Thread: Things Fall Apart and I - Pete Edochie

“Things Fall Apart and I” - Pete Edochie, a popular Nigerian actor and a foremost broadcaster
By Chukwu Eke

As the world celebrate the 50th year of Things Fall Apart, a book that has become one of the best things that ever came out from Africa, one man whose name remains central to the celebration is surprisingly not Chinua Achebe, author of the epic novel, but Pete Edochie, a retired broadcaster and famed actor. Edochie, it was who transformed Okonkwo, the man whose story Things Fall Apart tells, from a mere concept to a human being when he played the role Okonkwo in the film adaptation of. Things Fall Apart. The Source visited Edochie recently in his Independence Layout, Enugu home, and the Ebubedike, as he is fondly called, expressed his legendary anger at what he called the “concerted effort by the Lagos press to blacklist him in the celebration.” Severally described as The Actor in Nollywood, Edochie told The Source his role in making the epic film successful, as well as his Nollywood story. Excerpts.

The whole world is celebrating this year the 50th birthday of Things Fall Apart. The book is about the rise and fall of Okonkwo, a character you interpreted in a drama and received world acclaim. How do you feel being chosen to be a part of that great creation?
Thank you every much. I feel celebrated. I feel glad that it pleased the Almighty God to pick me to interpret that role. I am encouraged; I am honoured by the fact that Chinua Achebe himself said “Pete Edochie gave Okonkwo the best interpretation ever." Before he said that, the production had been done by a couple of people. I remember one which featured Elizabeth of Toro. They never made any impression until the NTA manager then decided, when Walter Ofonagoro was the Minister of Information, that we should put this thing on celluloid, and some how I was picked to play the role of Okonkwo. Until then, I hadn’t even read the book.

But you see, after interpreting it, by the grace of God, it became the biggest thing that was done here, and the book began to sell much more than previously. It went all over the world. I was phoned from China; I was phoned from Japan of all places, and a lot of reviews were written on me from universities in Nigeria and much more from London, England, where I trained as a broadcaster in the BBC. Let me say that it launched me on a professional career, which is why, perhaps, I gain some measure of success today as an actor.

Apart from the reviews, the phone calls of recommendation, especially from outside Nigeria, has any organisation or government in Nigeria recognised you for doing such a big thing for Nigerian culture?
That is a good question, and I just hope I can hold my temper as I answer it. We are celebrating 50 years of Things Fall Apart. I have been reading a lot of materials in the newspapers, meetings are being held, parties are organised. And I just said to myself, 'Pete, how could Nigeria be run by charlatans, crooks, literary crooks? 'You see, even Joseph Gobbels who was Hitler’s Information Minister was celebrated for his ability to propagate propaganda. But you see, there is something about propaganda, you find out facts before you distort them, embellish them, so that they can sell. They acquire some allure. That is the essence of propaganda. You are talking about Things Fall Apart, in the name of God, at the risk of sounding immodest, you mention Chinua Achebe as the author, the next name that comes to mind is Pete Edochie. And there is nothing anybody can do about it, no matter the degree of literary conspiracy. All you have to do is to invite this man. If you walk around the entire country, Pete Edochie is known as Okonkwo, Ebubedike, and that name will follow me to the grave. Even Chinua himself calls me Ebubedike. He created that character. Chinua was interviewed by the BBC on his birthday. The BBC flew down to Nigeria to interview me for Chinua’s birthday, because of the prominent role I played in Things Fall Apart. Both Pete Edochie and Chinua Achebe were placed on BBC's split screen. That is the apex of my professional accomplishment. BBC came here to interview me. No Nigerian actor has ever attracted that kind of encomium, right? And for this kind of thing to happen, it’s an epoch, it’s historical. But you are doing something on Achebe’s Things Fall Apart in Nigeria and nobody mentioned Pete Edochie.

