How I Wooed Joke Silva –Olu Jacobs

Nollywood icon, Olu Jacobs, needs no introduction. Married to Nollywood diva, Joke Silva, the pair are a reference to what a perfect marriage between celebrities should be. Recently, Entertainer caught up with the couple at the opening of Bolanle Austin Peters’ Fela and the Kalakuta Queens at Terra Culture, V. I, Lagos, and the thespian opened up on stage plays in Nigeria and how he wooed Joke Silva 40 years ago.

You are married to one of the prettiest and talented actresses in Nollywood. How did you meet Joke Silva? We learnt that you actually snatched her from a rival. What really happened?

(Laughter) That is very wrong. I was invited to come and do a play in Nigeria by the National Theatre. I was living in England at that time. I was to play lead in Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero.


 We were having the production when the door opened and this lady walked in and said sorry, we are ready. When she walked in I said excuse me ladies and gentlemen, this is the lady I am going to marry. You know bodies can attract and bodies can repel. I saw her and I was attracted. I am not an impulsive person. I did not just say come. I had to struggle to get her. She was stunned even though she gave me up and down. (laughter).

Your union is a testament to how celebrities should handle their marriage. We have seen a lot of stories about breakups and it is saddening. Is it that actors and actresses can’t make good homes?

No, quite frankly, let me tell you what. I don’t encourage people to think that way. It is virtually in all professions, in all offices whereever you have women and men together. Even if you don’t hear it, we have a lot of divorces in all other sectors. For the fact that you don’t hear it in other sectors like banking or in the oil sector, as oily as it is, does not mean it is not happening. It is in all offices where we have men and women.

What is the secret to your successful marriage?

It is the grace of God. And you must learn to be patient and above all, learn to be friends. She is your friend, your lover; she is not your slave. You don’t do that to a woman. You don’t intimidate her. If she is your friend, you will be tender. When a friend is involved you are tender.