THE
Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) which took place last week honoured
over 29 African entertainers during included veteran actor, Pete Edochie, who was
honoured with the Industry Merit Awards and was presented with a Hyundai car to
go with the award.
In a telephone interview with Tribune, the celebrated actor said on the award “It required MultiChoice/DStv to give me that recognition, good, you know, it’s a good thing for DSTV to do. By the time I did Things Fall Apart, there was nothing like Nollywood. Things Fall Apart was shot seven years before Nollywood came into existence and yet, during the Centenary Awards, I was left out. I really don’t mind, but anything that belongs to you will eventually come to you. I was told that when my name was called on Saturday, the entire place went on uproar; and this really humbles me. So, all those other little conspiracies don’t bother me. Whatever you will be in your life, you must be.”
On
why he was not present at the event, Pete Edochie said, “I am doing something
for the church and I can’t give it up for anything – not even a million
carats.”
Asked
if he had received the car, he said “I think my son will collect it this week.
He ought to have collected it on Tuesday, but I heard it rained heavily in
Lagos. I thank God for the recognition. I am grateful to all the viewers who
voted and said ‘this man is entitled to this; let’s give it to him. There are a
lot of things that are supposed to come to me, but eventually get twisted in
Lagos. I have heard all the stories and I don’t mind them. I thank God for everything.”
Other
actors also lent their voices to congratulate him.
Mercy
Johnson Okojie
While
congratulating the actor on the recognition, A-list actress, Mercy
Johnson-Okojie told Saturday Tribune “He is a wonderful father figure as he has
acted as my father countless times. He is a fantastic actor, and as we know ‘as
the wine gets older, it tastes better’. I cannot but celebrate him.
Ibinabo
Fiberesima
Also
congratulating him on the merit award, President of the Actors Guild of
Nigeria, Ibinabo Fiberesima, on a telephone interview with Saturday Tribune
said, “He even deserves a centenary award. He had done us proud in the past and
is still doing us proud; and I know he will continue to do us proud in the
future. He totally deserves the merit award.”
Victor
Olaotan
Lead
actor in MNet series, Tinsel, Victor Olaotan, said, “I congratulate him on the
honour well deserved. He started when none of this glamour existed. I wish him
all the best and also longer years on earth.
Mercy
Aigbe Gentry
In
her own congratulatory remarks to the actor, Nollywood actress, Mercy Aigbe
Gentry, who also won the Best Indigenous Actress award, said, “Those are people
who actually paved way for people like us; they suffered for us. When they
started, they built Nollywood from scratch. There was no money; in fact, there
was nothing. It was just the passion they had for it that kept them going. They
actually suffered for us, no doubt.
He
is a Nollywood trailblazer and icon, and it’s a good thing for him to be recognised
and I think Africa Magic did a fantastic job recognising and honouring him. It
was just their (Africa Magic) own little way of saying thank you for the
contribution to Nollywood. I am very happy for him, and I pray that God will
continue to bless him and strengthen him.
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