Let me step aside. There is somebody called Adiele Onyedibia who produced that film. There is somebody called David Orere, who directed that film. I never read the names of these people in the papers I saw. Now, who are these people who comprised the various organisations or the various literary groups who are writing these publications. I tell you the truth, to rape facts that way, to inflict such a swindle on Nigerians... I regretted being born a Nigerian. And I say it again, if after winning laurels as Nigeria’s best actor, Africa’s best actor, being inducted into the Hall of Fame, being given national honour by the president, even (former) President Olusegun Obasanjo himself requested that I get him a copy of Things Fall Apart. On the day he was giving me my nationals honour, then Chinua Achebe and Things Fall Apart were coming up for honours and some characters are creating illusion, amplifying those illusions to give them character. It doesn’t make sense. You see, we are geting no- where in this country if we continue with this kind of thing. If a man achieves something, for God’s sake give it to him. It took the world to recognise Wole Soyinka and give him the Nobel Prize before Nigeria even gave him national award. What sense does that make? Why can’t we celebrate our own? Why?

I have been invited to different parts of the world, but because I don’t fly, I just sit back here. My friends and colleagues do. I read newspapers. Most of these newspapers that are based in Lagos and Abuja do their utmost to see if they can clip whatever potentials I have and build others. It’s not possible. If you are bigger than your colleagues, bigger than they are in size and accomplishment and nobody can change it because God has made it so. I am happy that all the honours I have got till date I never canvassed for them. And let me challenge you: go to anywhere in the world and mention Nollywood in Nigeria. The first name that comes up is Pete Edochie. Anywhere. Begin with Ghana, go to South Africa, go to Zambia, go to Zimbabwe; get outside Africa, right? I am not going there to ask them to do this, a lot of reviews have been written on me, all of them immensely flattering, to say the least. They are writing from their own perspective what they have noticed. Why can’t I enjoy that kind of encomium in Nigeria? What have I done wrong?

I am not deficient, any way. I am not small in stature. I am six feet tall; I am accomplished; in terms of elocution I don’t think you can find me wanting; in terms of eloquence, I am a compulsive speaker; then when we go to interpretational I am a master there. If you see all these and you are doing something on Chinua Achebe, whose creation gave life to Pete Edochie, dramatically, and you skip him, who are you gingering? Let me know. Who are you putting together? If you tell people you are celebrating Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, they will all expect to see me. Even in Achebe’s home town, Ogidi, people went there for the celebration and went away when they did not see me. You see, we should make our children proud of us. Let us think of the coming generation. Being mean or being conspiratorially endeavouring relentlessly to distort history, it discredits a generation.
And that is what is happening to us. But a fact is a fact: It’s indestructible. And when a fact becomes indestructible, it becomes an institution. You can only make reference to an institution. Hack writers now live long. If a man is entitled to something, give it to him.

I tell you, in 1973 we were there in Lagos when we formed the Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria to cover the first All Africa Games, Ishola Folorunsho may he rest in peace, was teaching us the art of commentary. I was there, Ishola was there. Yinka Craig, Ernest Okonkwo, so many of us, and Yinka said: You must endeavour to know a little about a lot, a lot about a little. It took my mind back to the first maxim I learnt when I was learning journalism. When we went to take commentaries, each time every contingent of various countries was passing, we had something to say of their prominent athletes. Thirty years after, the same thing was replicated in Abuja, not one commentator had anything to say of historical significance. That is a shame. It is unfortunate. By the grace of God we are still alive. We shall all go. Nothing prevents the country from inviting us to donate expertise. Nigeria has people. And I happen to be one of them.

