One of Nollywood’s most successful actors, Pete Edochie has spoken about why he cannot be a politician.
Popular and multiple award-winning actor, Pete Edochie, was in
Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, recently, for a Nollywood event. He spoke on
how he inspired his son, Yul, into becoming a Nollywood superstar and on
why he can’t be a politician, among other issues. Enjoy it.
How would you describe the Nollywood industry?
Nollywood is doing very well. But, you see, we require the goodwill and
support of the government to expand the dimensions of our operations. In
overseas countries, the government helps the people to project them
through films. We are victimized in the country by religious conflicts;
if it is the same God that created all of us, we should be able to do
introspection and harmonize our differences and get ourselves together.
It is only when the government shows commitment in financial terms that
we can do something like that.
If you go to a place like Dubai, the United Arab Emirate is a
predominantly Muslim Emirate. But Dubai has become the economic capital
of the world today, because they exposed themselves and the West moved
in investments, but in our own case, we seem to be closing the country
up. It doesn’t help for development; that is what I am saying. You see,
at the risk of sounding immodest, I am very easily, the most celebrated
name in the movie industry, internationally, nationally, name it,
because by the time I did Things Fall Apart, there was nothing like
Nollywood. The book written by Chinua Achebe has been translated into 53
languages. So, the film we shot has been undergoing translations in
many languages, Chinese, Japanese, name them, and each time they see my
face, they recognize me.
Most times, I have been invited to some of those places but I am afraid
of flying; I would abandon them. Today, I have reached a position to
advise the government on the nature of films we should be shooting. I
did a film with Genevieve Nnaji called Obiagu; it has been taken out of
the country. Netflix bought it; Netflix had never bought any film from
Nigeria, but I must say that Genevieve invested a lot of money in that
production. All the cameramen were from Europe. And if you look at the
people who starred in the production, nobody could be described as small
or a child. I am the Obiagu; I am the main man. Then you have K.O.K,
Zebrudaya and others; the truth is that there is no beginner there. You
can see it in the film. The interpretation was fantastic. Who was my
wife? Onyeka Onwenu. So, it worked. If the government shows commitment
you can expand the movie industry to accommodate every segment of the
society. It is the kind of obligation we owe the society. But government
should be part of it or it remains a commercial venture by individuals
whose interest alone is to make the money. I have gone beyond the stage
in my life where all I think about is to make money? No. I am known
everywhere today. I cannot do anything that is bad because I can be
easily identified.
Your son, Yul, has joined you in Nollywood and he is doing very well. Did you actually prepare him for the industry?
That is a very good question. I am not quite sure I played any major
role in his blend of professionalism. Okay, let’s put it this way,
perhaps I inspired him to do a course in Theatre Arts at UNIPORT. I
didn’t force him; he chose it. And he majored in Directing. But I told
him ‘boy, listen, I am your father and I am old in this business, being a
Director will not explore your innate potentials to the full. You have a
very good voice, you are a brilliant young man, and you are
good-looking, why don’t you go in front of the camera instead of going
behind it?’ He did, and he still thanks me till tomorrow. Let’s put it
that way, but as a rule, I don’t make choice for my children, whatever
it is that you want to be; it’s all right by me. Whenever they want to
get married, bring the girl to the house, ‘Daddy, I want to marry this
girl’, I say ‘go on’. That is the kind of role I play.
Most people only know you as an actor; can you tell us the real Pete Edochie beyond the screen?
