The awards presentation ceremony was held at the Ikoyi, Lagos office of NFVCB on Friday, February 27, 2026 with several industry practitioners in attendance.
According to the NFVCB, Akindele had been announced winners of the awards at different times since 2020 but had not been present to physically receive the awards until Friday, February 27, 2026.
In attendance were several industry practitioners including the honourable Minister for Tourism, Culture and Arts, who was represented by the GM/CEO of the National Theatre, Mrs Tola Akerele; AVRS chairman, Mahmood Ali-Balogun; AGN Vice President and actress, Dayo Amusa; President of the Association of Movie Producers, Dr. Blessing Ebigeson; AFRIFF founder, Chioma Ude; CEAN representative, Patrick Lee; DGN Vice President, Grace Edwin Okon, among others.
In his opening remarks, Husseini thanked guests for attending, adding, “we are here to celebrate a talent, we are here to celebrate somebody who has made this industry not only visible to the world but to tell everyone that it is possible to be in this industry and make money from the industry.”
He recalled that Funke had previously been unable to receive some of her awards because of her schedule.
“We had given some awards to Funke during our digital conferences but she has always not been around because it’s always at the time when she is travelling. This particular one was given to her in November while she was travelling and she said, ‘Sir, when I come back I will come and pick up the award.’ She was just to come here and meet me and I handover the awards to her. But Funke is not just someone that will walk in here and I will hand the award to her. We should at least celebrate her. Even if I was not Executive Director, I would have organised something for the awards presentation. I think it is important for us to give her her flowers, to give people their flowers when they deserve it.”
Goodwill messages were delivered by Mrs Tola Akerele, Mahmood Ali Balogun, Chioma Ude, Dayo Amusa, Dr Blessing Ebiegeson, and Grace Edwin-Okon.
The messages all reiterated pride in Akindele’s achievements with prayers while urging her to achieve more.
Funke was presented with the Box Office Champion award for the year 2020 with the film, ‘Omo Ghetto.’
The award was presented by the representatives of the guilds present at the event.
The box office queen was also presented with the Audience Choice Award (2024/2025) for the film, ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’ presented by Mahmood Ali-Balogun; Box Office Champion (2024/2025) for ‘Everybody Loves Jenifa’ presented by Chioma Ude; and Box Office CHampion (2025/2026) for the film ‘Behind The Scenes’ presented by Mrs Tola Akerele.
An elated Akindele couldn’t stop expressing gratitude to every attendees of the event saying she appreciates the gestures.
She also reiterated that the success she enjoys today is as a result of her dedication, hard work and diligence.
In her words, “Thank you. Thank you for the honour. God will honour you always in Jesus’ name. It’s years of a lot of hard work. Hard work, dedication, perseverance, staying focused, being intentional about success. A lot of sleepless nights. A lot of hunger. It’s not because I don’t have money to eat, but because I have to finish the work before I go back to eat. So it’s a lot of work.
“Meeting people, seeing people celebrating you, is a blessing for me. You left your homes to come and celebrate me today, heaven will celebrate you in Jesus’ name. I want to thank you, ma. I can’t wait to come to National Theatre. Thank you. Uncle Mahmood, Thank you. You’ve been there for years. You are still here, supporting, pushing. I just learned a lesson today again that it’s not all about the show business. What about Behind The Scenes? What are you doing in the guild, the association? How are you part of it? Don’t be distant, okay? This is a wake-up call for me, seeing that you’re seated, being part of actors’ guild, seeing Queen, we’ve been friends for years, auditions days. And she’s so pushed. I hear you speak today. I’m so proud of you. The way you speak. Oh my God, Queen. You’re doing so well. Thank you. Seeing you, my sister, here, I’m so impressed. Thank you. This has been my guide for years. Thank you for celebrating me. Thank you so much, everybody. Members of the press, thank you. Thank you for celebrating us continually. Nollywood is what we have. Uncle has said it all. We must not bring down Nollywood. No. Don’t talk ill about Nollywood. This is where we eat from. We don’t have any other place. Maybe tomorrow if I’m going to something else. But right now, this is where I make my money. So, thank you so much, okay..”