“Pete Edochie No Go Gree”: Kanayo, Patience Ozokwo, Others Spark Debate on Nollywood’s True Origins
- A viral video of Kanayo O. Kanayo, Patience Ozokwo, and others reignited debate about when Nigeria's film industry truly began
- The veteran actors, currently in Ghana, drew a sharp distinction between early celluloid cinema and the home-video boom associated with modern Nollywood
- Kanayo's claim that he entered the industry before Pete Edochie added fresh fuel to an ongoing argument the film legend had sparked weeks earlier
PAY ATTENTION: Mark Legit.ng as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
A viral video of four Nollywood veterans has thrown open a debate that many Nigerians thought was settled: when exactly did the country's film industry begin?
Kanayo O. Kanayo, Patience Ozokwo, Charles Awurum and Stephen Alajemba, who are currently in Ghana, feature in the widely shared clip that has been circulating on X. The actors argued that conversations about Nollywood's origins must account for the work of Hubert Ogunde, who produced cinema films long before the landmark 1992 home-video production Living in Bondage came along.
Source: Instagram
At the heart of their argument is a distinction that often gets lost in popular conversation: traditional celluloid films screened in theatres represent an entirely different tradition from the VHS and CD home-video format that exploded in the early 1990s and brought Nigerian storytelling into everyday households, particularly in the southeast.
Kanayo's claim about Pete Edochie
Kanayo O. Kanayo went further than most in the clip, asserting that he entered the industry before Pete Edochie and that Living in Bondage marked only the beginning of the home-video era, not the industry as a whole.
The remarks come weeks after Pete Edochie made bold claims of his own on the "Curiosity Made Me Ask" podcast, where he declared that he began acting at age 15, well before Nollywood existed as a recognisable industry.
Source: Instagram
Edochie pointed to his celebrated role in the television adaptation of Things Fall Apart as evidence, and stated that no actor in Nollywood is senior to him in the profession.
The video of Nollywood veterans discussing seniority in Ghana is below:
Netizens weigh in on Nigeria's cinema history
The video sparked a wider conversation on Twitter, with users adding layers of historical context to the debate. Several pointed out that southwestern Nigeria had a thriving cinema culture decades before the home-video boom, with names such as Ola Balogun, Ade Afolayan and Eddie Ugbomah among the pioneers of Nigerian celluloid filmmaking.
Read the comments below:
@CHULLY1010:
"Pete Edochie no go gree"
@PhilReind:
"Cinema Movie making in order of seniority in Nigeria. Ola Balogun - Alpha 1972, Ade Afolayan Adelove - 1976, Eddie Ugbomah - Rise & Fall of Oyenusi - 1977, Hubert Ogunde - Aye 1980. Moses Olaiya- Orun Mooru 1982. Ola Balogun directed all the movies above except Oyenusi movie."
@APheleaz:
"Ogunde na baba for acting"
@Adedoyin____:
"Who will settle this fight bayi🤣🤣🤣 Yemi Sholade too will say he's the first…"
@CurrentlyJ66707:
"Abeg make them leave pete alone ooo"
@AshShakurO_:
"So Kanayo even started before Pete Edochie😩 And baba come dey gaslight him followers😀"
Patience Ozokwo shares why she missed Olu Jacobs' burial
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Patience Ozokwo made headlines as she mourned the late Olu Jacobs.
The veteran actress also revealed the heartfelt reason behind her absence from the late actor's funeral service in Lagos.
Ozokwo's statement further evoked emotions as many penned tributes to the late Olu Jacobs.
Source: Legit.ng
