Family, colleagues and top Lagos officials gathered in Lekki on Friday to bury veteran actor Olu Jacobs, two weeks after his death at 84 closed a career that stretched from British stages to the centre of Nollywood.
The funeral mass held at This Present House on Freedom Way, Lekki Phase I. His widow, actress Joke Silva, sat with their sons, Olusoji and Olugbenga Jacobs. The casket stood at the front of the church, covered in flowers. Guests had been asked to dress in shades of green. A private burial followed the service.
Lagos State First Lady Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu attended, along with Deputy Governor Dr Obafemi Hamzat and his wife, Chief Mrs Oluremi Hamzat. Former Ogun State Governor Senator Ibikunle Amosun and former Ekiti State First Lady Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi were also present. Singer Dare Art Alade performed “Pray for Me,” a song he recorded with Jacobs and Joke Silva, while Olugbenga Jacobs presented a short biography of his father.
The mass came two days after a Night of Tributes at Glover Memorial Hall on Marina, Lagos Island.
Read Joke Silva Breaks Silence as Stars Gather to Honour Olu Jacobs
Jacobs, born Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs on 11 July 1942, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London before building a decades-long career in theatre, television and film. He and Joke Silva, married since 1989, founded the Lufodo Group. He received the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic. In 2021 his wife disclosed that he was living with dementia with Lewy bodies, a condition that kept him largely away from public life in his final years. False death reports circulated more than once before the family confirmed his passing on 16 September 2026 and asked bloggers to respect their privacy.