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| Bamanga Muhammad Tukur |
On Saturday, 12 September 2026, Alhaji Bamanga Muhammad Tukur, CON, the Tafidan Adamawa, died in Abuja after a period of illness. He was 90, just three days short of his 91st birthday. His passing closed a career that stretched across more than six decades and touched almost every major arena of Nigerian public life: maritime administration at a moment of national crisis, brief but historic state governorship, federal ministerial office under military rule, private business empire-building, and the turbulent leadership of Africa’s largest political party.
Born on 15 September 1935 in Jada, in what is now Adamawa State, to Hamman Tukur Wakili Chamba, Tukur received a traditional Islamic and Quranic education alongside formal schooling. He attended Jada Elementary School, Yola Middle School and Government Secondary School, Bauchi, before studying accountancy and public finance in Zaria. In 1965 he enrolled at the London School of Economics to study transport and economics, later completing postgraduate work in public and international affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. This combination of practical northern Nigerian roots and international training equipped him for the complex institutional challenges that defined post-independence Nigeria.
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Tukur’s national breakthrough came in 1975 when he was appointed General Manager and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Ports Authority. The timing was unforgiving. Nigeria was in the grip of the “cement armada” — a chaotic surge of imports ordered during the oil boom of the Gowon era that left dozens of ships waiting weeks or months off Lagos to discharge cargo, much of it cement that was already deteriorating. Congestion at Apapa Port had become a symbol of administrative failure and a serious drag on the economy. Under Tukur’s leadership, the NPA undertook a major reorganisation and expansion. Tin Can Island Port was developed, Apapa Wharf was extended, and container and roll-on/roll-off terminals were established. Ports at Koko, Warri, Onne and Port Harcourt were upgraded. These measures helped ease the worst of the congestion and modernised Nigeria’s maritime infrastructure at a critical moment. His performance earned him international recognition as the first African Vice-President of the International Association of Ports and Harbours.
Former Head of State Yakubu Gowon is said to have nicknamed him “Sarkin Aiki” — chief worker — a reflection of the reputation for energy and delivery he cultivated.
After leaving the NPA in 1982, Tukur entered elective politics. In August 1983 he won the governorship of the old Gongola State (comprising present-day Adamawa and Taraba) on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria, defeating the incumbent Abubakar Barde of the Great Nigeria Peoples Party. He assumed office in October. His administration lasted barely three months. On 31 December 1983 the military coup led by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari terminated the Second Republic and with it Tukur’s governorship. The brevity of his tenure left little room for a distinctive policy record, yet the victory itself confirmed his standing as a political force in the North-East.
Tukur returned to public office under military rule as Minister of Industries in the cabinet of General Sani Abacha between 1993 and 1995. He also sought the presidential nomination of the National Republican Convention during the aborted Third Republic transition. In the private sector he built the Daddo Group (also known as BHI Holdings), with interests centred on maritime services and related businesses. He became a leading voice in continental economic advocacy as founder, former president and life patron of the Africa Business Roundtable and chairman of the NEPAD Business Group. These roles reflected a consistent belief that African private-sector leadership was essential to the continent’s development agenda.
In March 2012, at the age of 76, Tukur was elected National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, then Nigeria’s ruling party under President Goodluck Jonathan. He took office at a moment of growing internal strain. His tenure coincided with intensifying factional battles, culminating in the 2013 emergence of a “New PDP” group of governors and legislators that posed the most serious internal challenge the party had faced since 1999. Tukur resigned in January 2014. President Jonathan described the departure as mutually agreed and free of any finding of wrongdoing, yet the political reality was clear: the party’s deep divisions had overwhelmed his leadership. He was later appointed Ambassador-at-Large. In later years he also chaired the board of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (2014–2016). At 80 he announced his retirement from active politics, stating that he had used several platforms to serve the country and it was time to rest.
Tributes after his death reflected the breadth of his career. President Bola Tinubu, through his Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga, described him as urbane, generous and rooted in integrity and service. Vice-President Kashim Shettima called him “a true patriot, a global citizen and an institution in his own right.” Adamawa Governor Ahmadu Fintiri declared three days of mourning and ordered flags flown at half-mast. Business leaders including Aliko Dangote attended the funeral rites in Yola. Tukur was buried on 13 September 2026 in his family compound after prayers at the Lamido of Adamawa’s Palace Mosque. He is survived by two wives and 18 children, among them Awwal D. Tukur, Secretary to the Adamawa State Government.
