Veteran Nollywood actor Jide Kosoko has been in the news this weekend for two things:
Firstly, Kosoko said during an interview on the African A-List podcast that he gets nervous whenever Actress and Movie Producer Funke Akindele calls him up for a movie role “Whenever Funke calls me for a job, I am always scared; you can shoot a scene 15 times”
He explained that Funke Akindele is a perfectionist who pays attention to the smallest details and can make actors reshoot scenes they thought were already completed.
He gave an example: “She may come the following day thinking of shooting another scene, but then she will say, ‘We have to shoot those scenes again because of the plates they brought’”
Despite the stress, he praised her work ethic:”Funke is very hardworking; even if you are a man, you can’t match her energy”
On Nigeria under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Jide Kosoko claims “Things aren’t as bad as people claim”
Kosoko said this on the Talk To B podcast hosted by actress Biola Adebayo.
He said: “Things are not as bad as some people made us understand”
He questioned those complaining about hunger: “When you see people saying, ‘I am hungry, I am hungry,’ go and check the majority of those people saying that before Tinubu came. What were they doing? What were they eating? Every year, things change”
He added “I’m not saying things are rosy. Too many problems on the ground, which Bola Ahmed Tinubu is now fixing”
He blamed previous governments for not planning for Nigeria’s growing population and for the fuel subsidy regime, and urged Nigerians to give Tinubu more time: “Let’s try and allow Mr President and his team to finish what they started”
He cited the NELFUND student loan scheme as an example of the government’s positive intervention.
The comments have sparked backlash online, with many critics pointing out that Kosoko himself protested fuel price hikes under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
