Category: Nigerian Tribune

IN journalism, you are taught to get to your assignment venue early. That was what I tried to do.

I went to Ikire, in Osun State, on Saturday September 26, to sleep over ahead of the CAC Pastors Conference and Annual Convention at CAC Alasepe, in a bid to get to the venue early on Sunday for the ordination of over 600 pastors.

I left Ibadan around 6:10 p.m. The road was free. I got to Naira and Kobo bus stop, Ikire, by 7:30p.m. It was already getting dark, and the town was busy.

I needed a commercial motorcyclist to take me into Ikire town to settle down, sleep over at a relative’s place and prepare for the assignment the next day.

I called a motor cyclist at Naira and Kobo. I told him, ‘Take me to a place called Store in Ikire.’ He said okay and told me the fare was N1,000. Meanwhile, I had been told that transportation to the place costs between N300 and N400.

I told him I would pay N500. He insisted on N700. I said I would pay N500 and he said, ‘No problem.’ But as soon as we moved, he said in Ikire dialect, ‘Madam, we cannot pass the front of motor park. Motor park boys have started their fight again this night.

‘There is a serious crisis there. Let me pass through different streets.’

I thought it was normal. Ikire motor park crisis is not new. I had witnessed a fight there on Tuesday, when I went for the media press briefing of the CAC Supreme Council Annual Conference and Convention, which began on Monday. I also experienced a crisis around 2 p.m., when I was about to leave Ikire after my last assignment at Alasepe. I had to take a bike through different parts of the town before I could leave because of the motor park boys’ crisis. So, I believed him and said okay.

That okay almost cost me my freedom.

Instead of taking me straight to town, the bikeman started taking me through different routes wandering through streets on the outskirt of Ikire. He entered a street around Fatima School, and said he wanted to buy petrol and asked me to give him N500. I gave him and we left. After moving down the street, he said the fuel attendant only ripped off. He said he was sure the boy only collected the money and did not dispense fuel because he was busy. I agreed. He turned back and went there, only to tell me that the boy was no longer there. He said the boy might have intentionally left because of what he had done. I believed him and he left.

So he told me he would buy petrol at another filling station because he no longer trusted the previous one. I believed him again, and said okay. We later saw another station and I told him to buy fuel there since they were selling, but he said the fuel from the station is not always okay, and not well measured. He, then, went through another street behind a market, entered other streets I did not know because I am not familiar with the town, and then came out to a lonely street. It was a new site and we were getting close to what looked like a farmland. It was fast getting darker and lonelier.

I told him, ‘Oga, which place are you taking me to? I said Ikire town, not bush.’

He said: ‘I dey dodge the crisis. How much I collect that will cost me my life? If we passed that motor park side now, our lives will be at risk.’

After about 30 minutes of going through different streets, I realised we were just circling something akin to a vicious cycle, we had passed the same street with a roundabout twice. There was no crisis anywhere. The streets he was taking me through were silent, with no signs of any fight. No police, no crowd, no shouting. Just his bike and me.

When we got to the loneliest part, where there were just a few houses, bushes and a few uncompleted buildings, I became really scared. I am a woman alone, at night, on a bike in a town I don’t know well, with a bag containing my notepad, my phone and money.

I quickly brought out my phone and started calling my family member in Ikire, whose house I wanted to sleep over, to inform him that I had been kidnapped. I was on the call crying and screaming, telling him that the bike man had taken me to an unknown place in Ikire.

On the call, he asked me to ask the bike man where exactly we were in Ikire so they could seek help. I asked him, ‘Where are we? Where is this place in Ikire?’

He declined to answer. Instead, he turned to me and demanded that I give him my phone to talk to whoever I was calling.

That was when I knew I was in real danger. This was not about motor park boys. It was a plan.

I refused to give him the phone and started shouting, ‘Help me! Help me! I have been kidnapped by this bike man!’

He asked me if I thought I was strong enough to fight him there. He held my clothes and I held his pullover tight and started dragging him. In the struggle, he told me to stop making noise but I continued to shout for help. I realised he was also scared that someone might show up, so he would jump on his bike, move forward a bit and then turn back again.

At a point, he wanted to hit me with the bike. When I sensed that he was trying to hit me with the bike, I began to run in a zigzag manner on the road to confuse him. Honestly, he was frustrated and ready to hit me, snatch my phone and go away with it, but I don’t know how I got the strength to struggle with him.

Along the line, he jumped on his bike again, rode to the front and when he was about to turn back again in annoyance, he fell down with his bike. It took him about a minute before he could stand. By that time, I had run farther, screaming for help.

I shouted, ‘E gba mi o! E gba mi o!’ and continued running until I got to the gate of a house where I started knocking continuously. They answered and sensed that the stranger coming must be in danger. They told me to come in. As I approached, I was breathing heavily and was told to calm down and explain what happened. I told them everything. By that time, he had sped off and disappeared into the dark.

