Nigerian actor, Pete Edochie, who is considered one of Africa’s most talented actors, by both Movie Awards and Movie Magic’s Africa Magic Cable network, speaks with Nigerian Tribune 's Joan Omionawele on death rumours, Awolowo, Chris Okotie, Nollywood and More. Surprised an Igbo man talked good about Awolowo, because most Igbos on social networking sites always insult the man like mad. Read excerpt below.
On death rumours: If you know me and my character make-up, I don’t bother very much about what people say about me; I have my life to live. From my philosophical persuasion, I am a Fabian, and I believe that the end must justify the means. That does not mean that you must give everything to get something, but if you make up your mind, make sure you are not obsessed with getting to step on the toes of people. It’s a question of conviction and resistance. So, I wasn’t bothered.
On withdrawing from movie because he was kidnapped years back: I did not. I decided to pursue an undying vision, an assignment I was given by the church, and I gave priority treatment to that. I still act but that’s when I have the time. I am in Lagos today, and by the time a role comes, I will be in Aba. I did six movie productions last year.
On if he still think about it: No, though once in a while you recall an experience that is haunting; but what can we do when we are in a country with little or no security?
On what he has to say as a Catholic, on Pastor Chris Okotie words that all Catholics would go to hell because they don’t believe in Jesus, and that the Pope is an anti-Christ: He is entitled to his opinion. He has a right to say whatever he likes and he is using that right. Constitutionally, he is entitled to it. Stupidity is what we all have in common as human beings, but some people insist that improving it is their entitlement. So, you expect Pete Edochie and other Catholics to be angry? No, I won’t.
I knew Chris some years back; he was fond of me when he was still in school. When I was still a broadcaster, a Hausa man presented him with a car and he came and showed it to me. He is someone I have always liked and he is entitled to his views.
When people condemn T. B. Joshua and say he is using devilish powers, I tell them, ‘Go and use devilish powers and do what he is doing too.’ I don’t believe in running people down because you can’t reach their gifts and depriving others of their hard-earned credit.
On the political situation of the country: Look at people crossing from one party to the other. It just shows that our democracy has no meaning. The people you owe your obligation to are those who elected you, who make up your constituency. Before you make any decision or defect, consult them. It is rather unfortunate. Before we gravitate to 2015, by the time they want to pick a presidential candidate, that is where the problem will come from. Let’s watch. God forbid! Will any of my children become politicians? Let God forbid it now that I am still alive.
On what if one of them comes up and says he wants to become a politician: Except he is not my child. I will discourage him. I remember an occasion that a politician was on the television and I was sitting with another politician, and the one on TV was screaming, ‘If I get the people who stole this money, I will not only sack them; I will prosecute them,’ and the politician by my side said ‘Nonsense! He took the money; I was there.’
On if he asked he was given some share of the money: No, I knew him very well. Both of them are dead now. People were suspended and when power changed hands, those who were suspended were brought back because of that money. So, Pete Edochie will never be a politician.
You see, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was my ideal politician. If he said I would do this project with a million, he would tell you where the million would come from. He was an incredible person. Awolowo introduced and innovated a lot of programmes in this country. He introduced free education first.
If you were not born then, you would not know, Today, we don’t have politicians with conviction. We only have people who hobnob with the public truncheon of the society to milk us dry. Awolowo would go to universities to campaign and get people to do meaningful researches for him and provide him with necessary materials. But we are not doing anything again. They found oil money and got drunk with it. Haven’t we had enough?
On Nollywood being on the right track: Nollywood is incredible and is recording giant strides. Today, most of our actors, particularly the women like Stephanie Okereke, Omotola, Genevieve, Stella Demasus, Uche Jombo are involved in trans-Atlantic collaborative productions with our counterparts. They are making us proud. At one time or the other, they all played my daughters, and when I look at them, I feel some sense of satisfaction. I feel very happy. These girls are pushing our name and they are making the country proud. The men are doing their utmost, but I think in terms of international engagements, the women are doing much more than the men. Sometimes, the productions we do these days get too lengthy and boring. There is one that has been on my TV for over six hours and is still on.
