Alexx Ekubo (1986-2026): Nollywood's Star Has Gone Out
Africa mourns Alexx Ekubo, who died on 11 May 2026. Discover the journey of a Nollywood prodigy, his quiet battle and his legacy here
Actor, model and figure of New Nollywood, born on 10 April 1986 in Port Harcourt, died on 11 May 2026 in Lagos. Discover the life of Alexx Ekubo, an iconic Nigerian Nollywood actor whose death on 11 May 2026 leaves an immense void in African cinema.
He never needed to shout to be heard: he only had to step into the frame. Alexx Ekubo, a radiant yet discreet figure of New Nollywood, passed away on 11 May 2026 in Lagos, following a cancer he had chosen to fight away from the spotlight, just a month after celebrating his 40th birthday. “This beautiful soul”, as several friends describe him, leaves behind a filmography of more than a hundred works, a generation of actors he inspired, and a question the whole of Africa is asking: how do we honour those who carry our image to the world?
From Port Harcourt to the world
Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State, in the Niger Delta. It was here, on 10 April 1986, that Alex Ikenna Ekubo-Okwaraeke was born, the son of an oil trader and a fashion designer. Two worlds, commerce and aesthetics, that would profoundly shape the man he would become: pragmatic in his ambitions, impeccable in his bearing.
His deeper roots are Igbo, from Arochukwu in Abia State, a land of rich oral tradition where the spoken word has the force of a pact. Perhaps it was there, without his knowing it yet, that his visceral attachment to storytelling and to the staging of the self first took root.
He studied law at the University of Calabar and, at the same time, earned a diploma in mass communication from Calabar Polytechnic. These studies shaped a way of thinking about narrative: that of the law, rigorous and reasoned; that of the media, intuitive and popular. He would bring the two together on a film set.
The pageant, the music video, the breakthrough
In 2010 he entered the Mr Nigeria pageant and finished first runner-up. From 2012 he made two films in quick succession that laid the foundations of his reputation: Weekend Getaway and In the Cupboard. The first earned him the award for Best Supporting Actor at the Best of Nollywood Awards in 2013, and again in 2020.
But it was Yemi Alade’s Johnny music video that propelled him across the entire continent. Chief Ikuku became the male face of a hit that has passed 180 million views on YouTube. The camera loved him. Africa recognised him.
An actor of New Nollywood
Nollywood is today the world’s second-largest film industry by volume of production. Around the turn of the 2010s, a renewal took place: bigger budgets, modern cinemas, demanding directors. This movement is known as New Nollywood. The young talent Alexx Ekubo was one of its faces.
In The Bling Lagosians (2019), he shone in a satirical comedy. In A Sunday Affair, he explored intimate drama. As for Funke Akindele’s Omo Ghetto: The Saga, it belongs to the tradition of urban storytelling. More than a hundred films in twenty years: a filmography that refused the easy path.
In 2020, the UN named him among the “Most Influential People of African Descent under 40”. That same year, he received a certificate of excellence from the Sapio Club SGD for his humanitarian work.
Silence as a final scene
At the end of December 2024, Alexx posted his last photo on Instagram. Then silence. In 2025, pictures showed him looking gaunt. Concern grew.
On 11 May 2026, his manager Samuel Olatunji confirmed the irreparable: Alexx Ekubo had died in a Lagos hospital, following a cancer he had fought with dignity. His fellow actors Funke Akindele, Bolanle Ninalowo and Godwin Nnadiekwe paid tribute to him. The latter summed it up: “Nollywood has lost a rare soul.”
Across French-speaking and English-speaking Africa, tributes poured in. On X, Instagram and Facebook, thousands of voices recalled that he was far more than an actor. The man was a promise: the promise that African talent could make its mark without betraying itself.
Some artists build careers. Alexx Ekubo built proof, proof that a child of Port Harcourt could become the face of a continent. It is not just a man who has gone. It is a mirror that Africa has lost, the one in which a generation learned to see itself as beautiful.
REST IN POWER CHIEF IKUKU!
Pélagie BLEWUSSI
