Joke Silva is one of the veteran actresses in the Nigerian acting world and one of the best thespians that God has blessed the black race with. The dark-skinned mother and actress spoke on her job, marriage to another wonderful actor, Olu Jacobs, and sundry issues with ORUKPE NELSON

For the benefit of those who haven’t read how you started in the industry, can you tell us how your journey into acting began?

I started out after my A level. I wanted to seek admission into the University of Ibadan or Ife, but they told me that I was late so, they couldn’t process my admission. My parents said I should work for a year, so I started working with the University of Lagos Cultural Centre, then somebody invited me to NTA Victoria Island, drama section. Then again, Jide Ogungbade invited me to Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) to do drama on radio. The same group also invited me to the National Theatre where I was involved in various projects, working for a year. Because I spent one year working in those environments- Radio Nigeria, NTA and National Theatre- I networked with lots of experienced professional actors, performers and producers at that time. I am talking about 1981.

So, after that year, my parents said I should go to England for proper training. I got training with Golden Lock that got me an audition for the Drama School in England, because getting to drama school there is so competitive. Thousands of people apply but sometimes they don’t take more than 20 per session. Golden Lock prepared me. God so good, by the time I finished from drama school, there were lots of jobs. I worked at Whale Courts Theatre, I did a couple of jobs with BBC radio, I also did some adverts meant for Nigeria but shot in London. One of them was Peak milk advert. Then I came back to Nigeria where I featured in Mirror in the Sun and Second Chance.

Having been trained in England where the industry is well structured,recognised and appreciated, how did you prepare yourself mentally and psychologically for Nigeria?

You see, it is not that the industry was not that structured when I came back. It was structured but it was an informal structure. One needs to understand the working of the industry at the time. And then along the line, work started coming in, new technology, home video. But fitting in for me was not a problem. I was just one of those who believe that my work would speak for itself. I give my 110 per cent for every job that I do.

Second Chance and Mirror in the Sun differentiated those who were given work and those who were creating work.

Mediocre people who have no business in the industry are dominating Nigerian theatre scene. What are the challenges of working with such people with your kind of upbringing?

I think that was a strong term! It is not easy, but I must tell you it is not easy anywhere in the world, especially our sector of the industry, which is acting. But my main focus when I came back was to be an actor and be the best actor I could be. But then it’s the same with our industry in other parts of the world. We have thousands of people chasing one job, one role, so you have to be very sharp, very creative and always be on your toes. Another good thing about our industry is that it is a very flexible industry. The industry is not where you work all the time, but your fluidity will help you out. I think that is why I insist that you must be trained. In training you learn so many skills you don’t even know you have . When I was in England, I was thinking of creating work, so we started our own production company. Lofudo Productions. All along, setting up the outfit and production work, there was a need for subvention of style of acting in the theatre. The style of acting in theatre is very centralised, with lack of creativity and communication. So we said okay, we need to set up a school where we will bring all these things out, that is what I meant by flexibility in the industry. If you are not acting, you are producing, if you are not producing, you are training.

You said earlier that you insist that people should get training in the industry. Is it your training or talent that got you this far in the industry?

Well, I belong to the school of thought that says talent is never enough. In my experience, I have seen lots of talented people that went down the drain with a lot of talents and no training to help sharpen the talent. The winning combination, history has proven to me are talents with training. If you have the two, it will be easier for you to function in such a mobile and competitive industry.

You are such a big star and veteran, yet very simple. Is this the way you were brought up or you decided to live that way?

Laughs… Well, I think is it my family. My family will say that there are plenty stars in our family o, where is the big head coming from? Let’s also say I am very grateful to God for his favour and grace that gave me this huge recognition from the public. I always find it amusing when people call me ‘big star’. I am grateful for the recognition. I think part of it is what a friend told me recently; one has to be faithful to the calling that one had. So, you know, the talent is not your own but grace from the Lord. But whenever it wants to get into your head, you quickly realise that one has nothing to boast about. And then there is so much work to do. We haven’t got to where we want, not that we haven’t reached anywhere. Acting is a job that has no end, there is too much work to do. We got lots of attention with Nollywood; there are times that our industry gets to the world on a bigger scale than what we have at the moment. We’ve got the world’s attention with Nollywood, but the work now is to solidify that huge market and to solidify that industry that has got the world’s attention. I guess that is one of the reasons for this simplicity. When there is still much to be done, why would you start to blow your own trumpet?

I remember then during the time of late Hubert Ogunde, Ade Love and others, the industry was well recognised, especially outside Nigeria. What do you think is actually wrong?

I think we have a huge market now than what we had in the time of Ade Love and Ogunde. The industry is bigger now but interestingly, as much as the industry is bigger, it is not in the mainstream as it used to be. I think the fact is that if we want to be in the mainstream, our cinema should be on the platform where the rest of the world operates. We also just have to put some things in place, for example; because of pirates, our films are just going across the borders indiscriminately. Proper licensing for the films is not done. There is the need for film protection and this is where our government needs to come around, so that when our films cross the border without protection and we cannot track them, we cannot give them to the mainstream organisation. I am not saying these are the main reasons, but they contribute to it.

Let’s talk about your marriage to Olu Jacobs. I read sometime ago that you met at the theatre. Was it love at first sight?

No, but for him it was love at first sight. For me it was more of a gradual thing. But then he was a handsome man, you couldn’t but fall in love with him. He was such a macho man with a husky voice, I liked him when he approached me but as a lady, I just needed to play kind of hard to get (general laughter).

But he is the same charming, handsome and caring man.

But your kind of marriage is one out of hundreds in the industry where marriages hardly survive. Can you share the secret of your successful marriage?

It can be a bit tough, but I am one person that believes in the power of prayer. Marriages survive with prayer. So, that is the secret.

What are the challenges you faced while raising your children. Especially when you two are in location at the same time?

Like I said, I believe in prayer. When I started changing my house helps, I prayed. So I asked God to just bring me someone that will be good to the children; that is one. Two, my mother is incredible; when we were raising our children, she was amazing, my friends used to call her professional grandmama. Her grandchildren are her life.

With that kind of backup, I would say it helped my home-front a lot. There are challenges, sure, just like in any other marriages. But one is able to conquer it with prayer and faith in God. It is not something I will say we were able to do on our own.

We were able to nurture our marriage with the grace of God. Marriage is a challenge on its own, it is not easy by any stretch of imagination because you are bringing two people from different backgrounds. Even if you are bringing people from the same background, it is not easy though. Their ways of doing things will be different. When you are dating, it will be different from when you are married. The early years can be very tough and that is why I said it is the grace of God.  Something I keep repeating anytime I am asked this question is to learn how to forgive each other. Because there are times your spouse will hurt you so much and you feel like killing him or her. But just keep forgiving each other. Again, both of you should go before the Lord. Give everything to the Lord, let him handle everything. I am a testimony of that.

When you finally agreed to date your husband, did you had any fear of losing him to other women being a handsome and popular artiste?

Just as he has girls chasing him, I have guys chasing after me too (Laughter). But one good thing about Olu is that, he is a very principled person. He knows how to organise things, how to sort out things.

I knew he had girls, but he was able to end his relationships and I ended mine too before we agreed to date, and we courted for five years before we finally got married.

You talk about God and prayer all the time. How religious are you?

I am not a religious person, I am a Christian, I worship God and adore my Lord Jesus Christ for all he has done. I go to church, I am a pastor in my church.

Really?

Yes, I am a pastor with God Bless Nigeria.