I was a broadcaster for 31 years. I trained professionally as a
broadcaster with the BBC. Well, if I say I had a distinguished
professional career as a broadcaster probably I might be sounding
immodest, but that is the truth. I retired as a Director, and in the
history of the establishment, I was the youngest man to get to that
level. So, by the time I retired, I was still under 60 years, and I had
been a Director for 11 years. There was nothing bigger than that except
you are waiting for political appointment. So, I was received with open
arms by the movie industry. I answered a question there in the studio,
and I was praised. Most of the people in the movie industry today,
especially our young girls, the moment you do a write-up on them and
praise them, it will get into their heads and they will start
misbehaving. By March 7, 2020, I will be 73 years, and I am still
learning. The moment you stop learning, then no way for you, but if you
keep learning, good for you. I have a very big library, both for books
and music. I am in love with classic music. I think I can say with every
authority that I have more classical music than any individual in this
country. It is very expensive but that is my area of interest. Anybody
travelling overseas asking ‘what will I get for you?’ I’ll tell such
person to get me classical music. So, if I am not reading, then I am
listening to classical music. I don’t go out any longer. When I was much
younger, the spirit of adventure was pushing me around, but today, no.
Many Nollywood actors are known for moving around corridors of
power looking for political appointments, you seem not to be interested
in all that; why?
I don’t like politics. Number one, the kind of temperament that I have, I
can’t succeed as a politician. Why? I can’t lie to you. When we were in
the elementary school, we were told that when 11 birds are perched on
an electric pole, if you shoot one, the rest would fly away. In
politics, they will tell that you ‘shoot one, the rest would remain’. I
can’t be a politician, I just can’t be. You know, it will be difficult
for me to lie to anybody. And my father told me never to lie, no matter
the situation. And I have many sons, so, I have to raise them like that.
I can’t lie.
What do you recommend towards the preservation of Igbo culture?
That is part of the reason I said I want to see Governor Umahi. I will
tell you why and with that we just wrap it up. We, as people from the
South East, few considerations in politics tend to divide us a great
deal. But because Pete Edochie represents culture, I want to use culture
to get our people all together. Permit me to talk in Igbo at this
point. Soso anyinwa bu ndi Igbo n’awa oji. Soso anyinwa bu ndi Igbo n’
ago oji; onwero ndi ozo na eme ya. (Only the Igbo break kolanut and
revere it the way we do). So, if we get all the Igbo together and choose
a date every year for our new yam festival, both nationally and
internationally, it will be fantastic because most of our brothers in
America have been told that they were sold by our forefathers. When they
come back, we shall tell them the true story. Remember, it is the white
men that came here and took them away by force. We did not sit down and
conspire to sell them. They came by force, without invitation and took
them away. It is our responsibility to now tell them the truth. And if
we do that experiment and it works, then every year, all of them from
America and all over the world will come down here and we spread them
over the Eastern states – Ebonyi, Anambra, Imo, Enugu and Abia, they
will go round and some of them will be given chieftaincy titles and they
will wear our isiagu clothes, and they will begin to see things
differently. That is what I want to discuss with the governor.
You’ve just finished inspecting projects executed by Governor David Umahi, what is your impression of them?
Magnificent! I don’t know where to borrow words to qualify the
magnificence of what he is doing in Ebonyi State. I asked a question:
have other governors visited this place? There is a reason why I asked
that question. You know, for a man to be executing projects of this
dimension and be able to honour his commitment to civil servants at the
end of each month, it is an incredible achievement. It is incredible. I
come to Ebonyi State regularly; at least I started coming to Ebonyi
State during the administration of Dr. Sam Egwu, then from Egwu to
Elechi. I have not seen Umahi, I mean face to face, but you see, each
time we sit down to discuss in Enugu where I stay, and you mention
Ebonyi, the impression you get, I mean the spontaneity of the complement
you get is what actually engage your attention. It’s not that anybody
has been given money to say the same thing; it is because they have come
here and seen things themselves. Ebonyi is now a reference point in
quality projects and by the time he finishes his second term, whoever
that takes over from him will just relax (laughs). It is impressive and
quite incredible. When I was coming to Abakaliki, the Ogoja Road was not
like this. I am tempted to ask, ‘does Umahi print his own money? How
can you be doing these projects and still be paying workers?’ Then I
realised that he is a pastor, so, he can husband resources very well.
Source: Sun News
Dear sir Pete edochi I appreciate you for all of your words, you’re a good man?