Pete Edochie: Taking up new role for Rev. Tansi

By By Fred Iwenjora on April 11, 2014 ·

Veteran journalist, broadcaster and actor, Chief Pete Uwadiegwu Edochie, needs no introduction because most Nollywood films have him play lead roles.
TS Weekend caught up with the thespian, who clocked 67 on March 7 and he opened up on his childhood, family, broadcasting, his role as Okonkwo in the film ‘Things Fall Apart’, and his new found evangelism promoting the canonization of world acclaimed Rev. Father Iwene Tansi by the Catholic church with his new film, ‘Avenge Me Iwene My Son’ – a true story of Father Tansi.
Sit back, relax and enjoy it.

What has life taught you at 67?
Life has taught me a lot. First of all, that you must love your fellow man as you love yourself. Try to lend a willing ear to people when they complain, see if you could be of assistance to them. Tolerance goes a long way. If we consider that the same God created all of us, we are bound to assist one another whenever there is need for it.
Life has taught me not to take people for granted, not to presuppose a lot of things. I have learnt a lot from life. Personally, I don’t permit myself to experience something before appreciating that this is what it ought to be. So, I would say that life has taught me a lot and I am happy about it.

Can you recall memories of your childhood?
My childhood days were quite exciting in the North of Nigeria where I was raised. We were mischievous urchins. We would go to the Hausa man’s farm and raid for sugar cane and they would pursue us and we would jump into the river and they would wait for us to come out of the waters and be beaten up. In Zaria where I was raised, we would go to the European quarters to steal mangos and get chased by the European residents. We would also play football with our Hausa brothers and fight at the end of the match only to reschedule the match and still fight after the match. We always say ‘Igbo this way, Hausa this way’. They’ll come to look for us again and we’ll go out again to play. I have very fond memories of the north especially as it concerns the kinds of things we ate. We had Sire, Suya, Balangwu, raka dada, tuwo shinkafa, and dawaki. Then we drank fura de nunu, kindiri mo, and kolajoro etc. When I think of what’s happening in the north nowadays, it makes me sad. I keep asking myself ‘why politics and politicians led us to this’. I am just praying that this country does not disintegrate.

You were at the then famous St. John’s in Kaduna…?
It was a formative stage of my life. I have always yearned to be a journalist, broadcaster, actor and singer. I have done all these. I did not make it by being a singer. I was singing with my late friend, Enebeli Elebuwa who was my age mate. We always discussed the music we had listened to, the novels we had read, the films we had watched, we always entertained our colleagues wherever we sat together.
Enebeli lived with me in my father’s house in Zaria while both of us were working with the Railways. I was almost killed because of Enebeli. I went out to look for him when we were being attacked in the north. Please let’s leave that chapter for now.

You already scratched the surface… why not continue?
We were being attacked in churches. They saw it as reprisal over the coup of January 15. It later led to the coup that killed (Agunyi) Ironsi. We left Zaria because we were not wanted there. We were being hounded like rats, hunted and killed like rats. There was no point staying on. It was the reason we all ran down to the east. For me, it was the first time I was actually going home. Then the war came and I stopped over in Enugu because I was working at the Railways then. My father had caused me to join the Railways.
He had retired much sooner than later. It was a ritual in those days that if your father worked in Railways or indeed anywhere, you had to take off from there. When I came down from the northern Nigeria, I had just one trouser and a shirt that I ran away with. It was 1966. I was 19.

At what point did you join broadcasting and journalism?
Before leaving for the eastern Nigeria during the pogrom, I had responded to an advertisement, which called for the filling of the position of Programme Assistant III in the Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation. I applied and was invited. The letter of invitation had gone to the north but rerouted to Nigerian Railways, Enugu. I was serving at the accounts department of the corporation then.
My boss didn’t know that my real names were Peter Edochie. He saw everyone calling me Elvis Presley. It was one day that my father had come to take his pensions that he told him that ‘this is my son, Peter Edochie’ and I greeted him. After my father had gone, he lifted up the memo pad on his table, brought out the letter and said ‘does this mean anything to you?’ When I opened the letter, I wept. The date had expired. I ran to the place and begged them to grant me an audience, maybe give me an interview. They did and I got into broadcasting. That was on February  15, 1967.

