Veteran Nollywood actor Olu Jacobs has been laid to rest in Lagos following a funeral service held on Friday.

The service was held at the Freedom Centre in Lekki, Lagos, with family members, friends, colleagues, dignitaries and leading personalities from the Nigerian film industry in attendance.

Jacobs, who died in September at the age of 82, was remembered for his decades-long contribution to theatre, television and Nigerian cinema.

Among the dignitaries at the funeral were Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat and former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

Nollywood personalities who attended included Shaffy Bello, Keppy Ekpeyong, Stan Nze, Morayo Afolabi-Brown, Ireti Doyle, Lala Akindoju, Kate Henshaw, OC Ukeje, Patrick Doyle, Stephanie Okereke and Ernest Obi.

The funeral followed a service of songs and night of tributes held on Wednesday, where friends, colleagues and loved ones celebrated Jacobs’ life and legacy.

Born in 1942 to parents from Egba Alake, Jacobs grew up in Kano and attended Holy Trinity School.

His interest in acting developed after he watched a performance by Hubert Ogunde’s concert party at the Colonial Hotel in Kano. He later travelled to England, where he studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Jacobs began his professional acting career on stage in the 1970s. In 1972, he played The Boy in 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 and Barlow at Large. In 1978, he portrayed President Mageeba in Michael Codron’s production of Sir Tom Stoppard’s Night and Day.

After returning to Nigeria in 1990, Jacobs featured in the NTA series The Third Eye before becoming one of the prominent actors in the emerging Nollywood industry.

Over the years, he featured in hundreds of films and became one of the most recognisable faces in Nigerian entertainment.

His illustrious career earned him several awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Africa International Film Festival, an Icon Award from the Audio-Visual Rights Society of Nigeria in 2022, and the Industry Merit Award at the 2023 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.

With his burial, family, friends and colleagues have brought to a close the funeral rites for an actor whose work spanned generations and left an enduring mark on Nigeria’s entertainment industry.