If no one has noticed, I did recently. Nigerian actress, Toyin Aimakhu, is now more popular for the wrong reasons. And if she thinks she is getting more media attention and followership as a result, she may have to give it a second thought.
It is my belief that if she needs to refocus on her career rather than the mundane. If she continues this way, the reputation she has built through the years could come crashing right before her eyes.
Though, she remains a popular face in showbiz, I really cannot remember any movie of hers that has made huge impact in recent times. Much as the objective of this piece is not to compare one actress with another, everyone could see how far Funke Akindele has gone with ‘Jenifa’s Diary’. She even won an award at the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards for her role in the series.
Why I am quick to drag Akindele into this is because she shares the same fortune with Aimakhu. They both walked out of their homes shortly after they got married. Both are also very similar in their interpretation of roles.
But while Akindele has managed to move on and stay calm since her separation, Aimahku has found it hard to achieve that.
After two years of marriage, Aimakhu left Adeniyi Johnson, also a thespian, citing infidelity as the major problem. According to her, Johnson could not stay away from ladies. The reason she left the marriage was quite understandable. She knew what she wanted for herself and did not want to settle for less.
But before the wound of her failed marriage could heal, the ‘Iya Ibadan actor found love in the CEO of Ebony Films and Records Production International, Seun Egbebe. And while we were hoping that something good will come out of her romance with Egbebe, she went on Instagram to dissociate herself from him. At the time, there were unconfirmed rumours that she was badly assaulted by her lover. There were also rumours that she was kidnapped at a time by the same person.
When all the distractions seemed to have petered out, another drama came up last month, on July 28 precisely. Her effort to save a dying 27-year-old graduate of University of Lagos turned to something else.
Aimahku, who had helped to raise funds for the ovarian cancer patient, Ahmed Mayowa Shukurat, went online to make allegations that the initiative to save Mayowa’s life was a scam orchestrated by her family. She alleged that Mayowa’s family had absconded with the money donated. Worse still, she was caught on camera shedding tears. I could not phantom why she was crying and I am sure many people also became furious.
For me, the question was: Was she Mayowa, the sick lady, trying to attract the sympathy of people? I thought her role was to inform the public of Mayowa’s plight and leave the rest in God’s hands. I honestly do not think she had business in how the money is to be spent.
In the aftermath of her recent outburst, Aimakhu had been heavily criticised across different platforms by Nigerians. Most people did not like the extent she went. The police had to come in to investigate the matter and a lot of attention was drawn to the poor lady and the family.
Even if there was an iota of truth in her allegations, most people felt she overreacted and did not go about it the right way. The belief is that she was too noisy, which made people to start wondering what her real motives were.
As things stand, with the latest occurrence, it will definitely be difficult to ignore her while compiling the list of controversial Nigerian celebrities when the year winds down. On my list, for instance, she is the first while Davido takes the second spot. At her level, Aimahku should know how to handle issues. She has grown in the industry over the years and many younger actors look up to her for direction.
If truly her Instagram account had been hacked and removed as early in the week reported, I take it as a good omen for her. She should not even bother to reopen another. If I were her, I would shut myself from the social media platforms for some time and concentrate on my craft. The social media space has done more harm than good to her.
