Veteran Yoruba actor, Lere Paimo, says he started acting in 1958 – four years before his colleague, Pete Edochie.
Paimo made the claim during an interview with actor Kunle Afod, posted on YouTube. Paimo was countering Edochie’s claim that he started his acting career in 1962, at 15.
Paimo insisted that that he was already acting when Edochie began his career.
This came after Edochie challenged actors who claimed to have started their careers before him to come forward and prove 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.
Recall that Edochie had recently 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, also pointed to the earlier Yoruba travelling-theatre tradition, particularly the late theatre legend Hubert Ogunde, as evidence that indigenous Nigerian theatre predated English-language film productions.