There I met three men and a woman in the house. They said there was no crisis at the motor park that day at all. They said that is how some bike men deceive innocent people late at night to rob or injure them.

I then called my relative in Ikire and told him I was currently in Ajilo village, Ikire, and he came with a bike man. On their way to Ajilo village, something happened. My relative sighted a bike man who had parked as if he was waiting for someone or looking for somebody. He suspected him but was not sure he was the one, until he heard the evil bike man’s voice and said, ‘Yes, his voice sounds exactly like that of the person Rukiyat was struggling with while on call with me.’ Immediately the bike man heard that, he knew he was in trouble and rode away.

After that, they came to pick me up while the people I ran to for safety also followed us back to Naira and Kobo to see if he could be sighted on the way, but alas, the bike man had disappeared into the streets where he claimed there was a crisis.

I eventually got home, but I did not sleep that night. I was shaking, still hearing his voice demanding my phone and money and saying ‘motor park crisis.’

On Sunday morning, I still went to CAC Alasepe and covered the convention. When the President, Pastor Henry Ojo, said in his sermon that without regular overhauling the church will become dead, and when the congregation was singing songs of praise, I danced with joy even though I am a Muslim. I danced with much joy in the church, thanking God that I did not die in Ikire on Saturday night. Indeed, it was a miraculous narrow escape!

My advice to everyone travelling to a place they are not really familiar with, especially, in the evening, is that they should be physically and psychologically at alert, avoid being carried away with phone calls or chats, and to avoid taking a random motorcycle alone at night. If possible avoid travelling late in night to a destiny you are not used to.

Always ask the people you want to meet in town to send you a known bike man in a bid to be more safer.

Delta State Governor, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, has directed that a permanent solution be provided to the washed-out section of the East-West Road at Agbarho, Ughelli North Local Government Area, following days of torrential rainfall.

Oborevwori gave the directive on Saturday when he inspected the damaged section of the major highway, which links Delta with Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.

The Governor, who was accompanied by the Regional Manager of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Fredrick Wieser; Chairman, Ughelli North Local Government Council, Olorogun Jaro Egbo; Executive Director, NEXIM Bank, Hon Stella Okotete, among others, commended Julius Berger for its swift response to the emergency.

He said the road section collapsed after about six consecutive days of heavy rainfall, making immediate intervention necessary to restore traffic and ease the hardship being experienced by motorists and residents.

‘When I saw what happened as a result of the rainfall, which continued for about six days, and the place collapsed, I immediately call Julius Berger, knowing that they are very competent in this kind of intervention, to move in,’ the Governor said.

Oborevwori said the immediate priority was to restore traffic, while seeking a permanent solution, adding that ‘the state government is ready to fund the permanent remedial works’.

He explained that a large volume of water from different parts of Agbarho passed through the affected section, creating serious hydraulic pressure and contributing to the failure of the road.

According to him, Julius Berger had commenced technical studies to determine the most appropriate permanent solution, which could involve the construction of a mini-bridge or a multi-cell culvert.

The Governor stressed that the intervention must go beyond temporary repairs, insisting that the permanent solution should be designed to effectively accommodate the volume of water passing through the area.

Oborevwori disclosed that Julius Berger had assured the state government that the affected section would be temporarily made accessible to motorists, with the two lanes expected to be opened for traffic shortly.

The Governor sympathised with motorists and residents affected by the incident, saying government’s responsibility during difficult times was to find solutions and demonstrate empathy.

He also appealed to Nigerians to desist from exploiting unfortunate incidents for political purposes, stressing that what mattered most was finding solutions to challenges confronting the people.

‘When people are in difficult times and facing challenges, we are supposed to support them and show empathy, rather than exploit the situation,’ he said.

Oborevwori said the East-West Road was a critical economic artery connecting several states in the South-South and beyond, stressing that its accessibility was vital to the movement of people and goods.

‘This is the only road that leads to Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River. It is a major road; that is why it is called East-West Road,’ he said.

He added that his administration remained focused on delivering infrastructure and other development projects across the state, assuring Deltans that government would continue to work to improve their welfare.

‘Our own is to serve and to help the people. We were elected to serve our people, and we will continue to do that,’ the Governor said.

Responding, Julius Berger Regional Manager, Fredrick Wieser, said the company was initially carrying out emergency works to restore the flow of traffic while simultaneously conducting surveys and hydraulic assessments.

‘At present, we are only doing emergency work to enable traffic to flow. We are already on the ground carrying out a survey, and our design team is already working on the design,’ Wieser said.

He explained that the permanent solution would either be a mini-bridge or a multi-cell culvert, depending on the outcome of the hydraulic calculations.

