Samuel Ajibola is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

television and film actor. He is best known for his role as a child-actor in the Opa Williams directed movie ''Tears for Love'', as well as his role as Spiff in the

Africa Magic Africa Magic is a collection of Pay TV entertainment channels that focus on African programming, most popularly Nigerian series and movies. ''Africa Magic'', which started off as single channel of the same name, is a brand owned by M-Net and no ...

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

The Johnsons ''The Johnsons'' or '' De Johnsons '' is a 1992 Dutch horror film thriller directed by Rudolf van den Berg. It also known under the title ''Xangadix''. The film was nominated for a ''Fantasy Film Award'' at the ''Porto Film Festival'' in Portug ...

''. Ajibola is also famous for being the first Nigerian child actor to win the award for ''Best Kid Actor'' for three years in a row. In 2017, he won the AMVCA (

Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award ''Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards'' (AMVCA) is an annual accolade presented by MultiChoice recognizing outstanding achievement in television and film. The inaugural Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards ceremony was held in Lagos, Lagos State ...

) for best Actor in an M-net comedy series

Early life

Ajibola was born in Mazamaza,

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...

. He is the first of four children of Commander Lanre Ajibola and Mrs Irene Ajibola. He is of Yoruba descent and hails from Ekiti State. Ajibola began his acting career in 1995 at the age of 6 in the Opa Williams directed movie, ''Tears for Love''. He got the role, after he had impressed his aunt, Moyinoluwa Odutayo, herself an actress, during a stage play at Church. He went on to feature as a child actor in other feature films including ''Without Love'', ''Shame'', ''Eye-witness'', ''Onome II'', ''Conspiracy'', ''Street kids'' and ''Day of Reckoning''. In 2003, he took a hiatus from acting to finish his high school education and pursue a degree in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

, after which he performed his National Youth Service programme. He also acquired a degree in acting from Amaka Igwe's Centre for Excellence in Film and Media Studies.

Career

In 2009, Ajibola made a return to acting in the Teco Benson produced and directed movie, ''The Fake Prophet'' alongside Grace Amah. In 2013, he featured in the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Base produced television series, '' Shuga''. He has also featured in several Nigerian box office movies including ''

Last Flight to Abuja ''Last Flight to Abuja'' is a 2012 Nigerian disaster thriller film written by Tunde Babalola, directed and produced by Obi Emelonye, and starring Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Hakeem Kae-Kazim and Jim Iyke. Shot in Lagos, the film received 5 nominati ...

'' with

Omotola Jalade Ekeinde Omotola Jalade Ekeinde ( ; born Omotola Jalade, 7 February 1978) is a Nigerian actress, singer, philanthropist and former model. Since her Nollywood film debut in 1995, Ekeinde has appeared in over 300 films, selling millions of copies. Omoto ...

, The Antique alongside

Kiki Omeili Nkiruka 'Kiki' Omeili (born May 31, 1986) is a Nigerian actress, best known for her role as Lovette in the TV series '' Lekki Wives''. She is also known for her role as Blessing in the 2015 crime caper, ''Gbomo Gbomo Express'' alongside Gideon ...

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and Gloria Young. As of 2016, he had played the role of ''Spiff'', a character in the Africa Magic produced television series ''

'' for four seasons. He also starred in the 2018 movie '' Merry Men: The Real Yoruba Demons''. Ajibola made his production debut with the release of his web series ''"Dele Issues"'' on 10 March 2017. In October 2017, he featured former Nigerian President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

on the web series.

Awards and recognition

In 1996, Ajibola won the award for ''Best Kid Actor'' at the Rhema Awards for his role in the movie ''Eye-Witness'', an award he went on to win at the 1997 and 1998 ''Reel Awards'' for the movies ''Onome II'' and ''Day of Reckoning'' respectively. In 2014, he won the award for ''Best Actor'' at the ''In-Short Movie Awards''. In March 2017, Ajibola won the Best Actor in a Comedy Award at the 2017 AMVCA Awards. Ajibola also won the ''Comic Actor of the Year'' Award at the 2017 City People Awards in October 2017.

Awards

Filmography

Movie roles

Short films

Television roles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajibola, Samuel Living people Male actors from Lagos State Nigerian male television actors Nigerian male film actors Nigerian male models Nigerian male child actors Yoruba male actors University of Lagos alumni Best Actor Africa Movie Academy Award winners Actors from Ekiti State Nigerian film producers 20th-century births