Veteran Nollywood actor Yemi Solade has stirred reactions online after claiming he began his acting career before renowned screen icon Pete Edochie.
In a video circulating on social media, Solade asserted that although Edochie may be older in age, he (Solade) has more years of professional acting experience under his belt.
“I’m a senior to Pete Edochie, though he is older than me. But I started acting before him,” he said.
Solade revealed that his journey into acting began in 1977 at the age of 17, when he was named Nigeria’s youngest actor at the time. According to him, this year marks 48 years of his continued involvement in the film industry.
He went further to challenge popular narratives around the origins of Nollywood, arguing that the Yoruba film sector had already built a foundation long before the rise of what is widely referred to today as Nollywood.
“The Yoruba people didn’t document their work, and that’s why others were able to come and claim they started the industry,” he stated.
He criticized the notion that Nollywood began with other regional sectors, attributing their dominance to stronger media visibility rather than historical accuracy.
“They claimed to have started Nollywood because they romance media, and the Yoruba section was just acting without documentation,” Solade noted.
The actor also highlighted the efforts of early Yoruba filmmakers and credited Ade Ajiboye, popularly known as Big Abass, as the first Nigerian to produce a home video.
Yemi Solade’s comments have since reignited discussions about the true beginnings of Nollywood and the often overlooked legacy of Yoruba cinema pioneers.
