Describing Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, 74-year-old star of popular soap opera, Tinsel, could be an enormous task because she is a woman of many parts. She is a cosmetologist, businesswoman, broadcaster and teacher, among other vocations. With just a production done in the UK in the 1960s, she became famous even when she was not prepared for fame. The popular actress also found love at a time she was not really ready for it, but like her acting career, marriage only helped her to glow! Lycett’s acting career is still blooming even as a grandmother, with busy schedules in Nigeria as well as the UK. No wonder she insists that life has just begun at 74! The recipient on Nigeria and UK national awards spoke with PAUL UKPABIO about her joy as a grandmother, her trials as a widow and the fond memories that keep her strong.
‘Secrets of my staying power’
So, when will you retire from acting?
Retirement does not come into the picture. To retire from what I am doing now is to retire from life. One should never retire from what one loves to do. And that is the secret. You should do what you love to do and enjoy it so that you will not need to retire. That is because at that point, you cannot retire from it because it is your life. If you are doing something that you do not like, you will always be thinking of running away from it. Then it is a chore, in which case you will retire from it. But even those who do that, when they retire, you notice that within a few years, they are dead, because whatever you are working on and working at means you have committed your life to it. And when you say you are retiring, it is like shutting the door on your own life.
How do you perceive your kind of work?
It is not work, it is living, and it is breathing. See I am nearly 75 and I am still sprite, I’m still moving around and working like anybody else. From there, you can see what is meant by the saying that age is a number.
What is the secret of your staying power?
I believe that it is being committed to what one is doing. Loving what you do and being committed to it means that you give it everything that it needs for you to function. For instance, I am in a job where I am very visible. I am constantly talking to people on stage. So how do I keep it going? I have to continuously work on my skills. After acquiring the skills, I have to keep nurturing them. If it is my voice, then I have to keep working on it constantly, because if it is in deepening the voice or doing all sorts of things with the voice, then one has to learn those things, learn breathing, which I do, by also learning aerobics and yoga. More or less, you are constantly learning and polishing up yourself. For the physical, I do breathing lessons, I do yoga and I dance too. I love dancing.
What kind of music do you love?
I am crazy about jazz. I went to bed last night with the sound of jazz in the background coming to me from my iPod.
If you have to really dance, which music appeals to you?
Oh, if I have to dance, I dance to any music, especially the common ones around, like Shoki and others, though I do not think that the lyrics make sense at all (laughs). The lyrics are empty. But that is what people are dancing to these days. So if I have to dance, I dance to it because I am a professional dancer. I find a way to express that music.
They are all singing the same song, but different lyrics. The beat is the same. Nobody is taking them up on it; everybody is dancing to it, and they say somebody has dropped an album, as if it is a ton of bricks! I am being delicate about my choice of words here; otherwise there are words that I can use that would not be flattering.
How have you been able to keep your beauty over the years?
Why won’t I look agile and beautiful, when I have beautiful people taking care of me? When you are loved, you radiate in beauty.
As an actress, which part of your body do you value most?
The part of me I value most is my voice, because with my voice, I can express absolutely everything. If you have a good voice, you can express affection. People can fall in love with your voice. You do not have to do anything else like having Cossy’s chest or Omotola’s behind! But really, it is not about that, it is about the intellect. There is nothing wrong with beauty; it is lovely.
What actors do is not just about beauty; it is the expression of ideas. Ideas make money. Ideas are more important than material. In fact, ideas create abundant material prosperity. The signal I give to people always is that black is beautiful. Our natural hair is fantastic. Over five decades now, I have continued to send out that message; that as black people, we are absolutely fantastic.
How do you handle your numerous prospective suitors?
I have been lucky. I have not had people just ‘toasting’ me for the sake of ‘toasting’ me. People have followed me because they see brilliance in me. It’s a different thing. And I think that that is a better way of looking at it, because those people listen to me and then they feel like coming close. They wanted to know more about the person that I am.
So, with my African beauty, I have sent the message out to other women out there that you can actually be old but still be hot. You can be old and still be attractive. You can be old and still be sophisticated. You can be African and still be natural and elegant. As far as I am concerned, those are wonderful messages to be sent without beating drums.
