Former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, disclosed on Wednesday that he knows men who woo Nigeria theatre icon, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, who just turned 75.
Osoba spoke at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos during a launch of Just Sharing, a compendium of the celebrant’s thoughts as part of activities to mark her birthday.
The politician revealed that he is a member of a chat group which Mrs Ajai-Lycett also belongs to and men on the platform try to outdo themselves to get her attention.
Osoba, who noted that Ajai-Lycett had brought honour to the black race, said he was proud of the success story of the veteran actress, stressing that at 75, she looks and acts like a 40-year-old woman.
He said: “It is not every day you see a beautiful woman of 75 years old.
“We are proud of her talent.
“We are proud of her exemplary life.
“She is an example of a good black woman.”
In a message to Nigerians, Ajai-Lycett called on them not to be weary of the current state of the nation but to work to lift her up.
Ajai-Lycett said: “I want you to dance to your music.
“I have danced to mine and I am dancing to mine.
“It is becoming sweeter and sweeter with age.
“We must not despair about our country, but we must be conscious of what Mahatma Ghandi said that the change begins with you.
“We tend to blame everything on the government or somebody else, but we make our world and it is our responsibility to make this country to remain great.
“Nigeria is a blessed country with all the resources that anybody needs to live a successful life and we are fortunate, but we can do better.”
The veteran actress attributed her success to the acceptance and encouragement by members of the public, noting that life was a university and that she was going from a class of it to another every day.
Qed.ng Editor-in-Chief, Olumide Iyanda, who inspired the celebrant to write the collection of articles published in the book while he was editor of Saturday Independent, wrote: “I first met Mrs. Taiwo Ajai-Lycett as a cub reporter in 2000.
“We spoke about her journey into the art, her late husband, returning to fulltime acting, mentoring and faith in the years ahead.
“The result of that meeting was a story titled Coming in from the Cold.
“The last 16 years have shown me she is more than an actress, journalist, broadcaster, social commentator, teacher, businesswoman and culture activist.
“TAL is gem that never stopped shinning.
“She never lost her youth. And never stopped being human.”
The occasion was attended by family members, theatre practitioners, writers, broadcasters.
