Chinedu Ikedieze

Chinedu pursued his primary and secondary education in Aba, Abia State. After completing his secondary education he pursued a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Theatre Arts and a degree in Mass communication from the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu (IMT).[5][6] After completing his studies at IMT, he initially wanted to become a lawyer but pursued his career in film acting in 1998 and initially featured in small roles.[7] He first acted in a minor role in the 1998 film Evil Men. He enrolled in prestigious New York Film Academy in 2004.[8]

Chemistry with Osita Iheme

Aki and Paw Paw

He entered Nollywood industry in 2000 and rose to prominence in 2002 film Aki na Ukwa where he played the breakthrough role of Aki alongside another dwarf actor Osita Iheme.[9] The duo were popularly called as "Aki Paw Paw" since the release of the film and they featured together in several films in the lead roles. Both Chinedu and Osita has been maintaining onscreen and offscreen chemistry which is widely praised by the Nollywood fraternity.[10][11]

In 2007, Ikedieze received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the African Movie Academy Awards.[12] He was also honoured with the Order of the Federal Republic which was given by the then Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan for his immense contributions to Nollywood and to the economic growth of the country.[13]

His performance alongside fellow little person actor Osita Iheme in the 2002 film Aki na Ukwa is still widely spoken of and the duo especially Osita's character has been trending through memes since 2019 in Twitter and other social media platforms globally. Osita is listed as one of the richest actors in Nigeria.[14][15][16] [17]

• The Johnsons as Efetobore Johnson

• Chinedu Ikedieze at IMDb