Veteran Nollywood actor, Yemi Solade, has opened up about a long-standing clash with his former church, revealing how a dispute over Sunday film roles pushed him away from organised religion.
The 64-year-old thespian made the revelation during a recent episode of the ‘Honest Bunch’ podcast, recalling a 2013 incident that, according to him, marked the turning point in his church attendance.
Solade explained that a church leader had instructed him to reject movie offers that would make him act on Sundays, insisting the day must be dedicated strictly to worship.
He described the directive as unrealistic for someone in the entertainment industry and said it interfered with his livelihood.
“I’d been told in the church that I should tell producers not to call me for work on Sundays. And I cursed the pastor,” Solade recounted.
“From that thing you said I shouldn’t do on Sunday is what I put my hand in my pocket and drop in church. So when will I have time to work? You want to ruin my career?”
The actor argued that his withdrawal from church activities has given him greater peace, challenging the widespread belief that regular attendance was central to spiritual well-being.
“Rather, I have peace. I do well. Because every day of my life, when I was going to church, I got disturbances,” he said.
Solade also criticised the culture of sacrificing personal resources to sustain religious institutions, narrating how an elderly technician once diverted part of the money he (Solade) gave him for repairs to church donations.
“That blessing is mine now. It’s my money you went to drop there,” he quipped.
Beyond religion, the actor weighed in on Nollywood’s origin, challenging the widespread view that the industry began with the 1992 Igbo hit ‘Living in Bondage’.
According to him, home video production and television dramas were thriving in the 1980s. “The first movie you call home video was actually produced around 1988 by Ade Ajiboye, Big Abbas. ‘Shosho Meji’ came before ‘Living in Bondage’,” he asserted, adding that classics like ‘Things Fall Apart’ were aired on television in the mid-80s.
Solade further argued that while the South-East has made significant contributions to Nollywood, it was late in adopting theatre arts as a formal academic discipline compared to other regions.
“When I was a student in Ife, we had the Nigerian University Theatres Festival. Only six universities participated then, and none was in the East,” Solade recalled.
