is just how far Akindele’s career has since traveled. “I didn’t see Funke going far. That’s why in life, don’t underestimate anybody. Don’t look down on anyone except you’re admiring their shoelace. If I knew Funke would go far like this, I would have held her tight because I can’t even see her back now,” she said, framing the missed opportunity as a lesson in misjudging potential based on assumptions rather than firsthand experience.
Nelson was direct about where she thinks the decision went wrong: not in the specifics of the industry rumors themselves, but in how readily she let them shape a major professional choice without verifying any of it personally. She argued that judging people, or entire professional environments, based on hearsay rather than direct interaction is a mistake worth avoiding, one she says she’s only fully internalized more recently in her career.
“That is why you need to humble yourself in life. If there’s anything I’ve learned in life now, it’s humility,” she added, tying the missed collaboration with Akindele to a broader shift in how she now approaches opportunities and the people who offer them.