‘It will either be a mini-bridge or a multi-cell culvert. That means three or four cells. Based on the hydraulic calculations, it will be decided how many culverts need to be constructed,’ he said.

There are moments in the history of a nation when circumstances present an opportunity that must not be wasted. The current crisis in Nigerian football is one such moment.

The resignation of the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Musa Gusau; General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi; and members of the NFF Executive Committee on August 27, 2026, followed by President Bola Tinubu’s directive for a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football, has opened a rare window to rethink the entire structure of the game.

This should therefore not be treated as another political or administrative transition in which one set of officials leaves and another set simply occupies the same offices.

Nigeria needs a football reset, and that reset must reach from the NFF boardroom to the smallest football pitch in every local government area.

Mr President himself has identified the problem as structural, calling for stronger governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability. That is the right starting point.

The real question now is: what should the reform produce?

Gusau Resignation

The resignation of Gusau deserves to be viewed within the larger question of leadership accountability. Gusau said his resignation was intended to create room for a comprehensive and orderly reform process addressing the institutional, governance and developmental challenges confronting Nigerian football.

Whatever one’s assessment of his administration, there is something important in voluntarily accepting that leadership must sometimes give way when the system requires a new direction.

In my recent interviews, many football pundits argued that the NFF leadership needed to accept responsibility and be accountable for the state of the game. That principle should now become one of the foundations of the reform.

Accountability should not begin and end with Gusau. It must become institutional. Every future NFF president, board member, General Secretary, State FA chairman, League Administrator and other senior football official must understand that public football administration is a position of responsibility, not a permanent entitlement.

What Next?

The immediate question is not merely who will become the next NFF president, but the bigger questions are:

Dr Kennedy Anyachebelu, an independent consultant with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), has cautioned against linking shingles, popularly referred to in some communities as the ‘Calabar belt’, directly to HIV, describing such an association as medically inaccurate.

Anyachebelu said the condition, medically known as herpes zoster or shingles, is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus responsible for chickenpox.

He spoke on the sidelines of a two-day national training of media personnel on lenacapavir organised by the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria in collaboration with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS.

He explained that after a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus can remain dormant in nerve cells for years before becoming reactivated and causing shingles.

According to him, the reactivation can produce pain, burning, tingling, or itching in a particular area, followed by clusters of fluid-filled blisters, usually appearing on one side of the body or face.

He said the term ‘Calabar belt’ is commonly used in some Nigerian communities to describe the characteristic band-like pattern of the shingles rash, but stressed that the rash does not have to form a complete belt around the body.

‘The belief that this condition, sometimes called the ‘Calabar belt,’ is automatically a sign of HIV is not medically correct,’ Anyachebelu said.

He explained that HIV can increase a person’s risk of developing shingles because HIV can weaken the immune system but added that HIV is only one of several factors associated with the condition.

‘Shingles does not automatically mean HIV. People with weakened immunity may be more susceptible, but there are several reasons why someone can develop shingles,’ he said.

Anyachebelu identified advancing age, certain cancers, organ transplantation, and the use of medicines that suppress the immune system, among other factors that can increase the risk of shingles.

He said the condition could occur in people who do not have HIV and urged the public not to stigmatise individuals who develop the rash.

The consultant also warned against the belief that a shingles rash becomes fatal if the two ends of the so-called belt meet around the body.

According to him, there is no medical basis for the belief that the meeting of the two ends of the so-called belt rash determines whether a patient will survive.

He explained that shingles typically follows the distribution of an affected nerve and usually appears on one side of the body.

‘What matters medically is not whether the rash meets around the body. What matters is the severity of the infection, the patient’s immune status, the location of the rash, and whether complications develop,’ he said.

Anyachebelu advised people who develop symptoms suggestive of shingles to seek medical attention early.

He said antiviral medicines, including acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir, may be prescribed by healthcare professionals and are most effective when started early in the illness.

He discouraged self-treatment and warned against cutting, burning, puncturing, or applying unproven substances to the blisters. Such practices, he said, could cause additional skin injury, introduce bacterial infection, and delay appropriate treatment.

Anyachebelu further said the pain associated with shingles could sometimes begin before the rash becomes visible.

He explained that patients may experience burning, tingling, itching, or severe pain in an area of the body before the characteristic blisters appear.

He added that shingles is not simply a skin condition because the virus becomes reactivated in nerve tissue and travels along the affected nerve to the skin.

The doctor further warned that the pain could persist even after the rash had disappeared.

He identified postherpetic neuralgia, a condition in which nerve pain continues after the shingles rash has healed, as one of the complications that can occur, particularly among older adults.

Anyachebelu also urged people to seek urgent medical attention when the rash affects the face or area around the eye, noting that shingles involving the eye can lead to serious complications, including vision problems.

