The 56-year-old veteran was adopted by the late Chief E.A Silva, a reputable lawyer and the then Babajiro of Lagos and his wife, late Dr Abimbola Silva, a pioneering female doctor.
Joke 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?). 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.’
“But I got to know years later when I wanted to travel and was looking for my passport where my mum kept it. Since she was not around, I opened the box in her absence and I saw my adoption papers. I never discussed it with my mum, because I felt it was something that would hurt her, that was why it was kept secret from me.
“But I had incredible memories of my amazing parents for allowing me to do my A Level in England and going to one of the best schools in Bournemouth (a seaside resort on the southern coast of England) coming back after my A level with two of them having an argument on what I was going to do because I had failed my A level having done it for the third time then. I had done it thrice because I changed from science to Arts— I didn’t do well at all. My father said, ‘Joke, go back and do your A levels again and my Mom said, let this girl go and do the drama.’ They came into a middle ground, and as you can see I am still in drama today.
