Posted by Chinenye on Fri 02nd Oct, 2026 - tori.ng
Olu Jacobs has been laid to rest in Lagos, bringing together family, friends and top Nollywood stars to honour the legendary actor.
(Olu Jacobs laid to Rest. Photo by Vangaurd News)
Veteran actor Olu Jacobs has been buried in Lagos after a funeral service held on Friday at the Freedom Centre in Lekki.
Family members, colleagues, friends, dignitaries and many stars of the Nigerian film industry came to honour him.
Jacobs died in September at the age of 82, after a career of several decades that made him one of Nigeria's most respected actors.
Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat and former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun were among those present.
Nollywood names at the ceremony included Shaffy Bello, Keppy Ekpeyong, Stan Nze, Morayo Afolabi-Brown, Ireti Doyle, Lala Akindoju, Kate Henshaw, OC Ukeje, Patrick Doyle, Stephanie Okereke and Ernest Obi.
The funeral came after a night of tributes and a service of songs on Wednesday.
Jacobs was born in 1942 to parents from Egba Alake and spent his early years in Kano, where he attended Holy Trinity School.
His love for the performing arts began after he watched a Hubert Ogunde concert party show at the Colonial Hotel in Kano.
He later moved to England and trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
He built his stage career in the 1970s.
In 1972 he played The Boy in A Taste of Honey at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
He later appeared in British television shows including The Goodies, Till Death Us Do Part and Barlow at Large.
In 1978 he played President Mageeba in Sir Tom Stoppard's play Night and Day.
After returning to Nigeria in 1990, he featured in the NTA detective series The Third Eye and then became a leading figure in the growing Nollywood industry.
He acted in hundreds of films and became one of the most acclaimed performers in Nigerian cinema.
His honours include the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Africa International Film Festival, an Icon Award from the Audio-Visual Rights Society of Nigeria in 2022 and the Industry Merit Award at the 2023 AMVCA.