Veteran Yoruba actor Lere Paimo has challenged claims about the origins of Nollywood, arguing that the Yoruba travelling theatre tradition predates the English-language film productions often associated with the early Nigerian film industry.
Paimo, 86, made the assertion during a YouTube interview with actor Kunle Afod, where he discussed his decades-long career and the development of indigenous theatre and cinema in Nigeria.
The veteran actor said he began acting in 1958, four years before actor Pete Edochie has said he started his own acting career in 1962, when he was 15.
The debate followed comments by Edochie challenging his colleagues to establish whether anyone began acting before him. Edochie had cited his appearance in a 1962 production of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice as part of his account of his early acting career.
Paimo, however, offered a different perspective, arguing that the history of Nigerian theatre and film should not be viewed solely through the emergence of English-language productions.
“I started acting in 1958. I met Hubert Ogunde, who was senior to me and others, and there were big movies produced back then,” he said.
Paimo traced what he described as the foundation of the indigenous Nigerian film tradition to the Yoruba travelling theatre movement, particularly the work of the late theatre pioneer Hubert Ogunde.
According to him, Ogunde’s activities in the 1940s predated the development of the English-language film industry as it is commonly understood today.
“I heard from history that when he (Hubert Ogunde) started in the ’40s, there was nobody before him, and we never heard from history that the English industry, or any movie done in the English language, started before him.
“Since we didn’t hear or read that in any history books or documentation, I believe the Yoruba industry started first.
“There was nothing like English-speaking movie production then; Ogunde started by producing movies in the Yoruba language, which he used to educate everyone who watched those movies back then. We never heard about English-speaking movies until now, when, with civilisation, we started hearing and seeing that there are English-speaking movies,” he said.
Paimo also acknowledged that there were other theatre practitioners whose activities could potentially predate Ogunde's, but said he could not independently establish their place in the chronology.
“I don’t know if Baba Olumegbon started before Ogunde, but all I know is that Ogunde was the person I knew who started acting first. Although I have been hearing about him for a long time, I can’t say he was senior to Ogunde,” Paimo said.
The veteran actor’s own career spans several decades. He began with the Oyin Adejobi Theatre Group before joining the Duro Ladipo Theatre Group, where he became known for his portrayal of Chief Basa in Obamoro.
He subsequently established himself as one of the prominent figures in Yoruba-language cinema, gaining widespread recognition for his portrayal of Soun Ogunola in Ogbori Elemosho.
Paimo’s comments have added another perspective to the longstanding discussion over the origins of Nollywood, particularly the distinction between Nigeria’s indigenous travelling theatre traditions and the later development of the country’s modern film industry.