Yemi Solade has argued that his acting career predates that of his legendary colleague Pete Edochie.
In a viral video, the 65-year-old thespian recounted his early beginnings and challenged prevailing narratives about Nollywood’s origins.
“The first man who shot home video was Ade Ajiboye, ‘Big Abass’. The first Nigerian. He is alive. First home video in this country,” he said.
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“We have been doing it now. There was film; the celluloid and everything. We had the Ogundes. We had the Baba Salas, including Ade Afolayan, Kunle’s father. We had all of them. We had Dr. Ola Balogun who is still around. And so many other big names. Most of them are gone now.
“Even when home video was just starting, it was an experiment carried out by the likes of Muhideen Alade Aromire. May his soul continue to rest in peace. We were all acting out this drama, and then they brought out a camcorder and said, ‘Okay, let’s record.’
“And they were placing them in bookstores. You know how these televangelists sell their cassettes at bookstores. As a book shop owner would, when people walked into your shops to buy books, you would introduce the cassettes to them.”
Solade criticised the claim that ‘Living in Bondage’ (1992) marked the advent of Nigerian home videos.
“So it all started like that. But my people in the Yoruba setting did not document anything. That was why the other side just said, ‘we started it’. ‘No, shut up, you did not’. ‘Living in Bondage’ was not the first movie. But because they romanced the media while my people were doing the (art),” he said.
“Agreed that most of them were not schooled, and they did not even pay attention to the media. They were just doing their art for arts sake. They were enjoying themselves.
“Adebayo Salami is alive. That is Femi Adebayo’s father. He would tell a deeper story than I am telling you. He is older than me. Jide Kosoko is alive. We all work together.”
While acknowledging Edochie’s age (78), Solade insisted he is the “industry senior”.
He revealed that he began acting at 17 during the 1977 Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in Lagos, where he was hailed as “Nigeria’s youngest actor”.
“And then, it’s only in the Yoruba setting that you find practitioners who would tell you they have been around 60 years. Iya Rainbow is like 84. She is still going on set. I am a senior to Pete Edochie. I started acting before him. He is older than me,” he said.
“Yes. I was 17 in 1977 when I represented Nigeria at FESTAC ’77 as the youngest actor. And I have done 48 years, and I am still standing.”
In 2023, Pete Edochie revealed his acting debut was in the 1985 adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s best-selling novel ‘Things Fall Apart’.
