Veteran Yoruba actor Lere Paimo has challenged Pete Edochie’s recent seniority claim, saying he began his acting career four years before the veteran actor.
The 86-year-old actor said he started acting in 1958, while Edochie recently traced his own acting career to 1962, when he was 15.
The seniority debate resurfaced after Edochie challenged actors claiming to have started before him to come forward and prove it. He had cited his performance in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in 1962 as evidence of how far back his career dates.
Speaking during an interview with actor Kunle Afod, shared on YouTube on Monday, Paimo said: “I started acting in 1958, and it was in 1962 that Pete Edochie started acting. I met Hubert Ogunde, who was senior to me and others, and there were big movies produced back then.”
Paimo also argued that the Yoruba theatre tradition predates English-language movie production in Nigeria, identifying late theatre legend Hubert Ogunde as the earliest actor he knew.
“I heard from history that when he (Hubert Ogunde) started in the ’40s, there was nobody before him… We never heard or read that in any history books or documentation, I believe the Yoruba industry started first,” he said.
He added that there was no English-speaking movie production at the time, saying Ogunde produced Yoruba-language movies that educated audiences.
On whether Baba Olumegbon may have started before Ogunde, Paimo said: “I don’t know if Baba Olumegbon started before Ogunde, but all I know is that Ogunde was the person I knew who started acting first.”
Paimo began his career with Oyin Adejobi Theatre Group before joining Duro Ladipo’s Theatre Group, where he played Chief Basa in Obamoro.
