Why Fighting For Nigerians Can Be Discouraging – Kehinde Bankole

Nollywood actress Kehinde Bankole just recently won an AMVCA award for Best Lead Actress, and she’s now on screens again in the movie Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti where she plays the character of the titular character who was a real-life activist and mother of Afrobeats legend, Fela Kuti.

Now, during a new interview with Channels Television, Kehinde was asked about her own personal activism where she revealed that she is in fact not an activist. Asked to open up on why, Kehinde spoke her mind explaining why Nigerians can be very discouraging to fight for. Here’s what she said.

When asked about her own personal activism after playing the role of an activist like Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Kehinde Bankole responded saying:

KEHINDE BANKOLE: I am not an activist. But, I feel like every true citizen of a country must have some kind of love and patriotism for their country within them. I’m not activist, but I’m someone who really does love her people.

Opening up on why she’s not an activist and why fighting for Nigerians can be discouraging, she said:

KEHINDE BANKOLE: There’s fear of backlash from that freedom of speech you thought you could enjoy. You may get backlash from authorities, sometimes the people too. The people don’t know how powerful they are. Sometimes you could be at risk if you are outspoken or standing up or representing people who don’t even know you’re doing anything for them. You can actually get in trouble and look back and it’s just you, while you thought you were fighting for a number of people.

Sometimes, I go on comments of social media and I’m like are these the youths that somebody wants to go and stake their necks for? You will have conversations that are important and hinge on our future, you’ll see three comments, four comments. But let them hear that somebody impregnated the wife of somebody’s somebody, everybody is there. And you’re like we just talked about something that happened in the senate a few weeks ago. We just talked about somebody being caught embezzling money. Something that affects your life, your future, and they will not be there.

Source: Jide Okonjo

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