But we have been doing very well. Many young actors now are making an impression. Unfortunately, I lost some of my colleagues over the last couple of years. I lost my friends, Ashley Nwosu, Sam Loco, Enebeli Elebuwa who grew up with me in the same room in my father’s house in Zaria. I lost Justus Esiri, who was with me in Things Fall Apart. I lost David Essien, who was my senior in broadcasting; and I lost Peter Eneh. I lost a lot of my colleagues and they belonged to the 60-70 age bracket. Death seems to be coming so fast, so I said, “God, permit me to hang on and represent these people now that they are all gone.” And He said, “Okay, go on.” So I’m here.
On projects that can be incorporated into Nollywood to make it better: If our people are serious about the 100 years centenary celebration, do a movie and invite people from the West, East, North and South. I don’t believe in this North-West, South-West region division. Let us do a movie on areas of discord within our collective existence; something we did to negate our values as a people. Do a production that will smoothen out the rough edges, and get all these regions together. There is no part of the Quran that says a Muslim cannot marry a Christian. No, but because the people are not allowed to acquire education, as a tabula rasa (blank slate) you can manipulate them. It becomes a must-buy from every Nigerian.
The least I can do is make suggestions. I have advised movie makers and told them let’s do something that will talk about us from 1914-2014. Look at our political evolution. We have had leaders who are trail blazers – people like (Nnamdi) Azikiwe, Sardauna, Awolowo, Okotie-Eboh. These were the Nigerians who gave us this country. Do things on their lives; let us capture the values that they employed. Maybe I am too Utopian in my thoughts.
On being against Olu Jacobs acting as Igwe in Nollywood movies: First of all, I didn’t say that. The people who direct those movies with Olu are not fair to him because they are not grounded in the culture; therefore they make him do the wrong things. People just want to destroy my friendship with Olu Jacobs. I never said that a Yoruba man should not play Igwe.
The last time I saw Olu in Asaba, I got down from the car and we hugged and tears came to our eyes and Olu said to me, ‘Pete, our colleagues are going.’ This was after Esiri died. Even as I am saying this now, it affects me. Olu has been my friend for God-knows-how-many-years. I was born and raised in the North. Olu had some orientation in Kano; he speaks Hausa. There are jokes that are peculiar only to two of us. The press sometimes likes to sensationalise what makes little or no sense. Sometimes they even argue about Pete Edochie earning more than Olu. These people are crazy. The people who direct most of the cultural films that feature Olu are not competent to direct him. Olu is an accomplished actor.
What the director tells you is what you do. Number one, in our own culture, you don’t hold the horse whip like they do in Yoruba land. Yoruba people hold it at the head while we Igbos hold it at the middle because we use that head for shaking hands. When Olu plays Igwe, they don’t tell him that, so he holds it like a Yoruba man – which is wrong. Number two, if you are addressing your cabinet, you do not stand up and talk to them. As the Igwe, you sit down on the throne. Go and watch me play the Igwe; I am in perfect control. People don’t shout or haggle when I play the Igwe.
Number three, you do not leave the palace to go out and consult the native doctor as the Igwe. No; the native doctor is one of your subjects; you summon him to the palace to do his divination. These youngsters who direct Olu don’t know these things. So, when people watch these things, they come to me and say how can you be there and this man is killing our culture, and I tell them that it is not his fault. It is the fault of those who are directing him and they don’t know these things. Please, I want you to emphasise this because someone also told me he read it on the Internet that I said Yoruba men shouldn’t play Igwe. Why are we acting? I went to the North where I played Emir in a production. Olu speaks Hausa and he also did a production where he played a Hausa man. This is why we are actors for God’s sake. To credit me with that kind of statement is being unfair to me and my status. They want to knock heads so we will be at daggers drawn when we’ve been friends for over how many years. That’s nonsense.
On if he asked he was given some share of the money: No, I knew him very well. Both of them are dead now. People were suspended and when power changed hands, those who were suspended were brought back because of that money. So, Pete Edochie will never be a politician.
You see, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was my ideal politician. If he said I would do this project with a million, he would tell you where the million would come from. He was an incredible person. Awolowo introduced and innovated a lot of programmes in this country. He introduced free education first.
If you were not born then, you would not know, Today, we don’t have politicians with conviction. We only have people who hobnob with the public truncheon of the society to milk us dry. Awolowo would go to universities to campaign and get people to do meaningful researches for him and provide him with necessary materials. But we are not doing anything again. They found oil money and got drunk with it. Haven’t we had enough?
