Nigerians know her simply as the “queen mother” of Nollywood, a title that captures both her decades on screen and the very public way she raised two children alone after her marriage ended. Iyabo Ojo has spent more than 25 years building a career as an actress, producer, and now director, and her 2025 epic “Labake Olododo: The Warrior Lord” has carried her into 2026 with a rare double nomination at the AMVCA.
| Date of Birth | December 21, 1977 |
|---|---|
| Age | 48 years |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Zodiac Sign | Sagittarius |
| Occupation | Actress, Producer, Director |
| Net Worth | $1.5 million – $2 million |
| Full Name | Alice Iyabo Ogunro |
| Birthplace | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Zodiac Sign | Sagittarius |
| Ethnicity | Yoruba |
| State of Origin | Abeokuta, Ogun State |
| Alma Mater | Lagos State Polytechnic (HND Estate Management) |
| Marital Status | Divorced from Ademidun Ojo (married 1999-2001) |
| Partner | Paul "Paulo" Okoye (together since December 2022) |
| Children | Festus Oladunjoye Ojo, Priscilla Ajoke Ojo |
| Known For | Labake Olododo: The Warrior Lord, Silence |
| Company | Fespris Production / Fespris Limited |
Biography
Iyabo Ojo was born Alice Iyabo Ogunro on December 21, 1977, in Lagos, Nigeria, the youngest of three children with two older brothers. Her father hailed from Abeokuta in Ogun State, and she is Yoruba by ethnicity. She attended National College in Gbagada, Lagos, before enrolling at Lagos State Polytechnic, where she earned a Higher National Diploma in Estate Management.
Her path into acting began in a secondary school drama group, and she formally entered the industry in 1998 with the English-language film “Satanic.” Fellow actress Bimbo Akintola helped her register with the Actors Guild of Nigeria, opening doors to the network that would carry her career forward. She made her Yoruba-language debut in 2002 with “Baba Darijinwon” and began producing her own films in 2004, starting with “Bolutife,” before going on to make titles including “Bofeboko,” “Ololufe,” “Esan,” and “Okunkun Biribiri.”
In 1999, at 21, Ojo married Ademidun Ojo, a Lagos-based clearing and forwarding agent working at Tin Can Island port, a decision that briefly paused her career. The marriage produced two children, a son, Festus Oladunjoye Ojo, born in 1999, and a daughter, Priscilla Ajoke Ojo, born in 2001, before the couple divorced. She has said in past interviews that marrying too young contributed to the marriage’s collapse.
Iyabo Ojo’s Career
Ojo has appeared in more than 150 films and produced upward of 14 of her own, building one of the more prolific résumés in Yoruba-language cinema. Her 2015 film “Silence,” starring Joseph Benjamin, Alex Usifo, Fathia Balogun, and Doris Simeon, premiered at Silverbird Cinemas in Ikeja, marking one of her bigger theatrical pushes at the time. Beyond the titles she has written, directed, or produced herself, Ojo has also taken supporting roles in bigger commercial productions, including Mama Oba in Jade Osiberu’s 2023 crime thriller “Gangs of Lagos,” broadening her filmography well beyond the Yoruba-language space where she first built her name.
Her biggest recent project is “Labake Olododo: The Warrior Lord,” a historical epic she produced through her company Fespris Production in collaboration with FilmOne Studios, Abazee Productions, and Alaba Ultimate, directed by Biodun Stephen. Speaking on TVC’s Your View, Ojo said the idea for a female warrior story had lived in her head for close to nine years before the success of “The Woman King” convinced her the timing was finally right. She described spending two weeks living in a village with her on-screen warriors to adjust to the setting, working with dialogue coaches to sharpen her Yoruba delivery, and training at the gym from day one to build the physicality the role demanded.
The film, which also starred Femi Adebayo, premiered in Nigerian cinemas on March 28, 2025, before expanding to the United Kingdom and the United States. It went on to earn two nominations at the 2026 AMVCA, for Best Indigenous Language Movie (West Africa) and Best Makeup, giving Ojo a rare double nomination tied to a single production. In 2026, she pushed further into filmmaking with her directorial debut, “The Return of Arinzo,” which premiered in Lagos in late March ahead of a wider theatrical release.
