Nollywood Exposed Through A Greeting Ignored

Journalist Kunle Rasheed Highlights How Yoruba Nollywood Was Exposed through a greeting that was Ignored...It is an explosive piece....

His piece goes....

''Exposing An Industry Through A Greeting Ignored

Since the advent of the social media order in Nigeria today, it has been a case of one trouble per minute, with new issues developing just when the dust of another is yet to settle. This was the same case with Funke Akindele and Toyin Abraham, which quickly submerged the then-trending issue of Baba Ijesha and Biola Adebayo. 

One thing you can’t take away from the scintillating world of Nollywood is that there will always be a war of egos among practitioners, a war that seems to be getting louder by the day than the movies themselves.

Iyabo Ojo’s star-studded premiere of The Return of Arinze exposed the ugly side of “make-believers,” one they couldn’t keep private but instead put on display for the world to see.

The optics beamed to the whole world were not pretty when Toyin Abraham was ignored by her elder colleague, Funke Akindele, as she walked up to her table to greet her. Toyin, bending slightly and tapping Funke before saying, “Aunty Funke, e kaasan ma” (Good afternoon, ma), showed a sign of genuine Yoruba respect—clear, polite, public, and humble.

Funke’s response? Shock and disbelief among lovers of the trade. Absolute silence, an extremely cold and deliberate look-away. There was no nod, no smile, no acknowledgment whatsoever—just a plain, expressionless face in a room full of witnesses and video recordings, including phones. Funke chose to publicly snub one of her own.

Interestingly, for some time now, I have been thinking that this may just be a well-rehearsed stunt to sell the movie The Return of Arinze. I don’t know why this thought keeps playing a loud song in my head that It may be a way to help the producer generate the necessary buzz for the new movie. And did it succeed in getting the buzz? 

The answer is obvious for all to see. There is no way that you’ll talk about the beef without talking about The Return of Arinze, just as I’m doing right now. It reminds me of how, in the music industry, fake beef is sometimes created to sell an upcoming album or albums.

Well, this is just my brain doing the arithmetic it is meant to do anyway. However, if the picture I have painted is not in any way close to reality, then Funke’s act that night was simply classless and all shades of wrong, something that shouldn’t be associated with her person. 

Now, if I may ask: ki lo wa ninu kiiki gan gan? (What’s exactly in greeting?) Why can’t she pretend for the cameras that wouldn’t have taken two seconds of her time to have peace?

If Funke thought she rubbished Toyin, who came with an olive branch that night even if there was any issue, she definitely did not. In fact, she succeeded in humiliating Iyabo Ojo, the host,who sat next to her in front of the entire Nollywood family and the internet.

The action wasn’t just a “private disgrace” moment; it was a calculated public dismissal. And for what? Past movie rivalries? Box-office tension from Everybody Loves Jenifa versus Alakada and their latest flicks? Old issues many thought had been buried? Whatever the backstory, there is no justification for treating a fellow actress—a mother, a content creator, and a box-office force in her own right like she doesn’t exist.

Toyin’s reaction after the incident? Pure class. She simply unfollowed Funke on Instagram and dropped the now-viral line that says it all: “I have unfollowed her. God forbid bad thing. If I ever greet her again, that means I am a bastard.” No long epistle. No dragging. Just a quiet boundary drawn with dignity. That’s not pettiness; that’s self-respect.

Funke Akindele built her empire on strong, ever charming compassionate characters, but in real life, that moment showed a different side of her, one that seems to give her the right to treat others with disdain.

What Funke should know is that Toyin’s mission at the premiere was achieved despite being badly bruised, because she left with her head high, her brand intact, and the entire internet community seeing that she showed up as the bigger person.

Nollywood can keep preaching peace and unity on the red carpet, but actions like this expose the truth. While some are busy building themselves to be better in the industry, others are busy guarding fragile egos that won’t add a dime to their bank accounts.

Already, many are trying to mend the collapsed bridge between them, and soon—maybe soon—the so-called elusive peace in Nollywood will find its way home again.
This is still Kunle Rasheed reporting LIVE from his Inner''