Patience Ozokwor says she can't bear to think about Olu Jacobs, opens up on losing colleagues over the years

• Patience Ozokwor says Olu Jacobs' health situation is too painful for her to dwell on.

• She recalled crying deeply after the death of her longtime colleague Sam Loco Efe.

• The actress also spoke about losing Mr Ibu and her close bond with Pete Edochie.

Veteran Nollywood actress Patience Ozokwor, popularly known as Mama G, has opened up about how difficult it is for her to watch fellow industry legends age or battle serious health conditions, singling out veteran actor Olu Jacobs as someone whose situation she finds too painful to dwell on.

Speaking during a podcast appearance hosted by content creator Femi Babs, Ozokwor said: "I cherish people's company a lot. I feel so bad about Olu Jacobs' situation now, I don't want to think about it."

Jacobs, one of Nollywood's most respected veterans, has largely stepped back from public life in recent years. In 2021, his wife, actress Joke Silva, revealed that he has been managing Lewy body dementia, a progressive condition that affects memory and movement.

Ozokwor's remarks came as she reflected more broadly on the toll of losing colleagues she came up with in the industry. She recalled the death of comic actor Sam Loco Efe, with whom she shared the screen in several films, saying his passing hit her especially hard because of how closely they had worked together.

"When that man died, I cried like a baby," she said, describing him as one of the few people doing comedy alongside her "bumper to bumper" at the time. She said she felt similarly devastated years later when veteran actor John Okafor, popularly known as Mr Ibu, died, though she said she had learned to control her emotions more as she got older.

During the same conversation, Ozokwor also spoke about her deep bond with fellow screen legend Pete Edochie, admitting she often finds herself imagining what it would feel like if he died before her. The clip of her remarks went viral after Femi Babs shared it online, drawing reactions from fans across social media. Edochie himself later responded to the post with a praying hands emoji.

Beyond the emotional toll of losing colleagues, Ozokwor used the conversation to reflect on longevity in the Nigerian film industry, saying no one is indispensable and that character ultimately determines how far anyone goes in their career. "You don't price yourself out of the market, and you don't belittle yourself anyway," she said.

Ozokwor, who has spent over two decades in Nollywood, remains one of the industry's most recognisable veterans, known for her long-running collaborations with actors like Edochie, Jacobs and the late Sam Loco Efe.

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