Lere Paimo Challenges Pete Edochie, Reveals He Started Acting Four Years Earlier

Veteran Yoruba actor Lere Paimo has claimed that he began his acting career in 1958, four years before veteran actor Pete Edochie says he started acting professionally.

According to Bush Radio Academy, Paimo made the claim during an interview with fellow actor Kunle Afod, published on YouTube, while responding to Edochie’s assertion that his acting career began in 1962 when he was 15 years old.

Paimo stated that he was already involved in acting by 1958, suggesting that his career predates the year Edochie has publicly cited as the beginning of his own acting journey.

“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.

The veteran actor’s claim comes amid a broader discussion about seniority and the history of acting in Nigeria, following Edochie’s recent challenge to actors who claim they started their careers before him to provide evidence supporting their assertions.

Edochie had cited his performance in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in 1962 as evidence of his early involvement in acting.

Paimo, however, appeared to place greater emphasis on the indigenous Yoruba travelling-theatre tradition, which predates much of Nigeria’s modern film industry. He also referenced the late theatre icon Hubert Ogunde, whose work played a significant role in the development of indigenous Nigerian theatre.

His comments have consequently added another perspective to the conversation about the origins and evolution of acting in Nigeria, particularly the distinction between indigenous travelling theatre, stage performances and later developments in the Nigerian film industry.