On transmission, he explained that a person cannot catch shingles itself from another person.

He said, however, that someone with active shingles blisters can transmit the varicella-zoster virus to a person who has never had chickenpox or been vaccinated against it, potentially causing chickenpox in that person.

He therefore advised patients with active shingles to keep the rash covered, avoid touching or scratching the blisters, and practise good hand hygiene.

He also recommended avoiding direct contact with vulnerable people, including newborns, individuals with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women who are not immune to chickenpox.

Anyachebelu said vaccination could help reduce the risk of shingles and its complications, while recommended vaccination against chickenpox can reduce the risk of acquiring varicella-zoster virus infection.

He urged Nigerians to seek proper medical evaluation when they develop a painful or unusual blistering rash rather than relying on myths associated with the ‘Calabar belt’.

‘Shingles can be painful and can sometimes lead to complications, but it should not be surrounded by unnecessary fear or HIV stigma. The important thing is to recognise the symptoms, seek medical care early, and understand that having shingles does not, by itself, mean that a person has HIV,’ he said.

The thoughts of Nigeria elicits the acrid observation of Susan Williams that tackling the complex, compelling and often disturbing narratives of the Congo, and indeed of post-colonial Africa, overwhelms with a deep sense of trepidation and paralyzing anxiety. Nigeria and its institutionalized tyranny of deadly authoritative irrationality evokes the same apprehensions. The crisis of post-colonial multinational statehood is pervasive. Yet, the challenge of the multinational state is not peculiar to Africa. What is unique is the penchant for irrational political choices in managing structural and pertinent complexities of the post-colonial-state. The devolution of Scandinavia into optimally functioning organic statehoods suggests there is a more rational human centered approaches to the crisis emanating from the structural incongruences of multinational states. The conclusion is that irrational choices are at the heart of Africa’s internal wars that constantly spell doom for the unfortunate humanity of Africa.

The human dimension of repeated avoidable tragic descent of black humanity into a hellhole leaves an indelible imprint on perspectives on Africa’s political elites. Bad governance, including pawning off national assets to the predator states, it would appear, is a quid pro quo for ruinous services to the elite predator states. That settled, the African leader is forgiven all transgressions. Unfortunately, Nigeria presents stout empirical evidence of this. I guess it is the nature of the post-colonial state.

The post-colonial state in Africa is a sociological amalgam of diverse nations. This genre of state is inevitably the theater of a permanent struggle by all constituent nations contained in that territory to appropriate the totality of the political, economic, and cultural space for the partisan benefit of the dominant constituent nation. The state is the theater of intense struggle for hegemonic ascendance. Accordingly, conflict is inherent in the post-colonial state’s multiple instrumental character. At its basic level, the post-colonial state is a vehicle for partisan imposition of often clashing interests of contending groups within the mechanically cobbled state. Allied groups of the contesting nations in the immediate external environment may be implicated in the confrontations to dominate the policy process. Conflicts in the post-colonial state may thus result from competition at the first level over domination by internal forces and their transnational allies. It may also emanate from the actions of second-level actors struggling to consolidate their historical control over that state. In either case, the dynamics and trajectories of conflicts generated in the post-colonial state are determined by the interaction between the two-level forces, variously in collaboration or opposition, to achieve a certain strategic outcome in that conflict. The nature of relationships elicited by the structure of the inter-state system and external environment also impacts the internal characteristics of the post-colonial state.

Strategic interaction among groups is characterized by permanent competition for control of the state. Accordingly, the pursuit of particularistic objectives often takes the form of competing visions of just, legitimate, and appropriate political orders. The political process becomes a rivalry among contending groups to control resources and dominate state policy, which becomes the communal agenda of competing entities within and without the post-colonial state. This dynamic generates clear security imperatives that drive the constituent groups’ struggle to appropriate the state. The political process is an unending struggle without safeguards for any of the forces involved.

In the nominal democratic culture of the post-colonial state, which is marked by the absence of commitment to any social or ideological principles, the population structure, especially along group lines, becomes a critical indicator of the potential configuration of power between the constituent forces in the post-colonial state. Demography, each group’s resources, and its capacity to organize effectively determine groups’ political power. The struggle among contending forces to appropriate the state weakens it and undermines its capacity to function and protect everyone’s interests. This breeds insecurity in the political process and leads constituent units to factor it into their strategic calculus as they interact with other contestants for domination of the social, political, and economic space. The national process becomes a zero-sum game, and the state becomes totalitarian.