At almost 75, do you still have suitors?
(Laughs) At 74 going on to 75, I don’t think I can get suitors.
Okay, when was the last time a suitor called?
(She thought for a while) People come, but they just talk. I think I look too formidable for someone to just walk up to me and say he wants to marry me! Although some people who are close could be naughty, and say this and that but without hitting the main issue. You know, you could see when a man comes around and he is admiring you up and down, doing his eyes this way and that, you know, but they wouldn’t dare say anything up the hill like marriage. And that could be because people think that I am too hard, that I have an intimidating look. I look too formidable, too intimidating even for the older people.
What do you think is responsible for your hard-stance outlook?
African men like their women to be submissive or to appear submissive! I am too opinionated and men do not like a woman who likes to match up to them (laughs). Men do not like that. So although people are friendly with me, they still feel like ‘better not go too far with that one because, we do not know what she will tell you next’. So they just feel intimidated. I have been a widow for 22 years, so where are the men?
Do you still get people your age to hang around with?
I guess the answer to that would be a reflection of a lifestyle. I work all the time. It is not likely that you see me in an eatery with anybody. I hardly go out. I live here in Lagos, Nigeria, and I also live abroad. Whether here or abroad, I am usually working all the time.
My work is my life. That is because the work I do is so beautiful that everything that I want from this life is in my work. I meet beautiful people; all kinds of people. How many people in other jobs do so?
Could one say then that your work filled the vacuum your husband’s death created?
No, I was working like this even when he was alive.
Did he love your work?
He was my number one fan. His name is Thomas Aldridge Lycett. He was formerly working with Shell. He left England to settle here with me. That was when I had become a success in England and he told me that my people do not know what I have in me that I must return to my country. He said that I must come home to let them know who I am. So, after 22 years that he has gone, and all these are still happening, I really wish he was here to see it. I wish he could be here. I think he did all these for me. He made me do it.
Was it easy for you to re-integrate into the Nigerian society, having stayed abroad for so long?
When I returned, I was in business as well. I was an executive member of the Advertisers’ Association. I was running an advertising agency, Partnership Advertising. I had a marketing communications consultancy called Taiwo Ajai Public Relations Company.
Why did you stop?
My husband and I were doing it. As time went on, the business was getting somehow. We had to share budget and so on. That is not how we do business. I am an ‘Oyinbo’ when it comes to such things. I get a budget and I was not looking at sharing it with the General Manager or any other. So, when my husband died, I still operated our businesses for a couple of years. But after that, it was getting worse and worse, especially hearing all sorts of things. He died in 1993, but I was still running it even till 1997. So, on the anniversary of his death, 31st of December 1993, which is an awkward day to die, I wanted to do something that would remind me of him always. Not just the mourning and the sadness, but also to remember all the wonderful moments that we had spent together and all that he meant to me and still means to me now.
And when did you stop?
He had always wanted to start a school. He was always worried about our educational system. Not only that, he saw how expatriates come here with hardly anything in their own land but once here, they get a gardener, a cook, a driver, and they get to the airport, people are waiting with placards. But when they go to the other side, nobody welcomes them. They flag down taxi by themselves and carry their luggage themselves. He thought it was lack of confidence on our part, which education would correct.
I remember when we were running business, he used to hate it when people thought that he was the one running the show because he is ‘white.’ I was the MD while he was the GM. He used to feel insulted that people felt he was doing it while I was just an appendage. So, since he was always talking about a school, I started Tal-House Private School, Egbe. It turned out very successful. I have students who passed out from the school all over the world. Some of them are married now. I ran a primary school, a theatre school and a computer school.
How about the school itself?
About eight years ago, a member of staff organised with armed robbers to come and rob me in the big house at about 2 am. They nearly killed me. So I thought I had been running the school for about 12 years, all alone, and I decided to rest it. People said that I was attacked because I was alone. I was still going to continue being alone, so I decided to stop it.
So you travelled abroad?
Yes, I did. I needed time to sort out myself and think out what I wanted to do next.
Did that make you angry with the Nigerian society?
No, I knew that these things happen to people around the world. It was not something different or special.
Is it because you loved your husband that you didn’t think of re-marrying?