Why did you weep?
I wept because this is what I have always wanted to do and the opportunity came but something just wanted to spoil it for me. My love for the radio started quite early in my life. My father had a bush radio, which was permanently tuned to BBC. I developed some passion for broadcasting and I kept telling the Almighty God that I would love to work in a broadcasting house, do journalism, and get involved in acting or music, In those days, I was reproducing all songs by Elvis Presley, was dancing like him and cutting my hair like him. All the people who knew me in my youth, even to this day, called me Presley. Till today, former military governor of Anambra State, Col. Robert Akonobi still calls me Presley. He knew me many years earlier in Enugu; his wife is my wife’s classmate.
After I was interviewed and employed, I ended up spending 31 years in broadcasting, retiring as a director. I also set up and was pioneer director of what many consider the first FM radio station south east of Nigeria, Sunrise 96, Enugu.
Once a broadcaster always a broadcaster. I was in love with broadcasting and when I left, I was readily absorbed by the movie industry. Since I had done ‘Things Fall Apart’ which made an impression, it was not difficult to be accepted by the industry. I joined the industry. I guess I did not disappoint the expectation of the people.

You once told me that you recite the rosary every day, to whom do you owe your being unrepentantly Catholic?
I owe my late father a depth of gratitude for being a Catholic and giving me a Catholic upbringing. I don’t fight for my God, my God fights for me. Even if I find it difficult, we still forgive people but do we forget? Yet in the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to forgive us our trespasses. Being a Catholic is a big blessing to me.
Each time I step into the church and I see the Reverend father, I remember one of our Lord’s ministries while he was on earth. Our Lord is the priest of the order of Melchizedec like every other Reverend father we have today

Was that why you made a film of Rev. Father Tansi and traveling across Nigeria to show it?
Let’ s say more or less. I went to Holy Family Catholic Church, FESTAC Town about 12 to 13 years ago. I was warmly welcome into that church by Rev. Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, current Bishop of Sokoto Diocese. After that, I went home and prayed to God for seeing me through the carnage in the Northern Nigeria during the pogrom and also the Biafra war.
I drove my car by a trailer and I survived. Now I was being welcome into the house of God. I told God I didn’t know why He always pulled me out of harm’s way and challenging situations. I said ‘I would like to express my gratitude to you oh God for what you have been doing for me. If you found me worthy of working in your vineyard, then give me an assignment’. I did not know when I said that prayer. I didn’t know it would be in the form of the assignment I am doing now for the church. A couple of years after this silent prayer, I got inspired to get involved in this assignment, to do a film on blessed Tansi.
I strongly believe that the lot fell on me to do this film because I never met Father Tansi when he was alive. The only contact I had was when his remains were being brought to Enugu and I went to welcome Father Nwosu who was carrying the remains of Father Tansi in his vehicle at the 9^th Mile corner, Ngwo, Enugu. When I wanted to shake his hands, Father Nwosu declined; he wouldn’t shake me. He told me that he was not happy that somebody like me was in the movie industry and there is nothing credible on Blessed Tansi.
Then I went into the van bearing the casket and placed both hands on it in surrender and swore that I was going to make people know who Tansi really was. When I came out of the van, Father Nwosu shook my hands firmly. That day, my assignment to do a film on Father Tansi began, though many others had done what were not acceptable. I made my research and was stunned with what I found out about him. That my father schooled with him, his mother came from my hometown, and that he baptized my wife as a child. I did not even know that circumstances surrounding me reflected Tansi all the way. I did a script on him and sent it to Rome, to Cardinal Arinze to be precise; he read it and wrote a letter saying if I could do a film as good as this script, then the job is done. I did the film and sent a copy to Rome; Cardinal Arinze watched it in company of (Pope) John Paul II and agreed that that is the story. Progressively, the Catholic Bishops Conference in Nigeria authorized me to take the film round the whole country along with other articles of devotion. This is my 10th year in the evangelism campaign, which is gathering much more momentum.

Did you see other films about Tansi… why do you think you got the Catholic Church endorsement?
First of all, the other producers may not have had the materials I had and still have. Their fathers never schooled with Tansi; Tansi never baptized their wives, Tansi’s mother never came from their place. There is a difference between doing something as part of history and doing something on the periphery of history, which depends on what you were told. If I am asked to discuss what compelled my migration from the north of Nigeria, I can tell the stories very vividly because I saw them happen – from what happened on January 15, 1966. This would be different from someone who read from a book. In my life as a journalist, I found out that nothing could be quite as authentic as a report by an eyewitness. That the church rejected the other Tansi productions is not surprising. Theirs don’t have the profundity that mine has. They couldn’t have been as detailed in their research as I was.
Can you talk more on the film?
The title of the film is ‘Avenge Me Iwene My Son’; it’s the true story of Father Tansi. I am executive producer of the film while Prince James Uche produced. Andy Amanechi directed it while Ejike Metuh played a leading role in it.
We shot in Enugu State in locations such as Akpugo, Ngwo, Abakpa Nke, and Ebe. We went to Aguleri and captured the burial ground of all the Catholic priests who came to Aguleri in the late 1880s… but in the process of editing, most of the shots were found not to contribute anything for further enhancement of the story and they were put away. But the production of the movie caused us to make several pilgrimages to Aguleri, the place of birth of Father Iwene Tansi.

