10th AMVCA: Nigerians react as Funke Akindele’s ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ misses out

Reactions have continued to follow the 10th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, or AMVCA, which took place on Saturday at the Eko Hotel & Suites in Lagos.

The snub of Funke Akindele’s record-breaking picture ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ has emerged as the event’s most talked-about topic.

According to the report, ‘Breath of Life’ was the night’s biggest winner, taking home six awards, including Best Movie, Best Sound Design, Best Director (BB Sasore), Best Lead Actor (Wale Ojo), Best Supporting Actor (Ademola Adedoyin), Best Supporting Actress (Genoveva Umeh), and Trailblazer.

‘A Tribe Called Judah,’ on the other hand, received all five nominations despite becoming the first Nigerian film to gross more than N1 billion in theatres last December.

As expected, the snub of Nigeria’s highest-grossing film has sparked a social media firestorm.

Here is glitzedge ’s compilation of some of the reactions on X:

@abazwhylllz wrote, “A Tribe Called Judah is my own movie of the year. Keep your head high Funke Akindele.”

@EObaniyi opined, “Award or not, Funke Akindele is the best in the game.”

@PoojaMedia wrote, “A Tribe Called Judah didn’t win any award. Wow”

@Wizkidfc wrote, “A Tribe Called Judah is my own Best Movie. Funke Akindele take your flowers.”

@Lil_maamiii stated, “I don’t want to hear anything like Funke Akindele was robbed oo, when she bagged all the awards with ‘Omo Ghetto: The Saga’, nobody remembered robbery oo, so please let ‘Breath Of Life’ breathe.”

@EngOguns wrote, “I’m not even that mad that A Tribe Called Judah was snubbed in all categories. I’m livid because not once did they mention the 1B milestone.. It’s obvious that #AMVCA10 no longer f*ck with Funke Akindele.”

@PureMind_ asserted, “The money Funke Akindele made from ‘A Tribe called Judah’ must have rattled a lot of people for this level of hate.”

@Ifeobayeji wrote, “Anyway, Kehinde had a better performance than Funke if we compare both movies [‘Adire’ and ‘A Tribe Called Judah’]. But how ‘Breath of Life’ won best movie over ATCJ [‘A Tribe Called Judah’] is shocking.”

@Kumms argued, “‘Breath of Life’ is a better movie than ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ on every metric.”

@MissyKobell opined, “‘A Tribe Called Judah’ is better than ‘Adire’ sha… You can’t beat Funke Akindele in a category if we are being honest.”

@tianaadebayo wrote, “‘A Tribe Called Judah’ by Funke Akindele gave us what we have always known in a different way but ‘Breath Of Life’ storyline was awesome.. it’s a well deserved win for ‘Breath Of Life’ and that doesn’t mean that Funke Akindele isn’t a winner.. she is now and always.”

@The_Bolutife wrote, “Second year that Funke Akindele’s blockbuster movie didn’t win any awards. Something is fishing.”