(Thought briefly) Yes, partly. Yeah, it has to be. I think that my husband spoilt me in many ways. Where was I going to find a man like that? Where am I going to find a man who didn’t feel diminished by devoting his life to me? And he did that because he was a special man who believed that I was doing something special. He did not see himself taking second place; he saw us as one.
Was it love at first sight?
Yes, for him, it was, because of the circumstances that we met. I was successful abroad and wanted a new apartment. I went to one of the top estate agents who found a flat in some condominium for me and asked me to go and view the site. And on the other side were terrace houses. Later, he told me that he saw me that day I came to visit. He saw me arrive in my car, a sports car. I then dressed like I used to dress from head to toe. I used to cover my head. It was elegant and I always wore a hat. It had nothing to do with religion. I also did not believe in showing legs. Yoruba say oju ni oro wa (it is the eyes that matter).
Are you saying age has changed your lifestyle? I mean has your style changed over the years?
No, I still wear my hat. I do not go out without my hat. I do not think that my fashion and style have changed. That is because I still wear things that I had over 20 years ago. Some of them I owned since over 40 years ago. Fashion is coming to meet me. Most things that I wear are not new.
What do you miss about being young?
Nothing! I do not miss a thing. When you are older, you have confidence. I did not have to go and quickly change so that you can see me in charming clothing or something. I do not have to titivate myself and be false. Younger ladies do that because they are insecure.
There must be some certain things you were doing then that you cannot do now.
I cannot imagine. I was an old young person (laughs). When I was young and people thought it was fashionable to wear one’s hair this way and that, I never did! Ideologically, I was and still firmly and convincingly African.
How did you choose to be so African even when you lived abroad?
When we were growing up, that is when Africa was getting independence, it was like if you were not proud of yourself, then why did you want to be independent? Like what women are still doing now, they think that they are sophisticated by using Brazilian hair and the like. If we are truly proud of Africa, then why are we wearing long hair that God did not make us with? Maybe it’s too far for them to know, but we were growing up then in the time of Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Leopold Senghor and so on.
Didn’t you suffer some form of segregation at that time?
I didn’t. There was only one time somebody stood up from where I sat, and that person was black, possibly a Nigerian. And that was because I was wearing my hair tied the African way. He probably didn’t want to associate with me because he thought I must be bush to wear such a style!
Where did that happen?
It was in the London underground tube. That was in the sixties. When I got to England to study, I had no qualification. I applied to work to clear tables as a waitress in the city of London, where people in the financial district used to come and drink tea. They were called the city gents! They wore bowler hats, carried rolled up umbrellas and worked in banks around where the Bank of England was. They used to stop by to talk to me. They thought I was special and would be great because then, not many people were used to travelling abroad and not many had seen a black woman before. A lot of them used to come to the cafe, just to see me. I made friends like that. I started learning to type. I applied to the General Post Office, got an interview and was employed. I was also sent on training.
But why did you leave Nigeria to be a waiter over there. There must have been better opportunities here then?
There weren’t that kind of opportunities if you weren’t educated. You had to get education. And about that time, we did not have the universities like it is now. In those days, there was only one university and everybody wanted to get in. I went to England to study Law. I went by myself and I needed money. I worked there to get money to go to night school. That was how we did it in those days.
What did your Nigerian friends say when you decided to marry a ‘white’ man|?
My friends didn’t say anything. When you are there and working at par with them, going to the same school and probably you are on top of the class, how do you think that anyone will discriminate against you? And you are probably going about your life the way I was doing it, behaving like I am the Queen of Sheba (laughs), not accepting that I had to change. We were brought up to be proud of ourselves, so who was going to come and discriminate against me?
Europe is about merit. So also is America. I was moved up the ladder. Even my boss was recommending books to me that I should read. That was the kind of relationship that I kept before I got into showbiz. After a while, I was given a paid sabbatical to go to college. I knew I needed certificate to return to Nigeria in future.
Do you feel fulfilled?
If I die this minute, I would have lived a wonderful life. I am very grateful for this journey. I have however just begun. There are people who are over 80. Life is a bit different now. I am still learning. One can go to school online. Not going to college does not stop anyone in a digital age from going to school.
When did you go into showbiz?
