Veteran Nigerian actor Kola Olaiya has criticised fellow actor Pete Edochie over the ongoing debate about seniority in the Nigerian acting industry, insisting that several theatre pioneers worked long before Edochie began his career.
Olaiya made the remarks during a recent episode of Oyinmomo TV, published on Friday, October 16, 2026. He accused Edochie of being proud and failing to acknowledge the contributions of older theatre practitioners.
“Pete Edochie is a proud human being. I have known him for long. Pride is in his blood. That is why he cannot respect elders,” Olaiya said.
The veteran actor argued that the history of Nigerian acting goes beyond the generation of performers who became popular through English-language films.
He cited legendary theatre practitioner Hubert Ogunde, who established his theatre company in the 1940s and played a major role in the development of Yoruba theatre.
“Before they gave birth to Pete Edochie, Ogunde had been acting. That is why he cannot admit that some people started before him,” Olaiya said.
He also mentioned veteran theatre figures Oyin Adejobi, Duro Ladipo and Kola Ogunmola, stressing that their contributions should be recognised when discussing seniority in Nigeria’s entertainment industry.
Olaiya maintained that Edochie’s seniority within his own region should not automatically make him the most senior actor in the country.
“I do not know if he is the first in his region and has no superior; that is fine. But in the whole of Nigeria? No,” he added.
The controversy followed Edochie’s appearance on Isbae U’s Curiosity Made Me Ask programme, where he said he began acting in 1962 at the age of 15.
The Things Fall Apart star cited his performance in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice as evidence of his early involvement in acting, years before Nollywood became widely established as a film industry.
The debate also gained attention after Yoruba theatre veteran Lere Paimo said he began acting in 1958, four years before Edochie’s stated starting point.
Paimo also highlighted the contributions of Hubert Ogunde and the Yoruba travelling-theatre tradition, which played an important role in the development of Nigerian theatre and film.
The differing accounts have renewed discussions about the history of Nigerian acting and whether seniority should be determined by age, the year an actor began performing, or contributions to the industry.
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