So I finally decided to dust myself up from the rock that I’ve been living under for the past year or so (or however long Funke Akindele’s “Jenifa’s Diary” has been running for), and I finally saw an episode of Jenifa’s Diary.
One episode led to two, two led to four and well… let’s just say that after binging on an entire season (Yelz! Don’t judgment me abeg), here are some of the lessons I have learned (and we can all learn) from Jenifa:
#10 – No be only Olopa fit DEFEND THE DEFENSELESS
Later in the season we see Jenifa as the defender of justice when she confronts the neighborhood bully who wanted to ‘chance’ her on the line to fetch water. She puts the lady firmly in her place and informs her that everybody is at the same level in this ‘barracks’ that they all live in.
#9: It’s NOT ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE THAT CAN GIVE:
From the moment Jenifa sets foot in Lagos, she starts off by helping an old woman who was attempting to cross a busy highway. She helps the lady carry her load and even gives her transportation fare.
Another firm example of her giving spirit stretches throughout the season. You notice that even though Jenifa is broke, whenever she manages to have a little bit of money she is always sharing it with her friend, Toyosi and even with her frenemy – Mercy.
#8 – THERE’S MORE THAN ONE WAY to skin a cat
Jenifa is the queen of creativity especially when it comes to the arena of making money. When she initially arrives Lagos and Toyosi asks her what she is going to do for money, she has faith that she will soon arrange herself. And true to that thought, she steps out onto campus, notices a few students doing rag day to get money. She then takes it upon herself to not carry last and so she turns everyday into rag day and earns a decent living. Who says you need to sell your body or join a gang to make some quick change when you can always pretend to be craze person.
Likewise, when in a less successful endeavor. When it came time to meet Mr. Capable at the Banky W. Valentine’s day concert, she resents being left out by her friends and decides to hustle for her ticket money. So what does our darling Jenifa do? She doesn’t go begging someone to buy the ticket for her, instead she just takes her clothes out into the streets and starts her own bend-down-select-business. Later you’ll tell me that Nigerian women are not entrepreneurs.
#7 – You can achieve anything that you SET YOUR MIND TO
Jenifa gets what Jenifa wants.
If you have seen even half of an episode then you already know that this is true. From when she decides that she must come to Lagos and swindles her village lover into giving her “hospital money” that turned into her transportation fare, you see that Jenifa will find a way to get whatever she wants.
Time and time again, from her desire to join “facebook community and instagram family” to her desire to be a ‘bigz gyalz’, if Jenny baby wants it, Jenny baby finds a way to get it.
#6 – A stubborn fly that REFUSES TO HEED ADVICE follows the corpse to the grave
But Jenny baby’s ways are not always right and Jenny baby is not always willing to heed advise. This is exactly how Jenny baby found herself travelling to Warri just to go and receive a beating from Waje.
It all started with her facebook ‘chatting’ in her lol and lwkmd community. Toyosi aptly warns Jenifa to be cautious of the people she speaks to online but Jenifa is determined to continue talking to Donald. As the thing continues, one day Donald invites Jenifa to meet him in Warri. Toyosi warns her not to go but she is determined that “this bobo fit rich”.
As such, she enters a bus and lands in Warri where she meets Donald’s girlfriend and the breadwinner of his household, played by Waje.
To be continued… Read the rest of the post HERE
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