I think that must have been 1965, I was a full grown adult.
Why did you start late? Most people in showbiz start at an early age.
Well, I never thought I was an actress. I didn’t start by thinking that I wanted to be famous. I wanted to be a lawyer. I liked the theatre, went to the cinema and went to concerts. I’m an arts aficionado. I love music and so on. That is what I thought it was. I never thought I was a performer until one day I went to see a friend who was rehearsing. The director asked if I would like to join the production. I joined. And when we opened, everybody was after me. The next weekend, I was at the BBC working! That is how I was catapulted up! For years, I was a presenter on BBC. Nothing prepared me for this.
You used to be slimmer…
I am 74 going on 75 (laughs). You want me to stay 17 forever? You are perpetually seeing me as that age. It’s fascinating.
How did you cope with advances from men when you were younger?
A woman has to remain focused. If you are not focused on your life, then it’s going to go into your head that somebody fancies you. I have always been focused on my work, profession and so on. The reason women fall for their prettiness is because the girl-child is conditioned to think that she is going to get a husband. So they play to that, to be dependent. I think I was independent. I didn’t need a husband to live. I am Adufe, somebody that you beg to marry; somebody people rush to pamper.
Are you spiritual or religious in nature?
Both are two separate things. I am not at all religious, but I am intensely spiritual. That is why I am the way I am. Things like ‘being pretty’ does not affect me. My son, a handsome young man, once said to me that he was at a supermarket and women all over were staring at him. I simply told him to get over himself, because women will always stare at men and vice versa. So what’s the big deal? You think that you are the cat’s whiskers?
So women use this and end up using themselves. They feel because a man looks at them, then he ought to buy this or that for them. I feel insulted at that. When we were growing up, you grew up with your man. You went to college or work together. Nowadays, our girls are looking for someone who already has a car or comfort. That wasn’t my ambition. But I got married anyway.
As an actress, which has been the most challenging role you have played?
That role hasn’t come yet! That’s because every role I play is very challenging. There is no way you get on stage feeling that everything will be too easy for you to do. I think that my work is very demanding, very challenging and therefore keeps me on my toes all the time. All of them have been challenging because I had to find my way through them. I don’t know what part I will be given next, or how I will play it.
What makes you still relevant in the industry?
I think what makes me relevant there is what makes me relevant in the world. I have enthusiasm. I have not foreclosed on anything. I do not have any closed ideas about me. I am open to give service. Above all else, I am not hustling. I have something to give that people think and know that I have to give. It is not about money. If you do what you know how to do, money will be chasing you.
How are you coping with life as a grandmother?
Very well, I love it. If you come to where I live, you will hear them calling me grandma. It’s so wonderful. I like life better now than when I was younger. I am surrounded by love. As you grow older, you get wiser and more confident. You do not worry about what you shouldn’t worry about. Your head has more clarity. I have a prayer of clarity with me always. We are a bit cool about life and less fearful about what is coming. That is a wonderful place to be.
How would you describe your relationship with Tinsel?
This is the third year. It’s been wonderful. I was working in England and my producer asked me to come here to do Tinsel.
My anti-corruption battles in Osun College of Education —Provost
How has it been working as a lecturer in Osun State College of Education and now as the acting provost?
There is nothing difficult for somebody who is determined and hard working. At the time I joined the institution, I did any assignment that was given to me to the best of my knowledge, knowing full well that if you are a good follower, there would be a day you would turn out to be a good leader. That has been my maxim since I joined.
So, when I attained this status, I did not see it as a challenge, because there is hardly an assignment I cannot handle as far as academics is concerned. For instance, even as a Lecturer III, I was made the exams officer. That is the most tedious assignment in any school because as the exams officer of a school, apart from your normal teaching schedule, you have to coordinate all other departments in terms of collection of questions. By the time the results are out, you have to collate them. You have to do the computation of the results and all sorts of things.
By the time I attained this status, I saw it as child’s play because I had acquired all the experience I would need to function as the chief executive. That is why all my people believe that there is no hiding place for me, knowing full well that I had passed through the various stages. If anybody wants to say anything I would tell you that this one, this is how to do it or this is how to go about it.
Looking at the state of education in the country, what future do you see for colleges of education compared to polytechnics and universities?