Tukur’s life embodied the possibilities and contradictions of Nigeria’s post-independence elite. He was a technocrat who delivered results in a high-pressure public institution, a politician whose elected and appointed offices were repeatedly cut short by military intervention or party crisis, and a businessman who leveraged specialised knowledge into lasting enterprise. His most tangible legacy remains the modernisation of Nigeria’s ports in the late 1970s — infrastructure that still underpins the country’s trade. His political chapters, though often truncated, placed him at the centre of successive attempts to build stable civilian institutions. In a country where public careers are frequently siloed, Bamanga Tukur moved fluidly between administration, politics, business and pan-African advocacy, leaving a record that continues to invite both admiration and critical examination.
Olu Jacobs (1942–2026): The Actor Who Bridged Continents and Helped Define Nollywood
On 16 September 2026, Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, MFR — known to the world as Olu Jacobs — died at the age of 84. His wife, the veteran actress Joke Silva, and their son Olusoji announced the news, describing him as “The Lion of Lufodo” and requesting privacy after years in which false reports of his death had circulated repeatedly. The confirmation closed a career that spanned more than five decades, two continents and multiple eras of African and British performance.
Born on 11 July 1942 to parents of Egba Alake origin from Abeokuta, Ogun State, Jacobs spent his early childhood in Kano. At Holy Trinity School he joined the debating and drama societies. A formative experience came when he watched one of Chief Hubert Ogunde’s concert parties; the encounter crystallised his determination to pursue acting professionally. In 1964 he travelled to Britain and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. The rigorous classical training shaped a stage presence defined by vocal authority, physical command and emotional precision.
Jacobs built a substantial career in British theatre and television during the 1970s. He appeared in productions including The Goodies, Till Death Us Do Part, Barlow at Large, The Venturers, Angels, The Tomorrow People and The Professionals. In 1978 he played President Mageeba in Tom Stoppard’s Night and Day. International film roles followed: Commissioner Batak opposite Michael Caine and Omar Sharif in Ashanti (1979), a customs officer in John Irvin’s The Dogs of War(1980), Col. Nsogbu in Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985), and Boomako in Roman Polanski’s Pirates (1986). These credits placed a Nigerian actor in mainstream Western productions at a time when such opportunities were rare, demonstrating both individual talent and the possibility of African performers competing on equal terms.
In 1990 Jacobs returned to Nigeria and took the lead role of Inspector Best Idafa in the NTA detective series The Third Eye. The timing coincided with the early expansion of the Nigerian home-video industry that would become known globally as Nollywood. Over the following decades he appeared in more than 120 Nigerian films, frequently cast as kings, traditional rulers, patriarchs, politicians and authority figures. His deep voice, measured delivery and ability to convey gravitas without excess made him a defining screen presence. Notable credits include Adesuwa (2012), Oloibiri (2015), Dry (2015), The Royal Hibiscus Hotel (2017), Potomanto, The Antique and many others that explored history, social issues, morality and power. He won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2007 (for Dancing Heart), received the Industry Merit Award at the 2013 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, a lifetime achievement honour in 2016, and was conferred with the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic in 2011.
Beyond performance, Jacobs and Joke Silva, whom he married in 1989, co-founded the Lufodo Group, which expanded into film production, distribution and the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts.
Through the academy they trained successive generations of actors and creative professionals, extending his influence from individual roles into institutional capacity-building. Colleagues often referred to him affectionately as “Uncle Olu” or “Igwe,” reflecting both respect for his craft and his status as a mentor.
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In later years Jacobs largely withdrew from public view. In 2021 Joke Silva disclosed that he was living with dementia with Lewy bodies. Repeated false reports of his death between 2020 and 2024 forced the family to issue public denials and, on one occasion, to share video evidence that he was alive. When the final announcement came in September 2026, it carried particular weight precisely because it originated from the family after years of rumour.
Jacobs’ funeral rites in Lagos drew family, colleagues and industry figures. He is survived by Joke Silva and their sons Olusoji and Olugbenga.
His legacy rests on several interlocking achievements: the demonstration that African actors could succeed in rigorous Western training and mainstream international productions; the transfer of that professional discipline into the formative years of Nollywood; the creation of an enduring screen archetype of authority and wisdom; and the investment in training institutions that outlast any single performance. In an industry often characterised by rapid production cycles and limited formal infrastructure, Olu Jacobs represented continuity, craft and institutional memory. His work helped elevate Nigerian screen storytelling from local entertainment to a recognised global cultural force, and the actors and filmmakers who followed him continue to work in the space he helped open.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Technology.
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