Nigeria’s mark on world entertainment reaches far past Afrobeats and Nollywood. From Hollywood and British film to music, boxing and the British royal family, several household names carry Nigerian blood. Some were born here and later made it abroad. Others were born in Europe or the United States to Nigerian parents. A few only learned of the link through genealogy. Zoyols News looks at seven of them.
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, is among the most watched figures to uncover Nigerian ancestry in recent years. In 2022 she said a genealogy test put her at 43 per cent Nigerian, a result she discussed on her podcast Archetypes after taking the test years earlier. The story grew louder when she and Prince Harry visited Nigeria in May 2024. At a women’s leadership event in Abuja she spoke with feeling about finding those roots, calling the process humbling and eye-opening, and referred to Nigeria as her country. Crowds received her warmly and some traditional leaders and guests gave her the Igbo name Ifeoma, a treasured thing. Born in Los Angeles and known first as an actress and later as a senior royal, she is now often discussed as much for that heritage as for the rest of her public life.
Anthony Joshua, the British-Nigerian boxing star, traces his line straight to family in Sagamu, Ogun State. Born in Watford to Robert and Yeta Joshua, both of Yoruba background, he boarded for a time at Mayflower School in Ikenne before returning to Britain. He has flown the Nigerian flag beside the Union Jack, spoken openly about his roots and wears a tattoo of Africa with Nigeria outlined on his shoulder. His great-grandfather, Daniel Adebambo Joshua, was a wealthy landowner and merchant, and the family name followed his conversion to Christianity. Joshua ranks among Britain’s most successful heavyweights and remains a favourite with Nigerian sports fans.
John Boyega became a worldwide name as Finn in the Star Wars sequels. Born in London in 1992 to Samson and Abigail Adegboyega, both Yoruba, he grew up in Peckham and trained at Theatre Peckham. Attack the Block in 2011 put him on the map, then The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker made him a global face. He has since appeared in Detroit, Pacific Rim: Uprising and They Cloned Tyrone, and still treats his Yoruba background as a core part of who he is.
David Oyelowo, the British-American actor and producer, was born in Oxford in 1976 to Nigerian parents. His father, Stephen, is from Oyo State and his mother is Igbo from the southeast. At six he moved to Lagos when his father joined the national airline and his mother worked for the railways. He is also an omoba, a prince, in the Yoruba system, with a grandfather said to have been a king in Awe, Oyo State. His credits include Selma, Interstellar, A United Kingdom, Les Misérables, The Butler and Nightingale. Playing Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma won him wide praise and fixed his standing in Hollywood.
Chiwetel Ejiofor was born in Forest Gate, London, in 1977 to Igbo parents, Arinze, a doctor, and Obiajulu, a pharmacist. He played Odenigbo in Half of a Yellow Sun, adapted from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel of the Nigerian-Biafran War, a story set in the same southeast his parents come from. 12 Years a Slave brought him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor as Solomon Northup. He has also been seen in Children of Men, Inside Man, Doctor Strange, The Martian, Sherlock Holmes and The Lion King, and has often spoken of his Igbo identity.
Sade Adu, born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan, is the daughter of a Nigerian economics lecturer and an English nurse who met in London while he studied at the London School of Economics, married and moved to Nigeria. After her parents separated when she was four, her mother took her and her elder brother back to England. As the voice of the band Sade she mixed soul, jazz, R&B and pop into a worldwide sound, with Smooth Operator, Your Love Is King, No Ordinary Love and The Sweetest Taboo among the songs that made her unmistakable. Folasade is a Yoruba name, and it still sits at the heart of how she is known.
Skepta, born Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. in London, was raised by a Yoruba father and an Igbo mother. He helped carry grime from London’s underground onto the world stage and has worked as a producer, fashion designer, filmmaker and visual artist, often alongside major international musicians. In 2018 he received the chieftaincy title Amuludun of Odo-Aje in Ogun State, another sign of how tightly his career stays tied to Nigeria and how that heritage keeps shaping British music and fashion.