On a very serious note, colleges of education have better future than even the universities and polytechnics. This is because if we are talking about the polytechnics, they should be practical-oriented, but where is that practicality? But in the college of education, you are a professional teacher, a nation builder. You will continue to be relevant as far as people continue to bear children. In those days, out of three or four children, only one would go to school. Today, if you have 40 children, your interest would be that all of them should be educated.
For your information, presently, the computer has taken the place of all other professions, but it has not taken the place of teaching till now. That is to say that college of education is a very good foundation for the training of teachers. All the rudiments you need here, you acquire it, and when you now go to the university, it becomes very easy for you, particularly if you are well grounded in your area of specialization.
But the employers of labour usually prefer university graduates to those of colleges of education?
Presently, when you talk of acquiring the first degree for teaching, there is a level at which first degree can operate, because at the degree level, the higher you go, the narrower your specialization becomes. Can you now employ degree holder to go and teach in the lower level of primary school where the knowledge is limited? It is the NCE holders that are specially trained to handle education at that level, particularly the lower level, the middle basic and the upper basic. It is at the senior secondary that the degree becomes relevant.
What change agenda or reforms would you like to set for the new administration in the country in terms of education?
Reforming education is like erecting a structure. If the foundation is not properly laid, the entire super structure would have a problem. Primary education is the foundation upon which all other super structures of education are laid. In fact, it is the gate way. In those days, we had people who passed through primary education and did not go to secondary school. But because of the knowledge they had acquired at the primary level, they developed themselves, wrote GCE and from there went to universities. But we have never seen a single person who never attended primary school going to the university. So, emphasis should be on the development of primary education, just like the Governor of Osun State is doing.
When you look at his programme, it is meant to build primary education and put primary schools on very sound footing. If the foundation is properly laid, the super structure on it would be superb. That is why I highly commend him in the areas of feeding, infrastructural facilities and employment of quality teachers. If you get to primary schools in Osun State, the least qualification you will get there is NCE, which is a very good foundation. When that is done, the whole of the country would become a project. With that, everybody will now build on a very solid foundation.
So, the emphasis should be that the federal government should think of emulating what is happening in the State of Osun, with particular emphasis on primary education. Findings from and psychologists of note revealed that in the early part of a child’s life, he is very productive, very relevant. And the type of food given to the child determines what happens to him in the nearest future. That is the relevance of the home grown programme embarked upon by Ogbeni (Aregbesola) in Osun State.
What are you doing to equip your students in order to be self dependent instead of being certificate driven?
I have just conceived an idea of entrepreneurship and skill acquisition programme whereby all the students that pass through this college would have to acquire one skill or the other before they graduate, in addition to their NCE certificates. The way to it is that I want to identify some departments with vocations, like the Technical Education Department, Home Economics, Agric Education, Fine and Applied Arts and Computer Education. So, we would now identify various vocations. For example, in Home Economics, we have bakery and other things. In Fine and Applied Arts, we have tie and dye and some other things. In Agric, there is fadama and some other things.
Each child would be encouraged to consider his nature and interest, vis-à-vis the environment where he comes from. We have committees on ground working on various vocations identified for these practical areas, so that each of the students would now go and register in the identified vocations.
The committee is yet to give me the list of the various vocations. All the students would be made to go and register for one vocation and we want to link that vocation to JSE Department and extramural studies. We would make that course to be practical so that each child would study a particular vocation and at the end of the day, they would showcase what they have done. We would link them with entrepreneurs in form of apprenticeship training. For instance, if the technical education is for repairing handsets, we have some people who are repairing handsets. We would attach them to such people and they would have that knowledge. The same goes for computer, typing and others. That is the plan I have.
Presently, I am still functioning in acting capacity. But it is my thinking that if I become the substantive provost, I would have the priviledge of introducing them. Already, I have set up a committee to work on that. By the time the report is out, we would sell the idea to the Governing Council and from there to the Academic Board. The moment it is approved, we will make it compulsory for all students. By the time they leave, some may decide not to look for white collar jobs. They would become self dependent and gainfully employed rather than relying on government. Even if they are gainfully employed, during their leisure time, they can go back to this vocation and have something.
