Veteran Nollywood Actor Says He Entered Nollywood Before Pete Edochie

When veteran actor Bob Manuel Udokwu recently suggested that his Nollywood journey began before Pete Edochie’s, social media lit up. The comment, taken out of context in a viral clip, instantly provoked debate. How could anyone say their career predates the man widely regarded as a founding father of the Nigerian screen? The answer, it turns out, lies in how we define Nollywood itself.

Bob-Manuel has never hidden his respect for Pete Edochie. He openly calls him a mentor and an elder. His clarification is that he is not older in age, nor does he dispute Edochie’s legendary status. What he meant is that his entry into what people now call “modern Nollywood” happened before Pete Edochie became part of that same movement. In other words, he acted in the video-movie era and television dramas that marked the industry’s shift into a new phase before Edochie officially joined it.

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Understanding this requires a little history. Pete Edochie became a household name through his unforgettable role as Okonkwo in the 1980s television adaptation of *Things Fall Apart*. At that time, Nigeria had no unified film industry known as “Nollywood.” The term only gained currency after the release of *Living in Bondage* in the early 1990s and the explosion of home-video productions. By then, Bob-Manuel Udokwu was already appearing in major TV dramas such as *Checkmate* and had landed roles in some of the earliest home-video releases. From his perspective, his feet were in Nollywood from the start of that era.

Pete Edochie’s career spans theatre, radio, television and film, making him a pioneer of a broader entertainment tradition. Bob-Manuel’s career began in a younger generation’s context—the rise of the home-video market—but still before many of the actors now called Nollywood veterans joined the fray. His remark, then, isn’t about dismissing Edochie’s seniority. It’s about timelines and definitions: who was active in the home-video boom that birthed the modern industry, and when.

The public reaction highlights how deeply Nigerians cherish their screen icons. To many, Pete Edochie is Nollywood’s patriarch, and any suggestion otherwise feels like sacrilege. Yet Bob-Manuel’s point invites a richer conversation about the industry’s roots. Did Nollywood start with television adaptations of literary classics, with stage plays, or with low-budget videos sold in Alaba Market? Each origin story leads to a different set of “firsts.”

Both men are towering figures. Pete Edochie’s commanding roles established a benchmark for gravitas and cultural authenticity. Bob-Manuel Udokwu helped define the relatable leading man of the 1990s video era, appearing in countless titles that shaped Nollywood’s middle years. One embodies the bridge from theatre and early TV; the other, the rise of mass-market films.

In the end, the headline controversy says less about rivalry than about memory. Nollywood is still young enough that its birth is debated, and its legends are still living. Bob-Manuel Udokwu’s comment underscores that history is more complex than a single name or date—and that there is space in that history for multiple pioneers, including Pete Edochie and himself.