Media personality Toke Makinwa has voiced concerns about approaching her 40th birthday, an important milestone in her life.
She talked about her anxiety and a conversation she had with D’Banj in a recent episode of her programme, Toke Moments. D’Banj suggested she avoid celebrating her 40th birthday because of pressures from the industry and the possibility of being “retired” because of her advanced age.
She said:
“I’m turning a very big age this year and I’m so nervous. I am so nervous. At first, I started the year by saying I didn’t want to do anything. D’Banj, I’m going to call him out. D’Banj called me and said “Don’t do birthday o! You know this industry. Did I do my birthday? Did Don Jazzy celebrate his birthday? Who shouted when they were 40? Don’t do any birthday o! They will retire you.” I was like “Dapo, what do you mean?”
“When I fill forms these days, you know when we were so excited to fill between 18 and 25, we tick fast. Between like 25 and 35, you tick. After 35, it’s like is this answer required?”
However, her show guest, IK Osakioduwa, offered words of encouragement and reassurance.
In another story, Toke Makinwa harshly denounced the long-standing practice of identifying people with tribal markings, calling it cruel to minors without their consent.
On Sunday, Makinwa announced this through a number of postings on her X account.
The media star thought back on the long-standing custom after recalling a recent encounter with an influencer who had tribal markings.
She wrote:
“Today I saw a beautiful influencer with tribal marks and it made me think about the cruelty that culture brought upon us. Marking a child without his/her consent as a means of identification is Evil, I know our parents didn’t know any better but damnnnn!!!!”
In her subsequent posts, she highlighted that even though she admires the beauty of people with tribal marks, her concern centres around the absence of consent when marking children for identification.
“Thank God it’s abolished now. My grandma had tribal marks too.
“Some on her face and her arms, I wonder what life was like when she was younger walking around with it, though I’m sure a lot of people around her had the same but thank God it’s cancelled now,” she continued.