The tensions and schisms that emanate from Nigeria’s sociological construction are therefore not unique to it. They reflect a universal experience. However, how societies have resolved the challenges posed by such difficult sociological constructs reflects each society’s fundamental values. These values have propelled and differentiated policies underpinned by rational, lifesaving realism in human-centered systems from societies that operate on irrational, aberrant idealism and fixations. The latter has implied catastrophic consequences for the humanity trapped in the political contraption. Many of these imploded systems are in underdeveloped countries. Irrational political choices founded on emotional and sentimental considerations are thus at the heart of the terrible internecine wars in the Third World. The imperative of saving lives has defined the peaceful separation of troubled states in sophisticated societies, in contrast to the catastrophic humanitarian disasters associated with Africa.

As Scandinavia’s devolution from one vast state in the early 19th century to many smaller, sovereign, prosperous states in the twenty-first century illustrates, in more sophisticated societies premised on an absolute premium on the sanctity of human life, the solution to structural disequilibrium has been organic devolution into its constituent nations. This may be through peaceful negotiations aimed at ensuring constructive post-separation interaction between former compatriots. Referendum is always the tool to resolve the legitimacy of the call to exit a multinational state. Peacefully overcoming seemingly irresolvable conflicts arising from structural complexities within the state reflects the fundamental rationality that undergirds the system, and the absolute centrality and sacredness of human life and well-being over considerations of the state’s longevity. Every state is a mere convenient contrivance. It is not a sacred institution to be protected at the expense of the humanity it was created to serve.

Nigeria may choose to elicit a few lessons from Scandinavia.

Prof Ademola Araoye is a conflict analyst and author of Sources of Conflict in Post Colonial African States.

As the curtain falls on the life of veteran actor Olu Jacobs, family, friends and colleagues gathered in Lagos to bid the celebrated thespian a final farewell. But beyond the tributes and tears was the story of a man whose journey from the stage to television and film spanned more than five decades and helped shape Nigeria’s entertainment industry. ADERONKE ADESANYA takes a look at the life, career and enduring legacy of the man fondly remembered as the Lion of Lufodo.

Nollywood veteran Olu Jacobs was laid to rest in Lagos on Friday, bringing to an end a week of tributes to an actor whose career spanned more than five decades and whose influence reached generations of Nigerian performers.

Two days before his burial, colleagues gathered at Glover Memorial Hall, Lagos Island, for a Night of Tributes and Service of Songs, where they remembered not only the commanding actor audiences knew on screen but also the mentor and teacher behind the legend.

For veteran actress Sola Sobowale, that influence was deeply personal.

‘When people see Sola Sobowale, they say she is a fantastic actor, but somebody trained me and Baba Olu Jacobs was that person who trained me,’ she said.

The funeral service in Lagos on Friday brought together family members, friends, colleagues and dignitaries who gathered to pay their final respects.

The service was held at This Present House Church, Freedom Way, Lekki Phase 1, before Jacobs was laid to rest.

Among those present were Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun and several members of the Nigerian entertainment industry.

His son, Olugbenga Jacobs, also presented his father’s biography during the funeral proceedings.

The boy from Kano

Oludotun Baiyewun Jacobs was born on July 11, 1942, in Kano, although his family roots were in the Egba Alake community of Abeokuta, Ogun State.

He grew up in Kano, where his early interest in performance developed through school drama, debating and church activities.

But the moment that would change the direction of his life came when he watched one of Chief Hubert Ogunde’s concert parties at the Colonial Hotel in Kano.

For the young Jacobs, watching him perform was more than entertainment. It was an introduction to a possible future.

London and the making of an actor

Jacobs trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, one of Britain’s leading drama institutions.

Rather than wait for Nollywood, which did not yet exist in the form Nigerians know today, Jacobs built his craft in theatre and television.

His professional stage career included a 1972 production of A Taste of Honey at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

He later appeared in British television productions including The Goodies, Till Death Us Do Part, Barlow at Large, The Venturers, Angels, The Tomorrow People and The Professionals.

His career also took him to the West End, where he appeared as President Mageeba in Tom Stoppard’s Night and Day in 1978.

Beyond Nigeria

Jacobs’ work was not limited to the British stage and television.

He appeared in international films including The Dogs of War, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend and Roman Polanski’s Pirates.

His international experience placed a Nigerian actor in spaces still largely inaccessible to many African performers.

He had already entered the international space before Nollywood became a global brand.

By the time he returned home, Jacobs was bringing years of international experience with him.

Coming home

In 1990, Jacobs returned to Nigeria and took on the lead role of Inspector Best Idafa in the NTA detective series, The Third Eye.

Nigeria’s home-video industry was beginning to grow, and the foundations of what would become Nollywood were being laid. Jacobs became part of that transformation.

For audiences who encountered him during the rise of home videos, his arrival felt like the meeting of two worlds.

He brought the discipline of the stage and work abroad into stories that Nigerians could recognise as their own.

That combination helped give his performances a quality that was polished and familiar, making him accessible to audiences while retaining the authority of a trained theatre actor.

