Nigerian actor and comedian Ijoba Lande has opened up about his frustrating experience working with Nollywood star Funke Akindele, revealing that he was paid only ₦90,000 after a month of work.
Lande made the revelation in a viral video, sparking mixed reactions. While some criticized Akindele over the alleged low payment, others accused Lande of unfairly calling her out.
During a live session on his social media page, Lande detailed his time working with the Everybody Loves Jenifa star. He claimed to have spent an entire month at Akindele’s residence in Amen Estate, only to receive a payment far below his expectations.
In the viral clip, Lande advised upcoming creatives in the entertainment industry not to see anybody as a god and to charge their fee without feeling shame.
He said: “That Funke Akindele, when I went to work for her, I spent a whole month working for her at Amen Estate, I was living in Ayobo and I was married then. Whenever I saw that we didn’t have much work to do, I would quickly go home. After working with Funke Akindele for a whole month, she did not even give me N150,000, I swear to God. Is it that industry? The reason I’m saying this is for all you upcoming, anybody that wants to use you, if God has already helped you to gain some fame, don’t look at anybody as a god.”
Speaking further in the video, Lande explained how Funke Akindele reached out to him in the DM after he made a video that she liked. The skitmaker said he was very excited when she sent him a message and he felt it would be the big break his career needed.
However, upon getting to Amen Estate, Lande said he could not even take a single picture with Funke Akindele because she wasn’t approachable and he hates begging people for pictures. He also added that he learned his lesson from the experience and would bill anybody who approaches him for work, even if it’s Michael Jackson.
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He said: “Do you know what they did to me then? I made one video then that she liked and she messaged me, I no dey message anybody as I dey like this. And when Funke Akindele is talking to you, she would talk to you nicely, her voice is gentle. All the time that I worked for her, we never took a single picture, she was never approachable, I swear to God and I hate begging people that I want to take pictures with them to avoid getting insulted.
Even if Wizkid or Davido comes here, I will only greet them, I am not photogenic. That time, when I saw that I was going to work for Funke Akindele, I was very happy that it was a big platform for me. If I tell you guys how that work ended for me, you won’t believe it. When they brought the form to me, Wendy came to meet me, when Funke Akindele showed interest in working with me, I felt I could not be billing someone like her, that was that time ooo. If it’s now, even if Michael Jackson wants to use me, I will tell him the specific amount I want to collect. If he really needs me, he will pay.”
Lande said that when he got to Amen Estate to begin working for Funke Akindele, a person named Wendy came to meet him and introduced herself as the producer. The person then gave him a contract to sign where it was written that he would be paid N90,000 per month for the job.
Lande said that even though he was taken aback, he went ahead to sign the contract because he thought they only wrote it there for formality, only for him to actually be paid N90k at the end of the month.
In his words: “For you upcoming creatives, don’t see anybody as them wanting to help you, na lie o. But to be honest, I was very happy that I was going to work with Funke Akindele. I was very happy I didn’t even know how to ask how much she was going to pay me so that she wouldn’t change her mind about working with me. When I got there, someone came and said she’s Wendy, the producer and then she brought a document for me to sign.
I read it and saw that they were going to be paying N90,000 every month, and I was already at the location. It’s good to be educated. If I was well read, I would not have signed and it’s not that I’m an illiterate but I wanted to work with someone like her, so I thought what was written on the document was nothing and that they only wanted to use that to do normal protocol, only for the month to end and I was truly paid N90,000 after a month of working.”