Ojo has also built a business empire alongside her screen career through Fespris Limited, a parent company covering a spa and makeup studio, a beauty products line, an event management and ushering service, and a restaurant arm. In 2011, she launched the Pinkies Foundation, an NGO supporting children with special needs and less privileged families, which she has continued to run for over a decade.
Movies
Beyond the films already tied to her own production credits, Ojo has taken on a run of self-produced dramas built around real-life social issues, including “Beyond Disability,” “Black Val,” and “Under the Carpet,” alongside 2016’s “Astray” and 2024’s “Between Lies.” She also joined the ensemble cast of “Jagun Jagun,” the Femi Adebayo-led Amazon Prime Video epic that became one of the most-watched Nollywood titles on the platform, extending her reach into the kind of big-budget historical productions that “Labake Olododo” later let her lead herself.
Across more than 150 film credits, Ojo has moved between Yoruba-language dramas built for a home audience and higher-profile commercial productions like “Gangs of Lagos,” a range that has kept her name attached to both the industry’s grassroots and its biggest recent theatrical hits.
Personal Life
Iyabo Ojo has been open about the difficulty of raising her children as a single parent after her divorce. Speaking on Your View, she said she made a deliberate choice never to speak negatively about her ex-husband in front of their children, insisting their father remain present in their lives even though they never shared a home after the split. That approach was on full display when her daughter Priscilla married Tanzanian singer Juma Jux in a widely covered 2025 wedding, with Ojo welcoming her ex-husband to take part in the ceremony rather than exclude him.
Both children have built public profiles of their own. Priscilla made her acting debut in the 2015 film “Beyond Disability,” a performance that earned her a Best Child Actress nomination at the Best of Nollywood Awards, and she has continued acting and modeling alongside a career as a social media influencer. Festus, meanwhile, founded the fashion brand Fedel Wears, which sells men’s clothing including t-shirts, joggers, and hoodies, building his own following as a brand influencer and entrepreneur separate from his mother’s fame.
Ojo has said she has no interest in remarrying. She has been in a relationship with music executive Paul Okoye, known as Paulo, since going Instagram official on her 45th birthday in December 2022; he is the CEO of Upfront and Personal Global Management, an entertainment management company whose roster has included Kizz Daniel, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Tekno, Iyanya, and Flavour. Speaking on TVC’s Your View, Ojo explained that marriage isn’t on the table because they are both workaholics who value their independence, telling the show, “Because of the way I work, I am such a workaholic, and he is also a workaholic… We don’t want marriage.” She also spoke about opening her home to her children’s friends and extended family over the years, saying she has raised as many as seven young people under one roof at various points, including cousins, nephews, and the daughter of a former staff member. Beyond her family life, Ojo has been a vocal advocate on social issues in Nollywood, including her public stance during the 2021 Baba Ijesha child abuse case.
Net Worth
Iyabo Ojo’s net worth estimate, built from her actual income streams, puts her net worth somewhere between $1.5 million and $2 million as of 2026.
That range reflects more than two decades of acting fees across over 150 films, production revenue from the 14-plus movies she has made through Fespris Production, including the theatrically released “Labake Olododo,” and income from her Fespris Limited business arm, which spans beauty services, a product line, event management, and hospitality ventures. Her expansion into directing with “The Return of Arinzo” and the AMVCA attention around “Labake Olododo” suggest her production and brand income could climb further in the coming years.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Iyabo Ojo’s real name?
She was born Alice Iyabo Ogunro and has said she intends to move away from using her former husband’s surname, Ojo, though it remains her professional name.
How old is Iyabo Ojo?
She was born on December 21, 1977, making her 48 years old as of 2026.
What movie earned Iyabo Ojo AMVCA nominations in 2026?
Her produced film “Labake Olododo: The Warrior Lord” earned nominations for Best Indigenous Language Movie (West Africa) and Best Makeup at the 2026 AMVCA.
Is Iyabo Ojo married?
No, she is divorced from Ademidun Ojo and has said she does not intend to remarry. She has been in a relationship with music executive Paul “Paulo” Okoye since December 2022.
Who are Iyabo Ojo’s children?
She has a son, Festus Oladunjoye Ojo, and a daughter, Priscilla Ajoke Ojo, who married Tanzanian singer Juma Jux in 2025.
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