By Abiola Olawale
Veteran Nollywood actor Pete Edochie has reiterated his profound admiration for the late nationalist and former Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, naming him his favourite Nigerian politician of all time.
Edochie, a 79-year-old actor, made this known during an interview on Curiosity Made Me Ask, a show hosted by content creator Adebayo Abidemi, popularly known as Isbae U, published on Saturday.
During the interview, he explained that while stating he was not involved in politics, he admired Awolowo for setting clear targets and explaining how he intended to fund and execute his plans.
“First of all, I love the Yorubas a lot. One of my sons is married to a Yoruba girl; I didn’t tell you that, so you’re my in-law. I’m not into politics, no. But if you ask me who is or was my favorite politician, I will tell you Awolowo.”
Explaining his choice, Edochie said Awolowo was different from other politicians because he outlined what he intended to achieve and how he planned to fund it.
“You people were not born when Awolowo was in active politics. But Awolowo will tell you, ‘I’m going to build this thing. It will costa certain amount, and this is where I’m going to get it.’ There has been no politician to achieve that, no. Outside Awolowo, then M.I. Okpara in the East.”
Edochie said Awolowo introduced several initiatives in Nigeria, including television and free primary education.
“Which is why Awolowo introduced a lot of things in Nigeria that were not there previously. Awolowo brought television into Nigeria.”
He recalled the establishment of the Western Nigeria Television service in 1959, describing it as the first television station in Africa.
“He did. Then you would hear, ‘This is WNBC, first in Africa,’ under Awolowo. That was in 1959. Then in 1960, we in the East established our own television, and we were saying, ‘This is ENBC, second to none.’ We were second to the West, but we didn’t want to accept it, so we were saying second to none. Awolowo introduced it.”
The actor also praised Awolowo’s free primary education programme in the Western Region, saying it benefited people regardless of where they came from.
“Awolowo introduced free primary education. And he surprised everybody who was born then in the West. No matter where you came from, you benefited from it, you know?”
Edochie said he regretted that Awolowo never became president of Nigeria.
“So, on a couple of occasions, when I tell people that this man was my favorite, regrettably, he never became the president of the country, right? But he wasn’t somebody who would invest so much energy promising.”
