Joke Silva: A Gazelle Across The Ages

femi Akintunde-Johnson

In four days, Mabel Ajoke Silva, the more adorable half of acting colossus, Olú Jacobs, shall awake, by the grace of God, as a 60-year old wife, mother, grandmother and still a lodestar of Nigeria’s filmic firmament. Her hallmarks on the chequered history of the Nigerian motion picture world have been illustrious, robust and expansive. It is almost impossible to believe that this delectable role interpreter has been performing, at a premium level, for four decades!

Silva has elegantly traversed the stage, radio, television, video, celluloid…what else is there? She has done that, been there…for all these years with such a lingering aroma that draws young women, and hitherto bewildered parents to believe that acting, and the different aspects of the creative process, can indeed serve as one of the greatest levers for nation-building and respectable personal ambition. She has been at the arrowhead of few but great female thespians whose contributions, expertise, carriage, and charisma have shattered the long held myth and misgivings that artistes, of any hues, were namesakes of vagabonds and undesirable elements.

We honour today this dainty gazelle across the ages, as she clocks 60 years on September 29, 2021. Here is a reprise of my reflections on her career and characteristics in the book, “Reflections: Anthology of Thoughts on Nigerian Movie Industry” (June, 2021):

“Resplendent actress and artistic director, properly so called. She makes performance, on and off stage, a teasing proposition for parents to warmly contemplate their children’s interest in drama.

“The one who would need no introduction since she joined the glitzy parade in 1990, Ajoke Silva (Jacobs, a name she acquired when she married theatre titan, Olu Jacobs in 1985, but kept in abeyance by mutual professional understanding), would be 60 on September 29, 2021.

“A graduate of Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, London (1982 – 1984), and later the University of Lagos (1988 – 1992), Silva sits atop the Lufodo Group as Vice Chairman, and the Director of Studies for one of the group’s subsidiaries, Lufodo Academy (since 2009). The Group is all about stage and film production, including incursions into distribution, training and consultancy. For a number of years, she was the pioneer managing director of Malete Film Village, facilitated by Kwara State government and its state’s university.

“Let’s try and retrace her dainty footsteps back a little bit. Her 1980s activities were strung between stage, school, “several radio and television drama in early ‘81”, and ‘hubbying’ with her ‘gentle giant’. She kicked off with Soyinka’s Jero’s Metamorphorsis (1981) for the Nigerian National Theatre with Edith Enem as the Artistic Director. The following year, 1982, was busier: to mark Nigeria’s 21st independence anniversary, Silva alongside Jacob, featured in Coming of Age, a commissioned work, written by Jacob, and directed by Enem. She was also involved with Ayo Lijadu in a puppetry project with the same National Theatre, in the same year. Then, Mirror in the Sun occupied her mid-80s, followed by Olu Jacob’s Holy Child which dominated her artistic occupation between 1986 and 1993. Thereafter, she returned to school in 1988. At UNILAG, she was active on stage with Bode Osanyin ministering at the Cultural Centre. For example: Exception and The Rule and Omodo were two plays she reformed in. Silva ended the decade with Fani-Kayode’s Mind Bending (1990/1991).

“Venturing into virgin land of video acting, Silva was magnificent in Lola Fani Kayode’s Mind Bending (1991/1992), Bunmi Oyinsan’s Owuro Lojo (1993), pulsating in Amaka Igwe’s Violated (1995), and did her parts in Chico Ejiro’s Silent Night (1996),

“In 2006, she won Best Lead Actress award at the 2nd AMAA for her sterling performance in Women’s Cot (2005); and took the Best Supporting Actress award at the 4th AMAA, in 2008 for her exquisite grandmother role in the 12-time nominated movie, White Waters (2007).

“And there are more examples of her long and illustrious career: Opin Irin Ajo, Brave Heart (all 2005); the soulful narrator in The Amazing Grace, she played Dupe Ajayi in Mildred Okwo’s action thriller which got eight nominations at AMAA 2008, 30 Days (2006); Ndubuisi Okoh’s To Love and to Hold, Oriaku in Strong Men at Work, Eewo Orisa (all 2007); Sister’s Love (2008), 5 Apostles (2009), Bent Arrows, Tango with Me (both 2010); Phone Swap (2012), Potato Potahto (2017), The Royal Hibiscus Hotel (2017), Chief Daddy, If I Am President, Bandits, Grandma Nadia in Kada River (all 2018); The Set Up, Mrs. Chukwuemeka in 2 Weeks in Lagos (both 2019); Citation, Namaste Wahala , and Mama Jumoke in Light in the Dark (all 2020).”

To the heartbeat of the Jacobs, and the shining star of the Silvas, a grateful nation, including three love-struck generations, stand tall to give you, Mabel Ajoke Silva, a standing ovation for a truly remarkable and inspirational application of your talents and beliefs in pursuit of your career, lifestyle, public service and family values. Happy birthday, and congratulations, Mama Olusoji.

Meanwhile, Poor Nigerians Are Going Extinct

Yes, the Lord Jesus said the poor we shall always have around us… We remember people like Alhaji Umaru Dikko of the late 80s claiming Nigerians were not hungry as they had not been eating from dustbins… and poverty, as today’s partisans are quick to interject, is not the creatíon of the Buhari administration. It has been our lot for many decades. We know you have the statistics…and your government say they are working assiduously to remedy the situation. That may be so…but the narratives of hunger, desperation, and pure lack amongst our people, both in the urban or hinterland, have weaved gory and horrifying visions of end time proportions. Read through the media, scan the social media, go out of your comfort zones and observe the pervasive clutch of despair and deprivations in all zones of the country. The poor are speedily going extinct.