My dad literally influenced my career path —Ajayi

Mrs Lucy Ajayi is a beauty and a socialite. The Executive Director of Lagos International Trade Fair is also a Buharist to the core. As a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy, she has been around the country. She tells SEGUN KASALI, how much of life she has also seen.

GROWING up must be fun, wasn’t it?

It was really interesting. I had a father who subtly imposed certain things on us. I wouldn’t say I didn’t like to read books but for him. He was an educationist and was always telling us to do this or that. You must read what he wanted you to read without having opportunity of choosing because he thinks he had experience in professional jobs. You don’t just pick a course that you want to do for the beauty of it. You really have to pick it because it would make sense. While a kid, we always wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer. Those were the popular professions at that time, but my father saw it differently. He believes in handwork and told me to study Secretarial Studies. This was an issue I had with him because I started with Sciences. You can imagine getting into a secondary school to now be told ‘I don’t want her to study science, but Arts. He believed in commercial studies because he understood shorthand, and that’s his profession. I think he wanted me to fall into that line because I’m his first child. He also believed  that Secretarial Studies was for women. He eventually had his way. I wanted to be a doctor, so I had to change some subjects to Arts. but that destabilised me from my WAEC exams. He got the form for me and made sure I filled Secretarial studies, which I studied at the Lagos State Polytechnic, then Lagos City Polytechnic, in 1985.

How forceful was he?

He won’t force one to do anything, but he would make one sees reasons why one has to do what he asked one to do. I actually applied to Auchi Polytechnic to study Mass Communication, which was another alternative. I like the glamour. I like the TV. So, he called me with the two admission letters and said this is from Auchi, but I don’t want you to be too far from me. This is from Lagos Polytechnic, but can your father own a TV station? But with Secretarial administration, you can do so many things on your own. That was how I went for Secretarial study and I have ND in it from Lagos State College of Science and Tech then.

Educationists are usually disciplinarians and used the cane regularly.

My father was a subtle disciplinarian. I feared his mouth more than his cane. My father would stand up and talk to you for 12 hours and one would be shaking. So, we always prayed that he wouldn’t call us to talk to us. He didn’t beat us. On the day he will talk to you, you would beg  that he should just beat you. For days, he would be talking. You will hang your spoon half way and you won’t be able to eat.

Many may argue you took after him.

I didn’t even live with my mum. She’s late now. She left me when I was six years old.  But my dad is till much alive. If you call him now, he will come (Laughs). My daddy is the quiet type, but I am the gra-gra type. But education, civilisation has helped to deal with that. It is not as if it has left me because that was why I can go into politics.

Looks like secretarial studies has done you well.

It has done many things for me, but that was after one year because it was hard going through shorthand that I never studied at secondary school, while most of the people you met already had the knowledge. It was really way far for me before I started learning shorthand, typing and I thank God, but not without an extra semester.

Shorthand shortchanged you?

Yes, I had an extra semester because of shorthand. Most of us who didn’t have the background knowledge in secondary schools had extra semester. But it was worth it. I went to the Polytechnic in 1985 and was supposed to be out in 1987, but graduated in 1988.

Any worthy lesson from that extra semester?

It was really a nice one because I could fit in now. I later went to the university to study Business Education and in my teaching practice, I taught shorthand because they had few teachers for it. When schools were rejecting people based on what they wanted to teach, four schools wanted me. I was the only one who taught students in Form one to Form five. I started with those in the fifth form because they were to go for their professional exams. But they asked why someone who came for teaching practice should be taking those going for professional exams? So, they took me to a lower class. The school had no fence. Once they were done, most of the students would run out to the farm. There was a time, I had a class for noon and most of the students didn’t like shorthand unless you made it dramatic. So, I engaged them. So, the class became interesting and when I had classes at noon, they would be willing to come and show their own homework. When the proprietor saw this, he said they should take me to the fifth class. I wake up late and sleep late. They had to put my classes at after noon because people were eager to come to my class. Some other classes would come to my class when I am teaching shorthand. So, it is based on the passion one puts in things. Do you know some of them who even trade, who even go to farm, they bring farm produce to me. They would tell their mummies that they loved their shorthand teacher. You know most of them thought they came to my class after noon out of fear. They didn’t know they had the love for me. On the prize-giving day, I had a lot of prizes. They brought a lot of things I couldn’t take to Lagos and the proprietor came to say that Lucy is a person that barks but does not bite from what he had seen.

