Actress and producer Funke Akindele has narrated how she took on different jobs as a student while studying at the University of Lagos to survive and support herself.
In a recent interview with BellaNaija, the award-winning filmmaker said she taught herself to do nails by watching people in Yaba.
She recalled a painful incident in which a customer slapped her after being unhappy with the work.
“When I was at the University of Lagos, I used to make nails. I made nails for a girl one day, and she slapped me because they were rubbish. I learnt by watching people make nails in Yaba. I would buy them, stay in the corridor, and ask people to come and get their nails done,” she said.
According to her, nail-making was just one of several hustles she engaged in as a student.
She said she also sold cakes, worked as a make-up artist, handled costuming, and sourced filming locations.
She mentioned that a make-up artist, Bimpe Onakoya, used to buy cakes from her, and that she also did make-up and costume work for actresses, including Bukky Wright and Iyabo Ojo.
“I was selling cakes. Bimpe Onakoya, the talented make-up artist, was buying cakes from me. She would make me up. I learnt from people making hair. I did make-up. I did costuming. I used to customise for Aunty Bukky Wright. Even Iyabo Ojo then. I would go to Yaba and buy costumes and iron them,” she said.
Akindele further revealed that she worked as a location manager, negotiating with homeowners to use their properties for shoots and taking a cut of the fee.
She also admitted to selling bed spaces in UNILAG to survive.
“I was a location manager. I would go to houses and knock. If they paid the owner N100,000, I could take 30 and pay the person 70. I sold bed space in UNILAG so I could survive. I am a hustler. That is why I am firm. Life taught me, and I cannot do otherwise,” she said.
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