Who are the cast and crew of the film?
I have a very good friend of mine who is ill now, Prince James Uche, who was mandated to do the production. I invested in the collection of the materials, provided the funds, chose some of the characters and he put his mind to it. So, I executively produced the movie because I funded it, but we all put our hearts and heads into it and it had become a huge success.

What’s the cost of production like?
Production of the movie cost a lot of money. The church has been magnanimous, people have approved it, and people have complimented me for a job well done. The church has granted me access to all the congregations of the Catholic Church in Nigeria to promote the canonisation of Father Tansi, who came from our own part of the world. A lot of people who never knew anything about the revered Reverend father called Iwene Tansi marvel when I tell his story. When I talk to them in the church, they proceed to buy the film and all the other articles of devotion. Many have experienced and reported nine individual miracles. Many now know that what we are doing is serious. A miracle was recorded at the beatification of Father Tansi. We need more miracles to catalyze his canonization.

People have reported how the articles of devotion like the key holder and stickers had protected them from fatal accidents, healed them of illnesses and protected them from evil spirits. What do you have to say about this?
Let me share the story with you. A young man stole a telephone handset at Blessed Tansi Parish in Aba, Abia State. Some children and other people saw him steal the phone but he swore that he didn’t do it. He swore that if he ever stole the phone he would die in seven days. He died on the sixth day with the phone lying by his side. The Reverend father told us the story before I addressed the congregation.
It has been a labour of love for me actually. I have several church visitations to do in Lagos and have toured Nigeria. I just talk about the film and reasons we did it and why people should watch it and report their miracles because that is the requirement for his canonization. We encourage the children to watch because there may be other Tansis among them, you never can tell. The film is not in the regular market because we are not doing business; we are only evangelizing, ploughing back what we get. It is to spread the message of awareness about the man Father Tansi whom I trust must be in heaven right now.

With this huge assignment in your hands, how does this affect your continuous participation in Nollywood?
I have not been very much in demand these days, may be because they now understand my assignment. I did about six films before the end of last year. I also did several films in the last year. When new scripts come, I tell the producers of the primary assignment I have to do for the Catholic Church and explain the kind of time that is on my hands. Some have worked and others have not. Again, some people have been calling from Ghana for a production. But I have weighed it that it might interfere with my assignment for the church. I have also been invited out of the country but I reject such offers basically because I do not know what I wish to achieve again, aside from the fact that I do not fly. I hate to fly in aeroplanes; I like to travel by road alone. I have a big phobia for flying.
I flew last in 1980 when I was in my 30s, when I went to BBC for a course. Not now that I am in my 60s. I will be 70 in the next few years if the good Lord says so. Let younger people do that please.

Do you mean to say that in the course of promoting the canonization of Father Tansi and you are invited to Rome, you won’t honour the invitation or would you travel by road?   
I recall what one of my favourite teachers would say when we asked him hypothetical questions; he would say ‘when we get to the bridge we’ll cross it’ so let’s get to the bridge first.

Your last major assignment as a broadcaster was setting up and running the first FM radio station in the south east of Nigeria, how did you get the job?
The job was advertised. Most people who were listening to us then at Anambra State Broadcasting Service felt that this was a job for Pete Edochie and it became so. We ran the best FM radio station at that time in the country. Commendation came from both within and abroad. Allan Silverman of the VOA came to Enugu and commended our FM station. He said it on air that one of the best FM stations in Africa is tucked somewhere away in the hills of Enugu. Another top official from the German Embassy also spoke in high terms of Sunrise 96.1. He continued to send me classical music collections from then. It was good running that station when I did. It offered challenges to whatever you called your creative talents. Yet we did our best. We really thank God.

Which areas did you work in broadcasting?
In broadcasting, I was in presentation, music, in charge of sports and outside broadcasting (OB). You cannot be involved with outside broadcasting if you don’t command some form of spontaneity; in terms of your command of language, your ability to paint graphic images with words for your radio listeners, I think that’s an area where God blessed me.
I am gifted to be able to make a few sentences that can convince people on the spot. I didn’t have to trouble myself so much to be able to tell people that something is happening and where it is happening. So because of that I am privileged to interview politicians and other great personalities. I remember Nigeria’s first President, Rt. Hon. Nnamdi Azikiwe was particularly fond of me and I will always cherish his interviews. He said he enjoyed my command of language and the authority with which I presented my programmes. I also interviewed a couple of governors including Emeka Omeruah, Jim Nwobodo and a host of others. Interviewing these politicians seemed to entice me into politics. But it never did because I have never liked politics and I don’t think anything would persuade me to join the politicians. It is not for me.

