I’m Scared Of My Children’s Future In Nigeria – Kemi Afolabi

I’m Scared Of My Children’s Future In Nigeria – Kemi Afolabi

Popular Nollywood actress, Kemi Afolabi, recently shared her
frustrations with the deplorable state of a government hospital she
recently visited in Lagos.

In an interview with Saturday Beats,
she noted that she was scared for the future of her children in Nigeria
due to the irregularities in some significant sectors in the country,
like health.

After she shared her frustration on her social media
platform, some people noted that they were shocked she uses a government
hospital, but she said it was sad people judge celebrities by what they
see in movies.

“It is sad that people judge us by the way they
see us in movies. I am not rich, I am just a thriving career woman who
wants the best for herself and her children. I believe that as an
individual, I can walk into any government establishment of which the
hospital I went to was one of them. I live in Ikeja, so going to the
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital wasn’t a bad idea. The
government has a whole lot to do.

“There should be government
hospitals in residential areas; it doesn’t cost the government anything
to do that. The government owes the masses adequate health facilities
and good health care. I am going to make more noise about this; they
need to start renovating these hospitals. A hospital should be a place
where people go to and feel comfortable, not going there and coming back
with another ailment. I am sure the government is disbursing funds to
the health sector, but it is probably being embezzled.

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“I
saw a lot of people sleeping on the floor, the drip stands were not
sufficient. It is not mere hearsay, I saw these things myself. Bed
spaces were not even enough, basic things need to be provided. These are
minor things that the government needs to look into. I don’t even think
the doctors are properly paid.

“I am extremely scared of the
future of my children and the generation to come in this country. I am
doing this for the next generation. These people are just wicked, they
go to treat themselves abroad and they know how things are done over
there. I have lived abroad for about five years and I know how things
are done.

“Here, even the air you breathe in the government
hospitals is irritating. This is for the future of our children; I was
abroad because my husband was based there. I had to come back to focus
on my career. For people that have not come back, they have their
reasons. When they even hear about the bad things happening in this
country, will they want to come back?” she told Saturday Beats.

Speaking
about her recent movie, she revealed that she was discouraged by some
people when she decided to take it to the cinema. She further talked
about why she chose to shoot an all-female cast movie, adding that she
used it to address some issues surrounding women and relationships.

“If
we can watch other movies in the cinema, then we can also see Yoruba
movies. My distributor told me he was surprised by the performance of
the movie in the cinema. We can’t even speak the English language
properly like the owners so we need to embrace our culture.

“I got
the idea for my recent movie when I saw the need to reach out to women
going through one phase or the other in their relationships and with
their spouses and the likes. I wanted to reach out through this medium
to proffer my own solution. I wanted to give women a voice. I wanted
them to know that there is a reason why God created men and women to
coexist. I wanted them to know that we need one another, regardless of
how bad a person’s character is.

“At some point, break-ups and
people walking out of their marriages due to domestic violence and other
vices were becoming rampant. I had to reflect to see how marriages were
handled in the past. For example, my grandpa had seven wives and my
grandma was the fourth. I thought to myself that how did grandma cope in
that kind of scenario; I realised that patience is a virtue.

“It
is not everything that happens in a home that should make people want to
walk out of their marriage, we have to learn to coexist and handle our
relationships by dealing with each other with wisdom. If women continue
walking out of relationships, they don’t know what they are going to
face in the next relationship.

“Above all, patience is key. I am
happy the movie is doing very well, even though it is in the Yoruba
genre. I wasn’t scared of being tagged a feminist. People even told me
the movie won’t be accepted in the cinema because it was a Yoruba movie
but I wasn’t discouraged,” she said.