•Pioneer actor, advertising guru, wordsmith
It is remarkable that the death of Mr Theodore Austin Mukoro, popularly called Ted Mukoro, at age 89 on March 7, made many Nigerians nostalgic. He will be buried on April 26. Mukoro is remembered for his role as an eponymous character in The Village Headmaster, the long-running drama series that wowed television audiences across the country from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was the first to play the pivotal role, and his quality set standards for the others after him. It is a tribute to his thespian significance that he is considered unforgettable.
Mukoro said of the role that brought him fame: “The headmaster was to be an enlightened man, chief adviser to the local king / Oba in the early Nigerian village. He was not only a headmaster during the week but a preacher on Sunday, the interpreter of the law…Oja village was an ideal village set not to be far away from Lagos. It was a mixture of people. The cast was not for you to know the particular tribe they came from. The whole thing was dedicated to the village school teachers who taught all the new civil servants.”
At a deeper level, the series was a product of the post-independence era, and promoted unity and nation-building. Mukoro’s involvement was a reflection of his interests and ideas. He wrote the first two episodes of The Village Headmaster, which “set the tone for the entire series.” Beyond television, he acted in a few films, showing that his acting capability was not limited.
Mukoro’s career in broadcasting and advertising showed his many-sided capacities. Before his performances on national television, he had started acting in radio dramas on Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service (WNBS). He is said to have been among the first 10 newscasters at WNTV, Nigeria’s first indigenous TV station which began operations in Ibadan in 1959. His pioneering role in broadcasting was enhanced by his broadcaster’s voice and he had a way with words. It is a measure of his expertise that he remained relevant in broadcasting after his active broadcasting years. He was engaged by Channels TV to “monitor, criticise, and make corrections in presentation.”
As an advertising practitioner, Mukoro was recognised for his brilliant creativity. He retired as the first indigenous creative director of Lintas, a giant in the country’s advertising industry. To his credit, he created memorable promotional phrases. For example: ‘Shine shine bobo’ for Star Beer; ‘Black tin good o’ for Guinness Stout; and ‘Weke weke weke’ for VONO Mattress. One of the highlights of his advertising career was shooting the Lux Soap advert in Miami, Florida in the U.S., which featured Patti Boulaye (OBE). It is noteworthy that one of those he mentored at Lintas described him as ”a force for good with my generation of creatives who passed through his tutelage.” He reportedly continued to do advertising work as a consultant till the week before he died.
It is interesting that Mukoro nearly became a priest. But the road not taken prepared him for the road he took. He said: “My education was purely in the Catholic Seminary. I wanted to be a Catholic Priest. So I attended St Theresa’s Minor Seminary in Oke Arin, Ibadan, where I got equivalent training that a secondary school student would get.” He later studied at St Paul’s Catholic Major Seminary, Benin City, and also took a UK correspondence course. It is thought-provoking that Mukoro attributed his communication skills to his seminary training which put a premium on elocution.
Mukoro stood for professionalism and dedication to best practices. His legacy will remain relevant for as long as people strive for excellence.
