| Any fool can have sex
By Samuel Olatunji
Sunday,
March 30, 2008
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•Taiwo
Ajai-Lycett
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Taiwo Ajai-Lycett is by every reckoning a role model to most
Nigerian motion picture actresses. But left to her, Nollywood,
the local movie industry as it is presently constituted, should
be scrapped for its lack of professionalism.
For her, all the hype about love in Nollywood is misplaced.
“They don’t know anything about love,” she
says. “Even the so-called love they said they are dealing
with, is not love, it is sex.. The reason she thinks so is
that sex is no big deal really after all, “any fool
can have sex.”
At any given opportunity, Taiwo has not failed to give Nollywood
a deserved knock. Also, in this interview with SAMUEL OLATUNJI,
the veteran addressed the same issue - state of Nigeria’s
movie industry - her sex life in the last 15 years without
her late husband etc.
Given the swipe she took at Nollywood, its practioners would
think twice before accepting certain wishy-washy roles. For
the veteran, theirs is nothing but a knock-kneed industry.
Call it a no-confidence vote.
Taiwo became popular in Nigeria with her dexterity in interpreting
roles. And for those who don’t know, her climb to fame
was by virtue of the roles she played in movies outside Nigeria.
Of course, she’s done a couple of Soap Operas on television
and about two home videos, one of which was Tade Ogidan’s
Hostages. It is always a delight to watch Ajai Lycett, as
she dazzles and mesmerizes, indeed a true Nigerian star with
a global appeal. Little wonder many Nigerian stars see her
as role-model. Industry watchers are, however, puzzled that
such a hugely talented star is not being maximally tapped
to the advantage of Nigerian movie industry. But the 67 years
old veteran says “there is nothing to act in Nigerian
movie industry.”
No role to act
“What is there to act? I’m not going to act plays
that are not credible. And I’m not going to act plays
that are not educative. Movies should be issues- oriented.”
Probe her further, Taiwo says: “Nobody has offered me
anything. Two, I have not seen good scripts yet. I don’t
want to do any work that is not credible and I don’t
want to do any work that is not evergreen. I want to do works
that will still be relevant and evergreen in 20 or 30 years
down the line. The works that I did over 30 years ago are
still evergreen.
Go and check real Hollywood movies, you will discover that
they don’t date. Or do they date? It is the quality
of the content; it is not just the technical detail. As at
the time of doing those works, the technology that we have
now was not available. If you bring their works out now, they
will still be there. They will never date. Even if it is fifty
years down the line, they will still be there. And technical
advancement would have gone forward. Is that the kind of work
we are doing here?” she queried.
Sex, not love
She took a swipe at producers who think they are preaching
the message of love via love movie. “They don’t
know anything about love,” she says. “Even the
so-called love they said they are dealing with, is not love,
it is sex. The things they are dealing with is sex, not love.
When you are talking about love, it should make somebody realise
how you deal with people around you.”
Works in Nigeria
Part of the few works she’s done here include ‘Wings
against my soul’; Village Headmaster; Eyo; Aluta Continua
and The Mansion, by Rasheed Gbadamosi and a play by John Pepper
Clark.
Although ‘Winds against my soul’ was hugely popular
in those days, the television soap used to empty the streets.
In fact, one soap she would recollect with nostalgia is ‘For
better, for worse.’ Reason? She had to walk out on the
production when the producer said he would not pay the acting
crew anymore because the play was making them popular.
Jobs abroad
Taiwo relocated abroad in the wake of armed robbery invasion
of her home. “I went abroad to heal myself. Though presently
in Nigeria for a promotion and holiday, she says United Kingdom
is her mainstay. She acts, writes and manages her investment.
It may interest you to know that she still receives royalties
from the works she did over 30 years ago.
Arm-chair critic
Regarded as an arm chair critic by many who think she should
do more than talking, to improve the quality of Nollywood
motion pictures, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett shrugged off the tag instantly.
“I have been running a training school for movie practitioners
for as long as I can remember. But the problem is, our people
don’t like to train, they just want to become stars.”
Training school for Actors, others
She started the training school actors’ studio with
her late husband who passed on in 1993. She says, it is a
place where training refines talent. “It is a school
where I coach you one-on-one. Many people in Ibadan are also
interested. It is an NGO where we train actors, actresses,
costume persons, and others. It is a school that meets the
need of what you need in order to stage a play. We train everybody.
We will bring people like Danny Glover and co to train them.
The big artistes over there are not just used because they
have talent, they have training as well. It is erroneous for
people to say they don’t need training because they
already have talent.”
She disagrees with the argument that actresses like Omotola
and Genevieve are very good yet they lack formal training.
“That is a very interesting argument. But this is what
I’m saying, what could they do if they have classical
training? That is what they should ask themselves. If they
are this good, what couldn’t they do if they have the
training? There is no doubt that people can display natural
talents that dazzle people but I feel sure that I wouldn’t
be what I am now if I did not have the training. My body,
voice, and mind would not be what it is now if I did not have
the training…”
Marriage to a white man
Since her husband died in 1993, Taiwo refused to remarry and
she revealed the incredible - she has not had sex.
“I married a whiteman because I fell in love with a
white man. I fell in love with a real man; he was buried here
at Atan. He was a man; if you know him you will know he was
a man. He loved me and was constantly looking for ways to
promote and expand my talent,” she said.
Continuing, Taiwo said: “We were very compatible. When
he was alive, he supported me. When I said I was coming to
Nigeria, he said he would come with me. He was working with
Shell as at that time. How many men can do that for their
wives? No woman has ever been that loved. So, those who say
they are talking about love don’t know what they are
talking about. When he died, I said to myself that God has
decided that he has completed his assignment with me. I don’t
know how many women have that kind of advantage.”
On her decision not to remarry, Taiwo says thunder does not
strike twice in the same place. “Where can I find a
man like that? They don’t grow on trees. Lighting cannot
strike twice in the same place, not possible. That is why
I think God has made him for me. I would be wasting my time
by thinking I can find that kind of man again. Whom do you
want to date? Will I date a married man? Have you heard any
scandal about me? You’re likely not to, that is another
responsibility you have as an artiste. If you are going to
marry, find somebody and marry but to be the talk of the town
is not my style.”
Any fool can have sex
Sex is in the mind. Sex is not in your loins, sex is an intellectual
pursuit. My husband and I used to say that any fool can have
sex. Sex is also a creative pursuit and since I am creative
I channel all my energy into my creativity. It is what I used
to do. To tell you the truth, you don’t really need
the physical sex. I can’t tell you that because you
are young. The body rules when you are young. But if your
mind rules you, you will have peace all your life.
We have to carefully choose whom we have sex with; because
if you must enjoy sex as I had with my husband then, you must
love and have something in common with your sex-mate beside
physical contact. The most intimate you can be with anybody
is with sex. So, how can you be having it with every Tom,
Dick and Harry? That means you don’t love and respect
yourself. So it is not that I am being holier than thou but
sex, it is a matter of hygiene. You cannot be claiming that
you own yourself, I can do whatever I want with it.”
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