Olu Jacobs: The Lion Who Chose HomeA personal tribute by Tunde Kelani

Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs—Uncle Olu to so many of us—passed away on 16 September 2026 at the age of 84. His family announced the news with quiet dignity, calling him “The Lion of Lufodo” and asking the public for privacy. For years, false reports of his death had circulated; this time the curtain truly fell. What remains is a towering legacy that stretches from the stages of Britain to the foundations of modern Nigerian cinema.

I first met him in 1978. A small group of Nigerian students at the London Film School—Adefolu, George, Femi Aloba and I—were adapting Amadu Maddy’s novel No Past, No Present, No Future into our diploma film, Trying Times. We were young, ambitious and determined to return home with proof of our training. Olu Jacobs was a vibrant presence at the nearby Africa Centre in Covent Garden. Classically trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, already seasoned on British television and stage, he possessed a commanding presence that could fill any room.

ADVERTISEMENT

Yet he agreed to lead our student production without a fee. His only condition was a meal across the three-day shoot. His performance helped earn Trying Times a place in the Governors’ Screening—an early affirmation that we were on the right path.

Years later, through M-Net’s New Directions initiative—an innovative scheme that helped stimulate African storytelling—I served as director of photography on Twins of the Rainforest. There I framed Uncle Olu alongside his equally gifted wife, Joke Silva. Their on-screen chemistry as husband and wife was electrifying. The camera never forgets.

Capturing that rare intensity on 16mm celluloid remains one of the great blessings of my career. The imagery from behind that viewfinder is etched permanently in my memory: his warm, reassuring smile, that booming baritone voice, and his instinct to uplift everyone around him, cast and crew alike.

It took extraordinary courage and vision for him to walk away from a flourishing career abroad. Born on 11 July 1942 to parents of Egba Alake heritage (he spent his early childhood in Kano), Jacobs had built an enviable reputation across British stage, television and international cinema. He appeared in productions ranging from The Goodies and The Professionals to films such as Ashanti, The Dogs of War, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend and Roman Polanski’s Pirates. Yet he chose to return home. At a time when shooting on analogue video seemed absurd to many conventional filmmakers, he embraced the nascent Nollywood movement.

He weathered every infrastructural limitation, pouring his immense craft and discipline into laying the bedrock of an industry that would eventually command global attention.

Together with Joke Silva, whom he married in 1989, he founded the Lufodo Group, encompassing film production, distribution and the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts. He starred in well over a hundred Nigerian films, often as the authoritative patriarch, traditional ruler or man of gravitas whose presence elevated every frame. Awards followed: the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (2007), the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2011, the Industry Merit Award at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (2013), and lifetime achievement recognitions. Yet accolades alone cannot capture the magnitude of his contribution. He stands unequivocally as a founding patriarch of modern Nigerian screen performance—a proud son of the rock from the rolling hills of Egbaland who helped professionalise an industry still finding its feet.

They simply do not make them like him anymore. I will forever remember the generosity of that first encounter in London, the intensity we captured years later on celluloid, and the quiet example of a man who chose service to the craft over personal comfort. Thank you, Uncle Olu, for gracing my lens in Trying Times and Twins of the Rainforest, and for showing us what it truly means to serve the art.

Sun re o. Goodnight, Uncle.

Tunde Kelani (TK)