My Gain From Being Married To Olu Jacob — Joke Silva

Veteran Nollywood actress, Joke Silva has opened up on what she considers as gains of being married to her hubby, Olu Jacob.

The 55-year-old mother who spoke during a recent interview said she considers herself lucky to be married to her friend and a colleague, adding that; 

I am very lucky to be married to the man that I am married to. Firstly, because he is my friend more than the fact that he is in my industry. That I would marry someone in my industry was not farfetched because I was always around people in my industry and I was not mixing with too many people outside my industry. He is somebody who has incredible passion for his work, believes in his work and he has so much respect for his work. I think that is my gain from being married to him.

On how they met....

We met at the National Theatre whilst we were working on the production of Jero’s Metamorphosis.

Did you not entertain fears about getting married to someone in the limelight?

It did not even occur to me that there was likely to be that kind of stress until we started experiencing it. We managed it by God’s grace.

How have you been able to stay married for 30 years?

God is amazing because it is not as if we have a fantastic formula. We have had times when each party was like, “Lord, is this what this marriage is all about?”

Have there been times when your ego as celebrities got in the way of the marriage?

Not really. It is us as human beings finding it difficult to navigate whatever part of the marriage experience we are in at that point in time. Thankfully, God has been extremely faithful and we have been able to weather the storms.

How do you create a work-life balance?

I am not sure that any such thing exists. I think that is in people’s imagination. You just do the best that you can with whatever you are dealing with, irrespective of whether its work or family. If there is a balance, more credit to you.

All of your years of being married, why have you retained your maiden name?

It was a decision my husband and I made for two reasons. Firstly, I grew up knowing some people who as celebrities were known by a particular name and then the name changed. Subsequently, the marriage did not work and they went back to their maiden name. I did not want that to happen to me, so if I am Joke Silva, I am Joke Silva. If the marriage works, I am still Joke Silva, and if it does not work, I am still Joke Silva.

Did you fear that your marriage would not work?

I was quite young when I got married but it also seemed as if these celebrity marriages were not marriages that worked all the time. Also, all my husband’s professional life before we got married was in England and over there, nobody changed their names when they got married. Sometimes you would not even know that this person was married to that person because they retained their identity. Most times it is a brand. My brand was being built and was doing well around the time that we got married, so why change it? That does not change the fact that I am still Olu Jacob’s wife.