Veteran actor, Pete Edochie has said the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo remains his favourite Nigerian politician, pointing to free education and a habit of saying how plans would be paid for.

The 79-year-old made the remark on the interview show Curiosity Made Me Ask. He said he is not in politics. Asked for a favourite, he chose Awolowo, then mentioned Michael Okpara in the East as the only other name in that class.

Edochie said Awolowo would announce a project, name the cost and name the source of the money. He praised the Western Region’s free primary education and said children benefited regardless of where their families came from. He also said he likes Yoruba people a great deal and noted that one of his sons is married to a Yoruba woman.

The clip is an actor’s memory of a politician who died in 1987, not a manifesto. Awolowo still divides Nigeria: for admirers he is the planner who built schools and a civil service; for critics he is a regional champion whose national bid never landed. Edochie is picking the first of those pictures.

In the same conversation he declined to name a favourite actor, saying he does not put himself in the same league as his colleagues. The politics answer was warmer. The film answer was Pete being Pete.