From there to where?

I served one year attachment at Mobil Producing Nigeria. We didn’t use electric typewriter at my ND level, but that was what we were to use. At that time, every other person would not get IT position  unless you were in the School of Secretarial Studies. So, most of the things I did in Mobil, I was more of a roving Secretary. I worked with EDs. If anyone was on leave, I relieved the official. I worked in the Engineering Department. When I left there, my father insisted I had a degree so that I wouldn’t get carried away with the little change I was making. So, I thought of using my ND to get Direct entry to study Business Education, but I did not make the first list. While waiting, I applied for a job that was paying me much. I was a confidential secretary in an accounting firm in 1989. I was representing the senior partners. They needed someone like that and as I was doing that though then, most of my friends were paid N300, N350 but I went for N1000. Tabulation in Secretarial Studies is a difficult thing. People lose their jobs through it. You have to make sure abbreviation, comma and the like come in. Most people failed it because of the timing.  I was an ND holder and I got the job of an HND holder. I was paid N650, but during the interview, I told them N1000 probably because I didn’t  want the job. This is because after working with Mobil, I didn’t want to work at ‘anyhow place.’ It was my father that got the job for me because he runs a vocational school-Secretarial Administration, Catering, Hotel Management. The school was Royal Institute, Isolo. They said, madam for starters, we pay N650. You are supposed to be on probation for six months but we will give you for three months. But you know what, before the three months elapsed, the admission came forth. I didn’t even know the Department of Business Education was in Delta. I thought it’s going to be in Edo because I am from Ekpoma. Trust me, I didn’t want to stop (laughs). Salaries of three or four moths are very okay for me. N650 was big money for me then (laughs). I was saving a whole lot.  That was the first time I would leave Lagos and I later found out it was Abraka. Where is Abraka? I never heard of Abraka in my life. But I went there and my father was begging, please get this degree for me. So, everywhere I am now, I thank God for my father. That’s why I said it is more of push because if I had not got what I wanted I probably would not have gone to school. Yes, you might be intelligent, you might know everything but the interest. There should be passion in what you are doing. That was why I had extra semester in the Polytechnic. I was like when my other mates are there talking, what would a secretary be saying. I went through all that.

How exciting was Abraka?

Yes, that was another experience. You know I went in through Direct entry. Like I told you, I didn’t come with the first batch so I thought it was gone and was enjoying my job but when the admission letter came, it came into my father’s box. Maybe if it had come through me, I would have stopped it. I got home that day and he said okay you have admission in the school. You know I’m a socialite, I was enjoying the Lagos groove. Maybe if it was UNILAG, I would have been fine, but Delta state, it took a lot.

When I entered, I was acting the big girl and I saw everybody like a kid. You know I left secondary school in 1984 and entering the university five years after. I saw everybody like a kid and I was to myself and I had started the process of admission but at the last stage they told me ‘madam you are not qualified to be here in year 2.’  I was ready to pack my load (laughs). I told my father and he said stay. So, anything that I had done, I think providence had a whole lot to play. It’s just God that had pushed me everywhere. Everywhere that I had been was not what I planned for. So, they (school authorities) said let’s demote her to year one rather than send her back home. I thought of my father because I love my father so much and I said okay demotion means that I remain here. It took a lot from me because I had counted the number of years I would spend at the university. It was the HOD, who wrote the letter to the admission officer then. He said in the letter- She is not qualified to be in year two. She is over qualified to be in year one. Please advice (Laughs). Some people can be very frustrating. So, I had to go through screening again, but thank God, it was on the eve of matriculation that I was screened and approved. I had gone to classes with year 2. So, I had to drop. You know what the psychological effect could mean.

You were once a model?

