Veteran Nigerian actor Olu Jacobs has died at the age of 84, his son, Olusoji Jacobs, announced on Instagram on Wednesday.
“It is with gratitude to God for a life well lived and fought, that we announce the passing of our dear husband, father, grandfather and uncle, The Lion of Lufodo,” Olusoji said, referring to the deceased by the nickname Jacobs got after founding a media and production company called Lufodo Group.
The actor’s cause or place of death was not immediately communicated.
Jacobs was a seasoned actor in the Nigerian film industry, starring in dozens of films, mostly acting as a traditional ruler or king.
Award-winning
The deceased trained in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Some of his earliest acting works, including in several British television shows, date back to the 1970s.
Jacobs won multiple awards in his illustrious acting career, including the Industry Merit Award at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Africa International Film Festival.
Nigeria’s former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar eulogised Jacobs as “an institution, a cultural icon, and one of the finest ambassadors of our creative spirit.”
‘Extraordinary life’
“His passing therefore feels deeply personal to a nation that watched him, admired him and grew up with him. The curtain may have fallen on an extraordinary life, but the characters he gave us, the standards he set and the generations he inspired will continue to speak for him,” Abubakar said in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday.
Jacobs, whose complete name is Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, is survived by his wife, Joke Silva, also a veteran Nigerian actress, and several children.
Jacobs was born on July 11, 1942 in Nigeria’s southwestern state of Ogun, and spent some time in the populous Kano state.
