Joke Silva turns 65 a day before Olu Jacobs’ Night of Tributes

Updated 12:50pm WAT, Thursday, 1 October 2026: speeches and guests from the Night of Tributes added, including Joke Silva, her sons Gbenga and Soji, and arts minister Hannatu Musawa.

Updated 7:50pm WAT, Wednesday, 30 September 2026: Olu Jacobs’ Night of Tributes held on Wednesday evening at Glover Memorial Hall, Lagos; details added.

Joke Silva turned 65 on Tuesday, 29 September, and Richard Mofe-Damijo was among the first to say so. The Joke Silva birthday post, on RMD’s Instagram, came 13 days after her husband Olu Jacobs died, and a day before Lagos gathered to pay him tribute.

RMD did not pretend it was an ordinary birthday. “Even as you mourn the love of your life, Uncle Jay, we are reminded of your life of grace,” he wrote, according to The News Chronicle. He called her his “aburo”, or younger sister, and said he had celebrated her every year since their paths crossed more than 40 years ago, TVC News reported.

The timing was hard. Her husband’s Night of Tributes followed on Wednesday and his funeral is on Friday, so her 65th birthday fell in the middle of a week of mourning.

What did RMD say about Joke Silva at 65?

RMD praised Joke Silva’s work and her place in Nigeria’s creative industry. In the post, reported by TVC News at about noon WAT on Tuesday, he said the lives she had touched were “immeasurable” and thanked her for what she had given her family, her craft and the industry.

The two actors have known each other since the early 1980s, which puts them in the small group of performers whose careers run from stage and television into modern Nollywood.

Who is Joke Silva?

Joke Silva is a Lagos-born actress, director and producer, born on 29 September 1961. She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2006 for Women’s Cot, and Best Supporting Actress in 2008 for White Waters.

Younger viewers will know her from Phone Swap (2011), Chief Daddy (2018) and Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman (2022). Before all that she played opposite Colin Firth and Nia Long in the 1998 British film The Secret Laughter of Women. With Olu Jacobs she co-founded the Lufodo group, including the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts, where she is director of studies.

How did the Olu Jacobs Night of Tributes go?

The Olu Jacobs Night of Tributes held on Wednesday evening, 30 September, at Glover Memorial Hall on Marina, Lagos Island. Guests wore shades of blue at the family’s request, according to Premium Times.

Joke Silva came in grey lace, with the couple’s sons, Gbenga and Soji, beside her, Channels Television reported. Arts minister Hannatu Musawa was in the hall too, with Funke Akindele, Jide Kosoko, Adebayo Salami, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Sola Sobowale, Kate Henshaw, Hilda Dokubo, Desmond Elliot, Norbert Young and playwright Ahmed Yerima, according to Premium Times and Channels.

Soji Jacobs told the hall he hardly watched his father’s films growing up. To him, Olu Jacobs “was simply dad”, Premium Times reported. RMD passed on a lesson the veteran once gave him: “There are no small actors, and there are no small lines.”

Sola Sobowale said her career turned the day Jacobs praised her in public as a great actor, while Norbert Young said he learned his craft by listening to him at least once a week, Channels reported.

Olu Jacobs died on Wednesday, 16 September, aged 84. He appeared in more than 100 Nigerian films across five decades and won the AMAA for Best Actor in 2007. In a tribute reported by Premium Times on 25 September, Pete Edochie praised Joke Silva for caring for her husband through six difficult years.

What happens next

The funeral service for Olu Jacobs is at 10am on Friday, 2 October, at This Present House, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, where mourners are asked to wear shades of green, according to the family’s programme reported by Premium Times.

FAQ

How old is Joke Silva?
Joke Silva turned 65 on Tuesday, 29 September 2026. She was born in Lagos on 29 September 1961.

Who was Joke Silva’s husband?
Her husband was veteran actor Olu Jacobs, who died on 16 September 2026, aged 84.

When is Olu Jacobs’ funeral?
The funeral service is at 10am on Friday, 2 October 2026, at This Present House, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, following the Night of Tributes held on Wednesday, 30 September, at Glover Memorial Hall.

What is your favourite Joke Silva role? Tell us in the comments.

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