He appeared in more than 100 Nigerian films, while his wider body of work covered theatre and television.

His name soon became almost inseparable from the image of the authoritative Nigerian elder, traditional ruler, patriarch or powerful businessman.

The man behind the voice

There was something almost reassuring about seeing Olu Jacobs on screen.

To generations of Nigerians, he was familiar.

He was the father who had seen everything. The king who had the final word. The businessman who controlled the room. The elder whose silence could be as powerful as a speech.

His voice became one of his trademarks. Deep, calm and commanding, it could turn an ordinary line into a statement of authority.

But it was not merely the voice.

There was the posture, the eyes, the pauses and the ability to say very little while making an audience feel that something important had been said.

That quality helped make Jacobs one of the actors who could walk into a scene and immediately change its mood.

The teacher behind the legend

At the September 30 Night of Tributes, several actors returned to Jacobs’ influence as a teacher and mentor.

Norbert Young recalled working with him on The Third Eye between 1990 and 1993, describing the period as one in which he listened and learned from the more experienced actor.

Young said he was privileged to have spent significant time with Jacobs and that the late actor’s approach to the profession helped shape him.

Richard Mofe-Damijo, popularly known as RMD, also remembered Jacobs as a father figure whose influence extended beyond his own performances.

He recalled one of Jacobs’ lessons about acting: that there were no small actors and no small lines, but that neglecting even a small line could make an actor small.

For RMD, the lesson became a reminder of the discipline and preparation required of every performer.

Adebayo Salami, popularly known as Oga Bello, also recalled Jacobs’ professionalism.

He remembered their first meeting in 1997 when he sent Jacobs a script for Okunfa. Rather than wait for Salami to come to him, Jacobs offered to visit him himself, later making contributions to the script.

‘He showed he was a father. He was a professional to the core,’ Salami recalled.

The tributes revealed a side of Jacobs that audiences could not always see on screen: an actor who was willing to share knowledge, correct younger colleagues and invest in the growth of others.

Recognition and honours

In 2007, Jacobs won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

In 2011, the Federal Government conferred on him the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic, MFR, in recognition of his contribution to the Nigerian film industry.

In 2013, he received the Industry Merit Award at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.

In 2016, he received the AMAA Lifetime Achievement Award.

He also received other industry honours, including recognition alongside his wife, Joke Silva, for their contribution to Nigerian entertainment.

Beyond the camera

Olu Jacobs was more than the man audiences saw on screen.

Alongside his wife, fellow veteran actress Joke Silva, he helped build a creative business that extended beyond acting.

The couple, who married in 1989, established the Lufodo Group, which has interests in film production and distribution, as well as the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts.

The academy became part of their contribution to developing the next generation of performers.

Their partnership was one of the enduring relationships in Nigerian entertainment. They were colleagues, business partners, husband and wife, and collaborators in an industry they both helped shape.

The quieter years

Jacobs’ later years were quieter.

His wife, Joke Silva, publicly spoke about his diagnosis with Lewy body dementia, and the illness contributed to his withdrawal from the spotlight.

For a man who had spent decades in the public eye, the later period was marked by privacy.

There were also several false reports of his death over the years, claims his family repeatedly had to dismiss.

His actual death came on September 16, 2026, at the age of 84.

The curtain falls

Olu Jacobs’ death closes one of the longest chapters in Nigerian acting.

But it does not erase the characters. It does not erase the voice. It does not erase the stage performances, television appearances, international films, Nollywood classics or generations of actors who watched and learned from him.

But it is also saying goodbye to a bridge between different eras of African storytelling, from the theatre traditions that inspired him as a boy in Kano, through British television and international cinema, to the Nigerian film industry he helped shape.

For Jacobs, the bigger achievement was perhaps the fact that audiences who had watched him in their childhood were still watching him decades later.

And perhaps that is why, at the tribute night, the most moving stories were not only about the films he made but about the people he helped make.

Some actors leave behind award, some leave behind films, some leave behind characters audiences never forget.

Olu Jacobs left behind all three.

He also left behind actors who can point to his influence and say, as Sola Sobowale did, ‘He trained me.’

And now, as the curtain falls on the life of the man his family called the Lion of Lufodo, the Nigerian entertainment industry is left to reckon with the size of the space he occupied.

The Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has stressed the need for sustained investment in basic education as a critical foundation for producing well-rounded citizens, professionals and responsible leaders capable of driving Nigeria’s development.

Bamidele, who spoke during the inauguration of the renovated Government Science College, Iyin-Ekiti, Ekiti State, said the essence of investing in schools was to create an environment where children could acquire the knowledge, skills and character needed to become better and greater leaders of tomorrow.

The senator, who personally undertook the renovation of the school at a cost of over N200 million, said the intervention was driven by his belief in human capital development and the need to give young people the opportunity to realise their potential.

