Veteran Nollywood actor dies at 83

Veteran Nollywood actor, Joseph

Abiodun Babatunde Adu, popularly

called Jab Adu, is dead. He was one of

the few surviving actors in popular old

TV drama, The Village Headmaster.

According to reports, the talented actor

died in his Abeokuta, Ogun State home

early Sunday morning.

He was aged 83.

Renowned for his role as ‘Bassey Okon’

in the popular Nigerian Television

Authority (NTA), drama series ‘The

Village Headmaster,’ Jab Adu was said to

have been contending with a minor

illness brought by old age.

Trained as a professional banker, the

late Jab Adu left the Central Bank of

Nigeria (CBN) to settle for acting and he

had a booming career on stage,

television and film.

The deceased was born in Calabar, Cross

River State, hence it was easy for him to

play the role of an Efik man, Bassey

Okon in the popular Village Headmaster

series.

He was more renowned in acting as well

as film production with credits to ‘Bisi,

Daughter of the River’ and ‘Adio’s

Family,’ a series he co-produced with

NTA.

Jab Adu wrote, co-produced and directed

the full length film — ‘Bisi, Daughter of

the River’, a film that was one of the

pioneering efforts that followed ‘Kongi’s

Harvest’ and ‘Things Fall Apart.’

Till his death, Jab Adu was a devotee of

Grail Message Movement.