Yes, you were trainer in broadcasting, a profession in which you excelled and became a household name. Then at a time you came into limelight in the make -believe world of acting and have also achieved fame on it. People would want to know how you came to bestride the two worlds like a colossus. Which one came first to you?
Thank you very much. This a very good and sweet question. When I was in elementary school my father always promised us that if any of us topped his class in exams, he would take us to go and watch films. I had brain then, to tell you the truth. So each time I came first in class my father would carry me on his bicycle to go and watch film. Then my interest in films grew. So much that when I was in secondary school I would steal out to go and watch films. For which I was punished many times. I didn’t know that it was the interest in me that was unconsciously developing. So when I left scchool and I joined my father in the Railways, the storms was beginning to gather. I decided first to do a course in journalism. I was indeed interested in it. I applied to the school and a course was being sent to me. At the end of the day, going by the testimonial I got, I was the best student. I was invited to do an Advanced course in journalism, which I did and returned to the East here. I applied to become a broadcaster, while I was still working in the Railways in Northern Nigeria, and I was lucky I got interviewed and I joined broadcasting. When I got into broadcasting, one of the first persons I met and interacted with was my good friend, Sony Okosuns. He always talked of me. He saw me two or three weeks before he died. I met many other people, who had been interested in me, because I sang, I danced; I was tall and slim, and I patterned my life after actors. I enjoyed Dick Martins as a musician and actor. I enjoyed John Wayne, Robert Michorb, Gregory Beck, Chalton Feston and a host of others. All these guys are dead now. I had tried to copy them whenever I was on my own. And because I read a lot of Shakespeare, it enabled me develop a lot of interpretative ability. By the way I have read a lot and I have some English Language in my head. So I have never had problem with language and interpreting, vast reading has also helped me to apply my own expressions. So it is not surprising to me that I have made an impression as an actor while I was in broadcasting and after I left. If we are looking at it in choronological sequence, I will say well, I became a journalist first, then a broadcaster and then an actor.

You were chosen to play the role of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart amid older theatre practitioners, including those in the academia. Could you tell us what you think could have informed the producer’s choice of you.
I feel very much elated being asked this question, and I tell you why. I was privileged to work with John Ekwere and Ralph Okpara all late, as a broadcaster. And by the time I was chosen by Engineer Ugwu to play the role of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart, these people, including Professor Kalu Uka of the Department of Dramatic Art, University of Calabar, had not been contacted. After I had been chosen by Engineer Ugwu, then head of NTA zone C or was it zone E based in Benin, the producer, Adiele Onyedibia, told me he was going to contact John Ekwere, Ralph Okpara and Professor Kalu Uka, and I said go on. He met Kalu Uka, and the first question Kalu asked him was: who is playing Okonkwo? Adiele told him it was Pete Edochie. Kalu told him he had gotten the right man for the job, that he would play if Pete was playing Okonkwo. Ekwere and Ralph reacted the same way when he told them I was going to play the lead role. They told him: 'if Pete is going to play Okonkwo, then we will join the crew.' Then Adiele came back to me and said: “These are very old actors, very old broadcasters. How come as young as you are, they are all excited to play beside you? I said only God knows. You have known those people for a long time, now you are hearing about me. Let us see what will happen. And when now went to do the production, he knew why all those people say if Pete is playing Okonkwo, put me. A lot of people were drawn from the university, people like Professor Ola Oni from the University of Lagos was in the lightening. Dan Elindase from the University of Calabar and Professor Kalu Uka. A lot of other people came eventually that I can’t remember all their names but at the end of the day, it was an immensely successful production. But credit should go to Adiele Onyedibia and David Orere. These are the men that have something to say about Things Fall Apart on celluloid, not those rascals in Lagos who only try to reap where they never sowed. Chinua wrote Things Fall Apart in 1958, then I was only 11-years-old. Okonkwo was 38 years in the book and that was the age I was when I played that role. So when you go and interview Adiele Onyedibia and David Orere, you know how we put our heads together to make it successful. Some of us are dead now, but those who are still alive should be involved in this celebration.

David Orere was interviewed by Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Review and he talked of the difficulties the crew encountered because of difficult terrain of the locations. You were Okonkwo and were everywhere. Can you tell us about your problems?
It was a very daring venture. Extremely daring. Where we shot the first scene, I hope I remember the place now, I think it was Oraifite. We had to go into a very big valley in the night. Let me say that God excise that valley for us. Even the villagers said they never knew people could get into that place in the day, let alone in the night. But we did and there was no incident. I mean it was a successful outing. And that was the first major thing we did. We were almost shooting till dawn in several locations, parts of Nsukka, parts of Enugu here, Edodo and the rest of them. The locations were scattered, but we were all Africans, you know. We were able to cope. There was nothing unusual. When we were doing this thing we were all managers in grade level 14. Onyedibia was at 14; I was at 14; Orere was at 14 and most others. And these were the people responsible for the success of the film.
At every stage of the film, we did sit down and plan the next scene. I am an Igbo man and my home town is very close to Achebe’s Ogidi. So I did bring ideas which, atimes, the others, especially the non–Igbos among us, would not see as I saw them. But we always resolved it. Besdies, Adiele Onyedibia, the producer saw Okonkwo as a concept, not as a human being. This was what led to the success of the film.

