Paimo: I Was Already Acting When Pete Edochie Started in 1962

Kehinde Adeleye

Veteran Yoruba actor, Lere Paimo, has said he began his acting career in 1958, four years before his colleague, Pete Edochie, reportedly made his acting debut.

Paimo made the claim during an interview with actor Kunle Afod, which was posted on YouTube, while responding to Edochie’s account that his acting career began in 1962 when he was 15-years-old.

The veteran actor insisted that he was already active in the theatre when Edochie started his career.

The disagreement followed a recent challenge by Edochie to actors who claimed to have started their careers before him, asking them to come forward and substantiate their claims.

“I started acting in 1958. I met Hubert Ogunde, who was senior to me and others, and there were big movies produced back then,” Paimo said during the interview.

Edochie had previously cited his performance in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in 1962 as evidence of how far back his acting career dates.

Paimo, however, pointed to the history of Yoruba travelling theatre and the work of late theatre icon Hubert Ogunde, stressing that indigenous Nigerian theatre had been active before the development of English-language film productions.

The claims by both actors highlight the different traditions and timelines that shaped the early development of theatre and acting in Nigeria.