Yes, I did modeling for 10 years. I started modeling from Polytechnic. My first advert was with the Nigerian Arab Bank. I was the only life model on the calendar, representing a Tiv bride. And then you know, I still had that glamour as part of me. So, I wanted to be on TV, I wanted to be on Billboards, I wanted to be on all that. I started just like that. It was bringing money. I was doing it in form of a hobby, passion and it brought money too. Even if I get underpaid, I didn’t mind because I was getting the publicity.

Fond modeling memories?

When I was in the university, I became the first runner up of Miss DELSU and I was barely six months in the school. When I was in the Polytechnic, I was the president of Reggae club. For the pageant, I did not have a bikini and someone borrowed me a bikini and a bra and she put leaves to make it look like a beach thing (laughs). I like showbiz and since I knew it wasn’t all about costume, I decided to join the contest. I used to go for dancing competition in Lagos poly and I would win, because they would play you all kinds of music—blues, reggae, Yoruba music, etc.

If you beat me in two, you won’t beat me in others. Most females won’t beat me in reggae. So, you can imagine that person studying secretarial admin, my HOD would say what is she doing there? When they were doing all these Weeks, I would be there o, representing Sec. Admin. with my friend Chioma, who is now in England. People still call me Miss Campus in Abraka. They would say this is their own Miss Campus.

•  Most young actors are not well-trained —Joke Muyiwa

How did you come about your own modeling agency?

I served at a furniture company called Woodpeckers and I was retained. They were downsizing anyways but I was retained. Every time, I was having PP to do. I’m a Lagos woman, and ‘one way no enter market.’ When I was out of job and the modeling thing was still in me, people  were like ‘you are married doesn’t mean you shouldn’t model because there is a mother role, there is wife role in adverts’ and I said that was true. So, I tried bringing people in initially and I was managing. Then, the marriage crisis came upon me and I was losing pregnancies. So, they felt it was more of the job that I was doing  and that I had to relax a little bit. It was at that time my husband got a consulting job in South Africa and thought of relocating. He is into arts and archictecture. I left Paywise and thought of starting my modeling agency, Wholistic Promotions. The company was into event packaging but basically modeling. I got over 500 models. I was modeling and my models were modeling too. So, I did that from 2004 to. 2007. I had two managers. We would go to schools. Like I told you, I was picked on the road and in front of Opebi and Allen, you see them beautiful. I told the managers that they should go with their cards. So, when they approached these girls, they would feel comfortable because a woman was their boss. The managers would tell them ‘just call this woman on the phone if you think we come to toast you’ and they would come. Because of the jobs, I lost some of my tribal marks. There was one that Rachael Oniga lost to me- Maggi- because of her hair and my rotund cheeks. Like when they wanted me to bring dwarfs, I had to go as far as Oshodi their headquarters to get the leader of the dwarfs. You see, the modeling world wanted a real thing and not a make believe. So, I had to go to ports and you have to talk to them, even some boys at Oshodi. So, the modeling world was changing and I was always on TV. I tried to make people believe one could take the modeling job as a profession. It is not a job for prostitutes. It is not. I have old men who were used as models, because they don’t want to pour powder on people’s hair anymore. They would tell you to bring somebody from 60 and above. We have briefs. So, we do more than just beauty. There are at times they would tell you that they need someone with an Ibadan tribal marks. I had to go look for them. Modeling isn’t about beauty. I had to relocate. They were like you can’t be doing all these job and your husband is somewhere else. So, in 2007 or so, I relocated to South Africa. But it was terrible there because I didn’t get a job because of racism.

What is your experience with modeling and sex?

