Veteran Nollywood actress, Joke Silva-Jacob is proof that you can be whatever you want to be, with or without biological parents.
The actress revealed she is an adopted child of her parents at the first Annual Conference of the Heritage Adoption Support and Advocacy Group (HASAAG) yesterday.
She said, “I remembered going out with my cousin and we met a big cousin She introduced me as ‘my cousin’s daughter and this is Dr Silva’s daughter.’ Then, the older cousin was like, ‘Dr. Silva ke? Se Doctor Silva bimo ni? (meaning does Dr. Silva have a child?) . Did Dr Silva ever has a child?’
“I was so confused and when I got home I told my mum, ‘I met this lady that says you never had a child.’ My mum froze and she said, ‘don’t mind them, they are used to rubbish talk.’
She added, “Even in their wills, I was well protected. My Daddy being a lawyer said in his will that all his children, both adopted and biological, should be treated equally. I was not stressed in anyway. We were all well taken care of till my mum died at the age of 89. At 56, I still miss her but I know she has definitely gone back to her father.
“On her sick bed I always sang her favourite tunes, she would be imputing the melodious tunes and she died singing to her Lord. She had prepared her family before my coming into her life because I had an incredible big Silva family.
“I have a very big family I am the first daughter, I carried the responsibility of a first daughter. Everybody in my family cannot take any decision until sister Joke has come. I can’t call my parents adopted parents. They are my parents.”
The actress was adopted from a foster home run by the Red Cross in Lagos. Her adopted parents are the late Chief E.A Silva, a reputable Lawyer and a former Babajiro of Lagos and his wife Late Dr Abimbola Silva who was a pioneering doctor.
