Nollywood has lost one of its defining figures. Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, known to the world as Olu Jacobs, died on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at the age of 84. The family did not disclose a cause of death or the location where he passed.
His son, Olusoji Jacobs, announced the death in an Instagram post Wednesday, writing that the family was grateful to God for “a life well lived and fought.” He signed off the tribute with the words “The Lion of Lufodo.”
The family’s announcement confirmed his dates as July 11, 1942, to September 16, 2026. No burial arrangements had been made public as of the time of this report. The announcement came without prior warning from the family.
Olusoji also called on bloggers and social media influencers “to respect our family’s privacy at this time.” The request signals a family choosing to control the pace of public mourning on its own terms, without intermediaries.
Olu Jacobs built a career that crossed continents. Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, he began in British television, then featured in several international productions before returning to Nigeria, where he became a central figure in the country’s film industry.
Vanguard once described him as one of the “godfathers of Nollywood,” placing him alongside Pete Edochie. That framing, shared widely, captures what his presence meant to an industry that was still defining itself when he walked back into it.
He starred in more than 120 films and earned the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2007.
He also received the Industry Merit Award for outstanding achievements in acting at the 2013 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.
Death rumors trailed him as far back as 2021, until he appeared at the Africa International Film Festival in November of that year, where he was presented with its Lifetime Achievement Award. That appearance, frail but present, became the image many Nigerians held of him in his final years.
His wife, actress Joke Silva, later confirmed in an interview that he had been battling Lewy body dementia.
Silva, speaking publicly about it for the first time, said the disease was “hard on him because he doesn’t understand what is going on.” She had been his primary caregiver through the illness.
Together, Jacobs and Silva founded the Lufodo Group in 1985, starting it as a stage and film production company before it grew into a full media and entertainment services enterprise.
The group eventually expanded to include the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts, Lufodo Productions, Lufodo Distribution, and Lufodo Consult.
The Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts, situated in Ikoyi, Lagos State, was founded by the couple in 2012.
It was selected as part of Nigerian Cultural Expressions at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where it presented three full-length plays. The institution remains one of the few performing arts academies in Nigeria with that international footprint.
Olusoji, the first son who made Wednesday’s announcement, was born on June 23, 1988, studied at Cameron University in Oklahoma, and returned to Nigeria to become General Manager of the Lufodo Group. It was this same son who, in 2024, had publicly debunked earlier reports of his father’s death.
Jacobs had been married to Joke Silva since 1989. Their four-decade partnership, built equally across personal life and professional enterprise, made them one of the most recognized couples in Nigerian entertainment history.
What Wednesday’s announcement does not answer is where Olu Jacobs spent his final days, what the immediate cause of death was, and when the family plans to receive condolences publicly. The family’s only directive, for now, is that mourners, particularly those online, give them space.
Olu Jacobs leaves behind a career spanning theater, television, and film and an institution in the Lufodo Group that will carry his name long after Wednesday’s announcement stops trending.