Nobody envisages that there could be problem in life. The usual impression is that life is a bed of roses. Nobody is conscious of the fact that it could be a combination of thorns and roses. Just as we are experiencing the economic recession now, if we have some people with different vocation like in agric or some other areas, they can go and make use of may be their fathers’ lands and would not even know that salary is not paid. Even if the salary is paid, they can use it for other things. So, that is my plan for the institution in the area of entrepreneurship skills acquisition.
The problem with most educational institutions has been paucity of funds. In your own case, how have you been coping?
It is true that there is paucity of funds, particularly with the present situation where tertiary institutions are given more to cope with, like payment of peculiar allowance, hazard allowance, medical allowance, and so on. There, we spend so much at the end of every month and, in fact, that is hampering physical development. But the first thing is to block all leakages. The moment all leakages are blocked, the little you have, you would know that it is consolidated.
I equally make sure that we don’t spend spuriously. It is only the cogent and important areas that we emphasise. We avoid any frivolous or wasteful spending. If you bring anything, you have to defend what you want to do with it. It is not just a matter of we want to buy this biro; you should be able to explain what you want to do with the biro and what happened to the previous one you bought? So, it all depends on the financial engineering. It is not that we don’t have economic crunch. Whatever is affecting the head, all other parts of the body will equally be affected.
With your stance on accountability, you must have earned many enemies…
If you want to succeed, you must be prepared to step on toes. And even if care is not taken, you don’t only step on toes, you cut some off. If you want to please everybody, you can never achieve anything. It is the legacy you leave behind that would speak for you. If it is business as usual and you follow the mad crowd, at the end of the day, they would be the one to turn round and condemn you, that you lived a life without a legacy.
Talking about blocking leakages, I am aware that your bursar is serving a suspension. I would like to know from the horses’ mouth what actually happened.
That matter is before the higher authorities. I am not in the best position to comment on it.
What other steps have you taken to block these leakages?
Presently, no bursary staff is allowed to handle cash. All payments, even if it is N100, has to be made in the bank. If you want to win a fight, it is not always easy. There would be noise making and condemnation.
But are the members of staff cooperating with you in this fight?
Well, if his is what you want to do and it is for the betterment of the system, if an individual is complaining, that is his own headache. It is for corporate existence. I see it as being callous when an individual is feeding fat at the expense of the generality. I don’t do that. I don’t like it.
Your students went on protest sometime last year, during which three students reportedly died. Can you tell us what happened and what was responsible for the protest?
Since I assumed office, there has been no student crisis and no student has died.
And there has been no school closure?
No, except the staff are on strike. But crisis from students, no. God has been taking preeminence.
There are other colleges of education in Ire and Ilesha and Esa Oke. What makes your own to teak better than others?
The first thing is that the tone of the school is discipline. I made the students to know that this is a teacher’s training institution where you produce nation builders. Therefore, the language and watchword of the college is discipline and moral sanctity. This is not only extended to students alone but the staff too. You have to imbibe and internalise the tenets of discipline. And that is done through regular attendance at meetings. I am happy that since I assumed office, once the calendar is out, they know that I would be married to that calendar.
If exam is to take place at so and so time, I would know. My students are conscious of the fact that if lecture would start at a particular period, I would move around the school. Where I don’t meet lectures, I call the lecturer concerned. So the moment they realise that I am moving around, who is that person that would stay behind?
I told them that the idea that you would not teach when students are not many, I don’t like that. It means that you are punishing the regular and serious students. Out of 100, if you meet only two students in class, start lecturing them. Those ones would inform others that lectures have started and the others would join them. But the moment you wait for them, they would think that it is business as usual; they would not start lecture until so and so time. So, we have imbibed those principles and they are complying willingly because we let them realise that it is not a matter of coercion. We let them realize the importance of decency and discipline; that it is not just a pride but a necessity not only for here but for their own lives as well.
You said you assumed duty in August 2013 and you are still in acting capacity as provost of the school for two years, what is delaying your confirmation?
In life, you must sharpen yourself. You cannot make yourself a king. It is the kingmakers that would do that. I am not in a position to put them on the run or it would amount to overzealousness. To guard against that, I will wait till they deem it fit.