What do you consider as the high and low points in those 31 years you spent in broadcasting?
We joined the labour movement and always fought for our rights. I don’t really think I had low points. I was consistently progressive while some of my contemporaries were not. Before retirement, I had been a director for 11 years. There was little possibility of going beyond that. Outside that designation every other thing was political. I had doubled as acting MD, and held the two positions but I later quit and don’t regret it. I have not regretted and I can’t and I won’t, and it is good.
However, in less than two years of joining the movie industry, I had been paid more than I ever received in all my 31 years as a broadcaster. I have enjoyed every bit of it especially the early years of the movie industry. I have also won all awards. Best actor here and there, inducted into the Movie Makers Hall of Fame, received national honours, and recently, the viewers decided that I was their best in AMVCA. I am grateful to God. I did not attend the event because the invitation came late.

What could have inspired your love for classical music as demonstrated in your popular classical music programme on radio?
I do love classical music and still do. I have more collection of classical music than most radio stations in Nigeria. I say it without any fear of contradiction but in all modesty, yet with authority. A few stations have invited me to come and revive the programme but it is in the past now. Tansi is the present, oh yes; it’s Tansi now, nothing else. I want to be part of those who contributed to his canonization by the Catholic Church.

Many find it very difficult to believe you got married at the age of 22. Did any one compel you into marriage at that age?
It was expedient for me to marry when I did. While the civil war raged I did not want it to look as if I got involved with a girl purely for sexual subjugation. I wanted to define our relationship so that if I made it through the war, we would remain as husband and wife. She is my contemporary at work by the way. That Pete Edochie ran into this girl; messed her up and ran away, I didn’t want such. Much so, we were both serious Catholics. I said ‘common, why don’t we get married, what am we waiting for?’ And we got married and our first child, Leo came in 1970 as the war ended. Today, I have 10 grand children. By the grace of God, there would be more. No regrets at all, none whatsoever. I think I have the marriage record in the movie industry. It is incontestably so. Marriage has its ups and downs but with perseverance, you succeed. You have to work things out. If you convince yourself that there is no better person outside, then it works. If you feel you can get more excitement outside, then your marriage collapses.
How do you juggle your very busy work routine?
I had had all my children. Six sons, lost one, all the other five are graduated. The last is the man you see in almost all the films, Yul; he is my last son. My first son, Leo is 44 this year, others are Adam, Linc, Gene and Yul. I got married on time, finished making my kids on time, and I had them when I still had the strength. And I thank God that I never borrowed a kobo from the bank to train those children. And I thank God for everything. In answer to you question, I would say I manage.

You seem to name your children after some popular actors and personalities; did films play any role in this?
Yes, I named some of my children after actors. This is to show you the kind of love I had for entertainment. I named Yul, my last son, after Yul Bryner who played big role in the film, ‘The King and I’. I named Gene after the famous actor, Gene Hackman. My first son, Leo I named after a character in the film, ‘She Who Must Be Obeyed’. My second son, Adam, I wanted to know what the first man did and how he did. My only daughter is named Eva.

How did you get the role of Okonkwo in NTA’s ‘Things Fall Apart’?
People had come to audition for the role from everywhere in Nigeria. Some people had come from Lagos and the auditorium of the University of Nigeria, Enugu campus, was jammed with actors. Dr. (Mrs.) Lindersay, who was part of the audition, was a lecturer at University of Calabar. Check out the actors: Ihria Enakhimio, Emma Edokpayi and other top actors who came from Lagos. The moment I walked in, the white woman said ‘hey, if this guy could act, that’s the man we want’. Then I read a few lines of the script and bowed out, and they said ‘this thing is for you’, and they went away as the audition was over.

How challenging was the role? 
I saw it as a big challenge, the Okonkwo lines. I had been doing Shakespeare’s plays on stage – ‘Merchant of Venice;, ‘Julius Ceaser’, and ‘Macbeth’, etc. We did plenty at St. Johns, Kaduna where I went to school. Later, we graduated to doing it on radio and television with the late James Iroha. We did ‘Sons and Daughters’, ‘Every Man’ and a host of others. When this Okonkwo role came, I said well, this is a huge challenge for me, I must give it my best, and l did my best and it worked.

Chinua Achebe said ‘Pete Edochie gave the film the interpretation after my heart’. What does that mean to you?
He too was addressing me as Ebubedike before he died. Most of the reviews I got were complimentary. Practically all those who reviewed the film from the universities and academia were all saying that the man who played Okonkwo was fantastic. It also won the Prized Pieces Award. I must say it was my launching pad.

What was your first Nollywood film?
The first film I did in Nollywood was ‘Closed Chapter’ which I did with Kate Henshaw. Another was ‘Nightmare’ which I did with Onyeka Onwenu and Ngozi Ezeonu. Then I was invited for ‘Stolen Crown’. These were the three films I did in 1998 after I quit broadcasting. They were very favourably received and the following year, I was doing films on the average of four a month, for quite some time. I was still in service when I featured in ‘Ikuku’.