They don’t come straight that they want to sleep with you. You see most of the times, we ladies help men. A mature man will say that what will you be doing this evening and I’m telling them I’m in my father’s house. I take them the other way round. You don’t turn them down just like that. They say ‘can’t you come out? I would tell them daddy won’t allow. They say what about the day time. I say okay day time but what do you want me to do? And they would say, I want us to have lunch and I would say ‘I am not a lunch person but buy me chocolates.’ So, I am even taking you off and you think I am a baby. This is because they don’t just come out and say ‘I want to sleep with you or I want to date you.’ The first thing they say is what are you doing tonight and for you, to leave and be in an event or a place with them at night, you must be mature because anything can happen because after eating, what next? Don’t give the environment. I didn’t do that. This is because once you are used, you might not be used anymore. That was what I used to scare them. If they used you now, there are one million other girls they would use. If it’s yours, it’s yours. Just be what it is and then be firm.

Your hubby possibly didn›t have a smooth ride wooing you.

Till now, I still give him tough time. We met in the university. He was a year my senior at the Delta State University. In fact, he was looking at me like one big girl that came from Lagos because I told you I was posing then and I had money. Italian linen was reigning then and I had money to buy all of those things. I am sure that he did not really toast me. He was so scared to toast and some of his friends were saying have you seen one new jambite- dis one na big jambite no be small jambite at all. The babe fine but to near am, nawa o.

You never knew he had interest?

I knew but I didn’t even show it to him. You will know when somebody has interest in you because he now makes a routine. Every evening, he would come, not asking for my friends anymore. He would say if you are in can I come in. I would say yes. We kept on chatting about past. I saw Abraka like a village, so seeing an Ikoyi person, there was more to it and something good was coming out of him. And I said okay, I can have a friend because I said I wasn’t going to make friends with villagers and they speak pidgin, they speak Urhobo  but he was not from there. But with time as we started talking, he would ask what would my ideal man be. I would say my ideal is not you o. From joke to joke and we saw ourselves being together and just like that things started.

What attracted him to you?

He is very humorous and I felt he is patient enough but I am the gra-gra type. I am not a calm type. I don’t stay too long in a relationship. I was unable to leave when I started with him.

How often do you disagree?

I cannot disagree with him unless I want to lose my marriage. With him? No. He has a subtle way of bringing me down. You know you are talking to somebody and he is just looking at you. For how long will I continue like that. So, it makes me the fool and that is the superiority he has over me.

What does he want you to change about you?

I am short-tempered. He would say what do you gain from shouting. You are just stressing and disgracing yourself

Low moments?

The low moment was when I was having issues with kids and marriage but God took over because there was one experience in 2003 that was near death and on that bed I said God, if you can just heal me now, I won’t compromise your love. I put husband and desire for kids above you. I think I am destined to do something in this world. So, for God to restore me back, I tell people I am not desperate of having kids but I am desirous of having kids. Since I came out of that in 2004, I have just been living my life. I was born alone. I didn’t come with kids and there was purpose for keeping me alive and since then I have put that behind me.

Your indulgence?

Eating of chocolates and partying (laughs). I am a perfume and jewelries person. For perfumes, all sweet brands. I am a Gucci person and there are so many of them.

Outstanding memorable event?

Yes, when Buhari appointed me to the 18-member merger committee for CPC to negotiate with other parties. That was the peak of my career. I joined CPC in 2009 when I came back from South Africa after spending close to two years. I had heard about Buhari when I was in South Africa and I felt it was a shame I had to know him outside the country and I felt anything the man was going to do, I would support him. It just started like play like play but they had issue with publicity in CPC because they had no money. And I said okay, I was in the entertainment world and I could talk to them and from then, it started getting being publicized. They asked who did it and they said it was the Chairman for  Kosofe Local Government and that I did it for free. When CPC renewal began after the loss of the election, el-Rufai picked me because I was one of the women who stood when majority of the women left. In fact, he paid my flight ticket for the last day of the renewal process, and anytime there was any issue, he would always say get in touch with Lucy. So, when the APC merger thing came, it was actually ACN and CPC that I knew. Then, others came after.  To my shock, I was the only female Buhari nominated. For him to nominate me means he trusted me, added to the recommendations from El-Rufai and Pastor Tunde Bakare. That was in 2013.

How tough is being a mother, wife, daughter and public administrator?

I am also a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy. I am in two boats and that is why I have not been around for some months because I have been moving around the country. I have been able to combine these roles because it is just God and a very understanding husband.