On Nollywood being on the right track: Nollywood is incredible and is recording giant strides. Today, most of our actors, particularly the women like Stephanie Okereke, Omotola, Genevieve, Stella Demasus, Uche Jombo are involved in trans-Atlantic collaborative productions with our counterparts. They are making us proud. At one time or the other, they all played my daughters, and when I look at them, I feel some sense of satisfaction. I feel very happy. These girls are pushing our name and they are making the country proud. The men are doing their utmost, but I think in terms of international engagements, the women are doing much more than the men. Sometimes, the productions we do these days get too lengthy and boring. There is one that has been on my TV for over six hours and is still on.
But we have been doing very well. Many young actors now are making an impression. Unfortunately, I lost some of my colleagues over the last couple of years. I lost my friends, Ashley Nwosu, Sam Loco, Enebeli Elebuwa who grew up with me in the same room in my father’s house in Zaria. I lost Justus Esiri, who was with me in Things Fall Apart. I lost David Essien, who was my senior in broadcasting; and I lost Peter Eneh. I lost a lot of my colleagues and they belonged to the 60-70 age bracket. Death seems to be coming so fast, so I said, “God, permit me to hang on and represent these people now that they are all gone.” And He said, “Okay, go on.” So I’m here.
On projects that can be incorporated into Nollywood to make it better: If our people are serious about the 100 years centenary celebration, do a movie and invite people from the West, East, North and South. I don’t believe in this North-West, South-West region division. Let us do a movie on areas of discord within our collective existence; something we did to negate our values as a people. Do a production that will smoothen out the rough edges, and get all these regions together. There is no part of the Quran that says a Muslim cannot marry a Christian. No, but because the people are not allowed to acquire education, as a tabula rasa (blank slate) you can manipulate them. It becomes a must-buy from every Nigerian.
The least I can do is make suggestions. I have advised movie makers and told them let’s do something that will talk about us from 1914-2014. Look at our political evolution. We have had leaders who are trail blazers – people like (Nnamdi) Azikiwe, Sardauna, Awolowo, Okotie-Eboh. These were the Nigerians who gave us this country. Do things on their lives; let us capture the values that they employed. Maybe I am too Utopian in my thoughts.
On being against Olu Jacobs acting as Igwe in Nollywood movies: First of all, I didn’t say that. The people who direct those movies with Olu are not fair to him because they are not grounded in the culture; therefore they make him do the wrong things. People just want to destroy my friendship with Olu Jacobs. I never said that a Yoruba man should not play Igwe.
The last time I saw Olu in Asaba, I got down from the car and we hugged and tears came to our eyes and Olu said to me, ‘Pete, our colleagues are going.’ This was after Esiri died. Even as I am saying this now, it affects me. Olu has been my friend for God-knows-how-many-years. I was born and raised in the North. Olu had some orientation in Kano; he speaks Hausa. There are jokes that are peculiar only to two of us. The press sometimes likes to sensationalise what makes little or no sense. Sometimes they even argue about Pete Edochie earning more than Olu. These people are crazy. The people who direct most of the cultural films that feature Olu are not competent to direct him. Olu is an accomplished actor.
What the director tells you is what you do. Number one, in our own culture, you don’t hold the horse whip like they do in Yoruba land. Yoruba people hold it at the head while we Igbos hold it at the middle because we use that head for shaking hands. When Olu plays Igwe, they don’t tell him that, so he holds it like a Yoruba man – which is wrong. Number two, if you are addressing your cabinet, you do not stand up and talk to them. As the Igwe, you sit down on the throne. Go and watch me play the Igwe; I am in perfect control. People don’t shout or haggle when I play the Igwe.
Number three, you do not leave the palace to go out and consult the native doctor as the Igwe. No; the native doctor is one of your subjects; you summon him to the palace to do his divination. These youngsters who direct Olu don’t know these things. So, when people watch these things, they come to me and say how can you be there and this man is killing our culture, and I tell them that it is not his fault. It is the fault of those who are directing him and they don’t know these things. Please, I want you to emphasise this because someone also told me he read it on the Internet that I said Yoruba men shouldn’t play Igwe. Why are we acting? I went to the North where I played Emir in a production. Olu speaks Hausa and he also did a production where he played a Hausa man. This is why we are actors for God’s sake. To credit me with that kind of statement is being unfair to me and my status. They want to knock heads so we will be at daggers drawn when we’ve been friends for over how many years. That’s nonsense.
source: alabamau2
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