The renovation covered the boys’ hostel, administrative and classroom blocks, girls’ hostel, dining hall and kitchen, while the lawmaker also presented a brand-new bus to the school to enhance its operations and support the students.

He also presented a brand-new bus to the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences Iyin-Ekiti (FUTESI)

Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central Senatorial District said the significance of the project went beyond the physical structures, noting that the ultimate objective was to provide a solid foundation for children who could grow to become professionals and leaders in various sectors of the economy.

According to him, ‘Part of my own vision is for us to have a school system that will be able to produce people who are better and greater than us, all these children who are here.

‘My hope and prayer is that this is the home of tomorrow’s engineers, medical doctors, physicists, pharmacists and, in the leadership sector future governors, future senators, commissioners and other leaders.’

The Senate Leader said the foundation stage of education remained critical to the development of individuals and the nation, stressing that a society that desired sustainable development must pay serious attention to the quality of education provided to its children.

He explained that the intervention was also his way of appreciating the Ekiti State Government for granting the necessary support that enabled the use of the permanent site of the Government Science College for the take-off of FUTESI.

Bamidele said although the university could not immediately vacate the premises as initially envisaged due to some circumstances, including heavy rainfall, he felt compelled to respond to the needs of the students and improve their learning environment.

He said he subsequently sought the approval of the state government through the Ministry of Education for a six-week window during the students’ vacation to undertake the first phase of the renovation.

‘I’m happy about the first phase of this renovation. This was all we could do within six weeks,’ he said.

Bamidele, however, disclosed plans for a second phase of the project, which he said would focus on transforming the institution into a more specialised science-oriented school with modern laboratories, a library and other critical facilities.

‘ Our intention in the long-run is for the school to be a training ground for the university students,’ he said.

He said consideration would also be given to constructing additional classroom blocks, subject to the availability of land, to enable the school expand its capacity and accommodate more students whose parents desire science-based education for them.

The senator also addressed concerns over the road leading to the school, saying the state and federal governments were already considering interventions.

On his part, a former governor of the state, Otunba Niyi Adebayo lauded the investment and interventions of the lawmaker in the community and the state, describing him as God sent to the people.

Adebayo who reminisced the creation of the school during his tenure as governor between 1999 and 2003, said the idea was from the foremost educationalist, late Chief Olorunfemi Balogun, which resulted in the establishment of the schools in the three senatorial districts of the state.

Also speaking at the ceremony, the Ekiti State Commissioner for Education, Dr Adebimpe Aderiye, who represented Governor Biodun Oyebanji, commended Bamidele for his commitment to the development of education and the overall progress of the state.

Aderiye described the senator’s intervention as a significant contribution to the education sector, stressing that improved learning infrastructure was essential to creating an enabling environment for students to acquire quality education.

She assured that the state government would continue to support public schools and ensure that facilities provided through such interventions were properly maintained and effectively utilised.

Dr. Sijibomi Ogundele, Group Managing Director of Sujimoto, has revisited the doubts and criticisms that surrounded the construction of the Dangote Refinery, saying the project demonstrates how experience and expertise can sometimes underestimate the possibilities of bold entrepreneurship.

Ogundele, in a reflection on the journey of Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, noted that several accomplished professionals had questioned the feasibility of the refinery, citing its enormous cost, technical complexity, foreign exchange challenges, crude supply concerns and Nigeria’s history of failed refinery projects.

According to him, Dangote’s decision to venture into petroleum refining was particularly audacious given his previous experiences in other sectors, including textiles and telecommunications.

He recalled that professionals in the oil and gas industry, banking and investment circles had, in private conversations, expressed doubts that the refinery would be completed, with some reportedly suggesting that Dangote had gone beyond his limits by venturing into refining.

Ogundele said his first visit to the Dangote Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki about five years ago significantly changed his perception of what was possible in African enterprise.

‘I went to see the enormity of a project and returned questioning the size of my own ambition,’ he said, adding that the experience subsequently influenced Sujimoto’s approach to ambitious real estate projects.

He stressed that successful entrepreneurs should not ignore professional expertise but should use it to strengthen their vision.

‘The purpose of expertise is to strengthen a great vision, not automatically reduce it to the boundaries of precedent,’ Ogundele stated.

He also recalled attending the commissioning of the Dangote Refinery on May 22, 2023, where, according to him, he encountered some professionals who had previously expressed doubts about the project.

Ogundele said the completion of the refinery reminded him of the challenges Sujimoto faced while delivering LucreziaBySujimoto in Banana Island amid rising construction costs, naira depreciation and other economic pressures.

He noted that the Dangote Refinery subsequently had to prove itself beyond commissioning through actual production, crude supply, pricing and commercial performance.

