Why Awolowo remains my favourite politician — Pete Edochie

Veteran Nollywood actor Pete Edochie has named the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as his favourite Nigerian politician, praising the former Western Region premier for his vision and developmental initiatives.

Edochie made the remarks during an interview with Isbae U on the Curiosity Made Me Ask podcast, where he also spoke about his admiration for the Yoruba people and reflected on his long acting career.

“I love the Yorubas a lot, one of my sons is married to a Yoruba girl,” the veteran actor said.

Although he said he was not interested in politics, Edochie singled out Awolowo as the politician he admired most.

“I am not into politics, but if you asked me who is my favourite politician, I will tell you it is Awolowo. There is a reason for it,” he said.

According to Edochie, Awolowo stood out because of his ability to clearly explain his plans, including how he intended to fund them.

“Awolowo will tell you, ‘I am going to build this thing, it will cost this amount, and this is where I will get it.’ There have been no politician to achieve that,” he said.

Edochie credited Awolowo with introducing several initiatives that were previously unavailable in Nigeria, including television and free primary education.

“Awolowo introduced so many things in Nigeria that were not there previously. He brought television to Nigeria in 1959, and we in the East started using TV in 1960. He also introduced free primary education,” he said.

The actor expressed regret that Awolowo never became president of Nigeria.

“Regrettably, he never became president,” Pete Edochie added.

The veteran actor also used the interview to highlight his long career in the performing arts, stressing that he began acting decades before the Nigerian movie industry became known as Nollywood.

“I started acting before Nollywood was created in 1992. I first appeared in The Merchant of Venice in 1962 at the age of 15,” Edochie said.

He further claimed that his acting career had reached an international audience, pointing to an instance where foreigners travelled to Nigeria specifically to interview him.

“I’m the only person who has done a film that made white people fly in to Nigeria just to interview me. Nobody has achieved that,” he said.