Veteran Yoruba actor Kola Olaiya has criticised fellow veteran actor Pete Edochie over his recent comments about seniority in the Nigerian acting industry.
Olaiya questioned Edochie’s claim to seniority by pointing to the contributions of earlier Nigerian theatre practitioners, including the late Hubert Ogunde, whose career dates back several decades before Edochie began acting.
Speaking during a recent episode of Oyinmomo TV, Olaiya also accused Edochie of being proud and failing to acknowledge actors who came before him.
According to Olaiya, Ogunde began his theatrical career in 1944 after leaving the police force, making his contribution to Nigerian theatre significantly older than Edochie’s acting career.
“Before they gave birth to Pete Edochie, Ogunde had been acting,” Olaiya said, while stressing that Ogunde had already established himself in theatre before Edochie’s emergence.
He further criticised Edochie’s attitude, saying: “Pete Edochie is a proud human being. I have known him for long. Pride is in his blood. That is why he cannot respect elders.”
Olaiya names other theatre pioneers
The veteran actor also mentioned other prominent figures in Nigerian theatre, including Oyin Adejobi, Duro Ladipo and Kola Ogunmola.
Olaiya argued that their contributions should be considered when discussing seniority in the country’s acting industry.
He questioned Edochie’s position in the history of Nigerian acting, saying the pioneers he mentioned had already established themselves before Edochie became prominent.
“Ogunde produced a lot of movies and made records before Edochie was born. After that, people like our fathers, including Oyin Adejobi, Duro Ladipo and Kola Ogunmola, joined the industry. Where was Pete then?” he asked.
Olaiya, however, acknowledged that Edochie could be considered senior within his region but rejected the idea that the veteran actor could claim overall seniority across Nigeria.
“I do not know if he is the first in his region and has no superior; that is fine. But in the whole of Nigeria? No,” he said.
How the seniority debate started
The latest comments are part of an ongoing debate over who qualifies as a senior or pioneer in Nigeria’s acting industry.
Edochie recently said during an appearance on comedian Isbae U’s Curiosity Made Me Ask podcast that his acting career began in 1962, when he was 15 years old.
The veteran actor has maintained that his career predates the emergence of Nollywood as a modern film industry. He has also previously pointed to his role in the television adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart as an important milestone in his career.
The comments have since generated reactions from other veterans, including Yoruba actor Lere Paimo, who said he started acting professionally in 1958, four years before Edochie’s stated starting point.
The renewed debate has also drawn attention to the distinction between the history of Nigerian theatre, early stage performances, cinema and the emergence of Nollywood in the 1990s.
While Edochie’s supporters point to his long career and major contributions to Nigerian film and television, other veterans argue that the history of Nigerian acting stretches much further back, particularly through Yoruba travelling theatre and early Nigerian cinema.