Ogundele pointed to the refinery’s reported processing capacity of about 700,000 barrels per day in 2026, as well as reported first-half revenue exceeding $13 billion and net profit of $1.82 billion, compared with a $476 million loss in 2025.

He further referenced plans to expand the refinery’s capacity towards 1.4 million barrels per day by 2029 and the proposed ?2.15 trillion public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery shares.

Reflecting to the criticisms that preceded the refinery’s completion, Ogundele used the phrase ‘Aliko Dangote has failed woefully’ ironically, arguing that Dangote had ‘failed’ to become the cautionary tale some critics had anticipated.

According to him, the lesson from Dangote’s journey is not that professional criticism is unnecessary, but that entrepreneurs should distinguish between identifying risks and declaring an ambition impossible.

‘His critics were often right about the risks, right about the cost and right about how difficult the journey could become,’ he said.

‘Their error was not in seeing the mountain; it was in believing that seeing the mountain gave them the authority to pronounce the climber’s fate.’

Ogundele urged entrepreneurs to listen to experts, learn from failures and subject ambitious projects to rigorous scrutiny, while retaining ownership of their ultimate vision.

‘Experience should illuminate the road; it should never dictate the destination,’ he said.

A Plateau-based cleric and regional leader of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Evangelist Ezekiel Dachomo, has travelled to Israel on what he described as his first international Christian advocacy tour, where he prayed for Israel and Nigeria, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Dachomo, who has repeatedly raised concerns over killings in Plateau State, disclosed his visit in a Facebook post on Friday, saying he was in Israel to pray for Nigeria, its leaders and the people.

‘Today, I am in Israel praying for Nigeria, our leaders, and our people. I believe in miracles, and I believe God can change what looks impossible,’ he wrote.

During the visit, the cleric said he also prayed for people seeking divine intervention, asking God to provide healing, assistance, hope and answers to their needs.

He said, ‘Within the next four days, may God open doors, bring healing, provide help, restore hope, and answer your heart’s desires according to His perfect will.’

In a video accompanying the post, Dachomo said his prayers extended to Israel, its people and its leadership.

He specifically mentioned Netanyahu, members of the Israeli cabinet and the Israel Defence Forces, praying that God would give them ‘victory over their enemies.’

Dachomo also included Tinubu, Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang and other African leaders in his prayers.

‘Praying for my government, Bola Tinubu. Praying for my governor, Mutfwang in Plateau State, and praying, let God give them victory, Taraba. African nations, South Africa, we are praying for Ghana and the rest of the countries that are in Africa,’ he said.

The cleric further said he was ‘standing in the gap’ and prayed against what he described as Satan’s influence in positions of leadership.

‘Whatever Satan has planted in the leadership, be uprooted, according to Matthew 15, verse 13,’ he said.

Dachomo has previously drawn attention to attacks on communities in Plateau State and called for greater international attention to the killings.

In July 2026, he alleged that nine members of his extended family were killed during an attack on communities in Riyom Local Government Area.

He also previously alleged that he received threats to his life after speaking publicly about attacks in the state.

The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa, says June 12 must be remembered as a sacrifice that gave Nigerians democracy, beyond its status as a public holiday.

Musawa stated this at the national premiere of ‘MKO’, a film on Chief Moshood Abiola, held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, Lagos, to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.

She said 33 years after June 12, 1993, many young Nigerians know it only as a holiday, but the film turns it back into memory.

‘For too many young Nigerians, June 12 is simply a public holiday. This film tells them that our democracy did not arrive by chance. It was fought for. It was defended. It was paid for. This documentary is in honour of the heroes of June 12, the men and women who gave their lives for the mandate of June 12, 1993 and for the democracy Nigeria enjoys today,’ the Minister said.

Musawa hailed President Bola Tinubu, Chief Host, for his participation in the June 12 struggle and paying the price in exile, adding that Nigeria’s creative industry will keep telling the story of its democracy with courage.

‘Through film and the creative economy, Nigeria will preserve its history. A nation that forgets its past loses its way to the future. Nigeria has a story and our story deserves to be told,’ she said.

Earlier, Director of the investigative documentary, Ose Oyamendan, said the film was in honour and memory of heroes who fought for Nigeria’s democracy.

‘There was Hope ’93 and now there is Renewed Hope. There was a man who sacrificed his life so we may have democracy and there is a man who almost lost his life fighting for democracy who is now helping build a lasting democracy.

‘There was a great man called Bashorun MKO Abiola and there is now another great man called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Democrats. Nationalists. Nation builders. Leaders of men and women. We must never forget our story. We must always honour and remember our heroes,’ Oyamendan said.

Top government officials, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Chief of Staff to the President, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila; state governors, members of the National Assembly, ministers, among others, attended the premiere.