Veteran Yoruba actor Lere Paimo, popularly known as Baba Paimo, has weighed in on the ongoing debate over seniority in Nigeria’s acting industry, challenging a recent claim made by veteran actor Pete Edochie.
The 86-year-old actor insists that his acting journey began four years before Edochie’s, saying he started performing in 1958, while Edochie has traced his own acting career to 1962, when he was just 15 years old.
The issue came into the spotlight after Pete Edochie challenged actors who claim to have started their careers before him to come forward and provide evidence. Edochie had pointed to his performance in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in 1962 as proof of how far back his acting career goes.
However, speaking in an interview with actor Kunle Afod, shared on YouTube on Monday, Paimo stood firmly by his account.
“I started acting in 1958, and it was in 1962 that Pete Edochie started acting. I met Hubert Ogunde, who was senior to me and others, and there were big movies produced back then,” he said.
Paimo also used the opportunity to highlight the long history of Yoruba theatre, arguing that it existed before English-language film production became prominent in Nigeria.
According to him, the late theatre icon Hubert Ogunde was the earliest actor he personally knew of, adding that Ogunde had already made significant contributions to the industry from the 1940s.
“I heard from history that when he (Hubert Ogunde) started in the ’40s, there was nobody before him. We never heard or read that in any history books or documentation. I believe the Yoruba industry started first,” Paimo explained.
He noted that English-speaking movie production was not yet established at the time, while Ogunde was already producing Yoruba-language stage productions and films that entertained and educated audiences.
When asked if another theatre legend, Baba Olumegbon, could have started before Ogunde, Paimo admitted that he could not say for certain.
“I don’t know if Baba Olumegbon started before Ogunde, but all I know is that Ogunde was the person I knew who started acting first,” he said.
Paimo’s own remarkable career began with the Oyin Adejobi Theatre Group before he later joined the Duro Ladipo Theatre Group, where he became known for his role as Chief Basa in Obamoro.
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