Can you throw more light on that?
Yes. If you watch the film very well you will see that all the Igbo cultural groups –Delta, Rivers and others are represented. The result is that the synthesis of Igbo culture were projected. And Okonkwo as an individual represents an ideology . Okonkwo was resisting an incursion into the sacrosauctity fo those cultures by the white man, so that rather than stay alive and witness the rape of his own culture, he elected– in honour– to take his own life. That is all about the story of Things Fall Apart. That was how we approached it and that was why it succeeded.

So to you Okonkwo is a hero, not a villain?
Yes, he represents the glory of the true born Igbo, who will rather die than live and be humiliated. Aspects of our culture which are now bastardised in home movies were amply represented in that production. When Okonkwo was spiritually invigorated, he came out to go to war, he did not touch his mother, he did not touch his wives. He called his son and asked him to look after the house. It’s a very important aspect of our culture. Most of what we did in that production was to bring out the care aspect of our culture, that we should not compromise. Today, all sorts of rubbish are being dished out in the name of drama. If you see Adiele, ask him and he will tell you how hard we worked to ensure that we did not contaminate our culture.

Some literary critics do not agree with you on the heroic garb you put on Okonkwo. They say he is a coward, even in Igbo cultural context, for taking his life?
No one, I am happy I was invited to play Okonkwo; two, what I played was– and still is–my culture. May be that was why it was immensely successful. I come from Nteje. In our place we value on honour a lot. If somebody insults you and messes up your honour, you are encouraged by your family member to go and kill that person or take your own life, as a mark of honour. People criticise from the pedestal of ignorance. And when you amplify ignorance to assume cultural proportion you affect the social fabric, which is a tragedy. That is all I can say in this case. Okonkwo is a hero, epitomising Igbo greatness and courage. If you come down to the East, I am not talking of Lagos where anything goes for money, some Igbo people still represent what OKonkwo stands for – honour– that is why they are not in politics, because they can’t afford to speak with forked tongues. They don’t believe in prevarication, they want to tell you the truth as it is. They prefer to die of hunger, instead of reducing their essence. That is our culture which Nigeria is fast loosing and which is why we are where we are today.

You have been severally described as the Ogbuefi of Nollywood by home video critics. In the inner circle of Nollywood, are you given such recognition? Does it come in the form of remuneration or in any other from?
Let me put it this way, there isn’t any harmonious understanding between the producers and the actors. The producers and the marketers who sponsor the productions don’t see us a partners. We never had any forum where we meet to discuss the challenges posed but the developments in the industry. Like now there is this running battle between the censors board, under Emeka Mba and the marketers. Some of them were arrested, some were released. Maybe if we had a forum we would have prevented that. You see what I mean. And again, there is the tendency for some actors to drag others down. But we are not operating at the same level. Talent differs. When people say I am head and shoulder above others in the industry, that is their own assessment. On my own part I am doing my best and my best seems to be appreciated. The first time the Censors Board organised an award, I was chosen as Nigeria's best. An international body based in South Africa had elected me as African’s best. Then progressively I was inducted into the Hall of Fame and it was followed by national award given to me by former President Obasanjo, which photograph you can see there. I don’t think any honour can be higher than those. Member of the order of the Nigeria (MON) is a very big honour, though there is no “ey” attached to it. But having excelled as a broadcaster, broadcasting administrator and actor, one would have been invited to be a member of the board of an organisation so that I can contribute.

But the last thing I am going to do is to go and be cavorting round the presidency so that they give me appointment as a board member. I will never do that. If you recognised me for what I represent, help me to deploy what I have for the benefit of the country. I will not canvass for it. That is one of my weaknesses.

The Source