I’m Older in Acting Than Pete Edochie, Nollywood Didn’t Start Where You Think – Yemi Solade

Veteran Nollywood actor, Yemi Solade, has asserted that he began his acting career before the legendary Pete Edochie, despite being younger in age.

Solade made the statement during his appearance on the show Father’s Path with Tope, where he reflected on his early journey and contributions to the Yoruba segment of the Nigerian film industry.

“I’m senior to Pete Edochie, I started acting before him, though he’s older than me. I was 17 in 1977 when I represented Nigeria as the Youngest Actor, and I’ve done 48 years in the industry and still standing,” he said.

Solade also addressed ongoing debates about the origins of Nollywood, challenging claims that other sectors of the industry were responsible for its creation.

He argued that the Yoruba film industry had long been producing films, even though it initially lacked proper documentation and commercial packaging through cassettes. According to him, this lack of early formal archiving led others to falsely claim ownership of Nollywood’s beginnings.

“The first Nigerian, Ade Ajiboye ‘Big Abass’, [made] the first home video in this country. We’ve been doing it—there was film, the celluloid and everything. We had the likes of Ogundes, we had Baba Salas, we had Ade Afolayans, Kunle’s father; we had Dr Ola Balogun, who is still around, and so many other big names, most of them are gone now,” he said.

Recalling the early days of home video, he explained how actors experimented with camcorders to record stage dramas, which were then transferred to cassettes and distributed to the public via shop displays.

“Even when home video was starting, it was just an experiment that was carried out by the likes of Muyideen Alade Aromire. We were all doing this drama, and then they just brought this camcorder, let’s record what we are doing, which was documented in a cassette and was arranged in bookshelves. So, you as a shop owner, would introduce the cassette for people to buy; it all started like that.”

Solade maintained that the Yoruba industry’s failure to document its early work gave rise to the misconception that it came into the industry later than other segments.

“My people in the Yoruba setting didn’t document anything; that was why the other people in the industry just stepped in to say they started it. ‘Hey shut up’; when people like us are here, we will let you know you didn’t start anything,” he stated.

He further noted that the media attention enjoyed by other sectors of Nollywood contributed to the spread of the narrative.

“They could say that because they romance the media, but the Yoruba industry was just acting. Most of them weren’t schooled; they didn’t know anything about the media, and they enjoyed themselves. Adebayo Salami is alive; he will tell you a deeper story that I’m telling you, he’s older than me. Jide Kosoko is alive, we all work together.”

Solade’s comments have reignited conversations around Nollywood’s origins and the underrepresentation of Yoruba contributions to the film industry’s development.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE