00:05
Q – TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.
My name is Temitope Fayemi. I'm from Nigeria, I'm married and I have a girl, she's 6, and I'm from the western part of Nigeria, from Ogun State, precisely, but I got married to an Ekiti man, he’s also from the Western part of Nigeria. Yes, so that’s me.
00:39
Q – WHAT WAS IT LIKE GROWING UP IN NIGERIA?
Growing up in Nigeria, well, I have four siblings, plus me, that's five. So growing up is interesting 'cause my mum works with a bank in Nigeria before she retired and you know, we had lots of… we had helpers, people that take care of us, she takes care of us also, so growing up was really interesting, not really stressful. I mean, I lived 16 years in a particular state in my country – that’s the Lagos State, that was where I was actually born and I grew up there for 16 years before I
went to another state, we call this state Oyo State, that is where I did my first degree, I did my university degree there, and yeah, and I also got married there in that state, in Oyo State also. So growing up, 16 years of my life in that particular state, is one of the most populated states in my country, Lagos State, 'cause we have millions of people there and it’s a very interesting place, very busy place also. So, growing up was interesting.
02:26
Q – IS IT DIFFERENT TO WALES?
Is it different from Wales? Yeah. Very different. Very different from Wales, you know, here in Wales, I don't know…I don't know how the population here in Wales is compared to my country, where I grew up… So is very, very different from Wales because my country is a very, very busy place, where I grew up is a very busy place and here in Wales is not really busy and… I mean, it's just different, that’s it, it’s different.
03:22
Q – WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE TYPE OF MUSIC?
Oh, my music. I listen to Afrobeat, Hip Hop. Well, in my country in Africa. Our music is nearly Afrobeat. We have Afro Jùjú also, but I don't really have much information about that, because, me growing up I listen to Afrobeat, but people from the 1980s/1970s they listen to more Afro Jùjú music, but from 1990 upward we listen to Afrobeats and we have lots of Afrobeats artists that you know, are trending now the likes of Davido, Burna Boy, Rema… a lot of them, so that's the kind of music I listen to. We also have traditional music from different parts of my country, different parts of Nigeria, so I listen to some traditional music also.
04:55
Q – WHAT ARE THE TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND DANCES IN NIGERIA?
What are the traditional dances like and music there? Interesting. I mean, you know, music, when it’s traditional music, it explains way of life in my country. In music, you it gives a lot of information about the community, about a situation, even about like a theme of… this song or like, it gives it like a theme and you know the old… this music is talking about this, it’s talking about this. So, music, dance, gives... it gives… it’s stories, like a story. Traditional music it's like a story in my country, so, that’s all I can say about that.
06:08
Q – CAN YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF THE TYPE OF STORIES TOLD?
Well, I cannot really pick one, but we have lots of different songs that are story related. We have some that are about a mother and child… maybe a mother is talking to a child in parables and… the artist, you know they make it into music. A lot of them, but I really cannot just think of one now. Sincerely, I just can’t.
07:11
Q – YOU SAID YOU WERE MARRIED, WHAT ABOUT WEDDINGS IN NIGERIA?
Weddings in Nigeria, they are big weddings. You know, in my country we majorly, we have three ethnic groups in my country. And they are the Igbos, the Yorubas and the Hausas. We have a lot of other ethnic groups but the major one are those three and you know, when they are having events like that, especially weddings or funerals or birthday, is always a big thing. The Yorubas, we like to impress. I'm from the Yoruba part of the country, Nigeria, so is always a big wedding. You know, we have different delicacies, different attire, music, dancing. So, the weddings also showcase our dancing.
08:33
Q – WHAT ARE THE CLOTHES LIKE? ARE THE CLOTHES DIFFERENT?
Yeah, we have different attire. Like I said, we have different attire. The Yorubas put on different attire from the Igbos and from the Hausas. For the Hausas, I can't remember the name of the clothes they put on, but some of them for the Hausas, you know, they cover their head, they cover their body. The Igbos also put on different attire, they call it ‘George’. That's very, very, very expensive. Very, very expensive material in my country. So, when they do weddings, you see the bride putting on that kind of clothes because it's a very, very expensive attire. And they have different beads that they put on to complement the dress. And also in the Yoruba tribe where I come from, we put on ‘Aso-Oke’, we call it ‘Aso-Oke’. The Aso-Oke is… they made it with hand, it’s hand-knitted, and we also have different kind of materials we wear with the Aso-Oke, we call lace, cord lace, different type of material. And we call… some people… so it’s like ‘iro’ and ‘buba’. What I mean by ‘iro’ and ‘buba’ is just like your top and skirt, but our own iro and buba is a top and a wrapper. So we use the list to sew the top and the wrapper, and we use the Aso-Oke to complement it. Some people sew Aso-Oke, they sew it as top and the wrapper and so… but nowadays people getting married are sewing it as gown because it's a very thick material, I have one I used it for my thanks-giving, after I got married I used it for my thanks-giving in the church. Is a very, very big and heavy material, so that's that, and we wear beads to complement the dressing.
11:30
Q – HOW IMPORTANT IS THE FOOD IN THE CULTURE?
Our food? Well, we have different delicacies in my country. Like I said, we have different ethnic group in my country, so our food are different, our delicacies are different. So, in a Yoruba party when you go to Yoruba party where I come from, 'cause I come from the western part of Nigeria and the ethnic group is the Yoruba… our food is different from the Igbos, from the Hausas. So when you go to Yoruba party, you see different delicacies like cassava flour where is been turned with hot water. We have pounded yam where the pound, it's in a motor and they use the pistol to dig it, and we have different soup also in the Yoruba tribe, we have the different vegetables that we use to eat the solid food like that. And also, if it's a… if it's an Igbo wedding, they have their soup also, different kind of food, I don't really know about that because I'm not from that tribe, so… but from the Yoruba tribe where I come from, we are different food, we have pounded yam and egusi. We have àmàlà and ewedu and okra, and the general meal in a wedding party, the general and popular meal we eat in a wedding party is the jollof rice. And the fried rice. So, there's no party in Nigeria that they don't do that rice. That's why the Nigerian jolof rice is is very, very popular meal.
13:46
Q – IS IT DIFFIULT TO MAKE TRADITIONAL NIGERIAN FOOD IN WALES?
Well it’s not really difficult. Since when I came here to the UK I’ve been eating my food, my country food, from Nigeria because we… have the African store here in Wales, in Cardiff and also in Treforest there… that they sell the ingredients we use, and we also have the opportunity to you know, you know, buy them from my country and do a posting through DHL, they bring it down. Or if we have any of our relatives, you know, in my country like we are like a community. We help each other, you know, where you have anyone travelling to come out to the country, to our country, Nigeria, we ask them to help us bring the ingredients, the food. So it's not really, it's not difficult to make here. Like I said, I don't know how to even do any of the British meal. So I've been eating my traditional meal, which is not difficult and it's OK for me, yeah.
15:18
Q – WHAT’S THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE FROM NIGERIA AND SOUTH WALES?
Biggest difference… from Nigeria and South Wales or should we say the biggest difference from Nigeria and he United Kingdom? There's a big difference, should I say, security wise. Is different, should I say entertainment also, let me just say, let me talk about the entertainment world. Is different because you know in my country, Nigeria, we like entertainment. And I've not really, I've not really seen something like that in Wales here, not having shows, gathering a lot of people to have shows and… I don't know how they celebrate weddings here. Also I don't know how they celebrate birthdays too. In my daughter's school they’ve invited to my daughter to some birthday parties and I see how they celebrate birthday parties, but it's different in my country, you know, birthday parties… You have different meal, different delicacies… Well, you can actually do the birthday party in your house, but most of the time I've seen that they rent or they go to… they rents, yeah, let me just see all's for parties here, which is not bad, is OK, but it's really, really different and also entertainment type, entertainment side. And also the… when we are doing festive, festive period here is, I don't know, well, let me just say it's very, very different. In my country when we are doing any festive period, like, or having the Christmas or Easter celebration or… which other one is… the New Years, we gather ourselves together, you know what I mean? Family is community. We have… is a time to have fun and merry and also you know, your your family that you've not seen in a while, they come together, you come together, you have a family house. You come together and have fun. But here is different in this place, I mean I was even at work for my, my, the, the New Year's Eve, I was at work, which is not… if I was, if I were to be my country is not… I wasn't going to be at work. You party to unite you have fun. So let me just see. Where we have festive period in my Nigeria is way different from here in Wales.
18:58
Q – SO, DOES THE WHOLE COUNTRY SHUTDOWN DURING THE FESTIVE PERIOD AND THE NEW YEAR?
When we are having festive like that the government will declare a public holiday. We have a public holiday for that and the noise, the time to have fun with your family. It's time to have, it’s time to merry, it’s time to travel, gather yourself with your family, your community and you know there's a lot of cooking… In fact, you can just go to the next person house and you be like they offer you food. You know it's like a community and is a public holiday. And you know, the government can give two days public holiday, no work, 2-3 days, no, don't go to work, just merry, and you know, that is as it's always been. But here, I mean, the second day you go to work, even the day you go to work, even the day you're having a festive period you go to work, so it's a lot different.
20:05
Q – SO ARE THE SHOPS NOT OPEN ON A PUBLIC HOLIDAY?
So, on public holiday the private and the public owned companies they don't open. But if you are self-employed and you have a shop you can open but it’s not as if… maybe you just want to open, maybe you have people that want to buy something from you, get something for you, but it's not as if the general, when I mean the government and the private… they give their staffs public holidays so they don't go to work also, and the government is always shut down they don't go to work at all.
20:56
Q – DO YOU MISS ANYTHING FROM NIGERIA?
Do I miss anything from Nigeria? Yes, I do. I miss my weather, the weather in Nigeria is a lot different from here. But then I'm not the one that made the world, it’s cold. So I miss the weather in Nigeria. I miss the noise in Nigeria too. It's so silent here, you know. I miss, I miss the drama in Nigeria, you see a lot of things in Nigeria. I miss the drama, I miss the weather. And also, what do I miss in my country? I miss my family too. Yeah, that's the most important thing. That's the most important, I miss my family. I miss my siblings, some of my siblings, like I have a sibling here in the UK, also my mum is also here in the UK 'cause she came to celebrate with me but she still going back to my country. So, yeah, I miss my family, I miss my friends, some of my friends, some of them 'cause most of them are here in the UK too, so… Let me just say I miss family and weather.
22:24
Q – WHAT SORT OF NOISES DO YOU GET IN NIGERIA?
You know is not always silent – noise, children around… music you know, you listen to music, you can see a bar over there… and it’s not as if it is disturbing. Everyone is happy and yeah, so, that's what I miss.
22:56
Q – WHAT DRAMAS DO YOU GET THEN?
Dramas, you know, you can just be somewhere, you can see each other trying to trying to do something, like you be like this is a child and maybe is trying to climb something, different dramas. Like I say, I can't really pick one, different things happening in Nigeria. That's why I miss. Yeah.
23:41
Q – DO YOU KNOW JAY-JAY OKOCHA?
Oh yes, I do. I do know Jay-Jay Okocha. He’s a footballer but he’s retired now so… [INTERVIEWER: HE’S ONE OF MY FAVOURITES]. Well, I do know him but not personally. He’s a public figure, so I do know him as a footballer, yeah.
23:56
Q – DO YOU LIKE ANY FOOTBALL TEAMS?
Football teams, well, I let me just say I’m a Chelsea fan but it’s not as if I know a lot about it, it’s just when they're playing and I'll tell my husband “Oh is it Chelsea that is playing?” Oh, OK, I want us to win. Is not as if I’m a diehard fan of Chelsea. Any question again?
24:41
Q – DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE CHELSEA PLAYER?
Like I said, I don't know the players! I really, I really can't say anything about that.
24:53
Q – COULD YOU JUST DESCRIBE A TYPICAL NIGERIAN CHILDREN’S PARTY? YOU SAID THEY’RE VERY DIFFERENT TO WHAT THEY’RE LIKE IN THE UK.
Oh yeah, you have lots of activities in the birthday party. OK, let me just explain. Let me give you a scenario of a game in the children's birthday party. So we got maybe five chairs, five to six chairs, depending on the space of where you're holding the party, you have five to six chairs and you have, OK, let me just say six chairs and you have seven children dancing round the chair, dancing around the chair and there's someone controlling the music, so when the music stops the child, so any child that is not on seat leaves the game. And you know, we have different emotions, some of the child will be crying, that will be like “aww.” It happened to me one time I was playing, it was a birthday party and I didn't sit because the music stop, I couldn't get a seat at all, you know. I was, I was crying. But then it's a game, so it's one of the things I've not, I've not seen it in any birthday parties here that my daughter has attended, you know. Because parties here, most of them, like I said, most of their parents book a park, or do I say all children's kids all where they play and you know, the children don't really have this together, like, it's not if they're not together, but they don't have this fun activities like that. So, you know, because they have been in the hall, they have the equipment down for the children. So the children, “oh, I'm going to swing,” so they're going to swing, or “I'm going for the bouncing castle” then. So, so like I said, that's one of the games we play in, that's one of the activities we have in birthday parties in Nigeria, and we also do dancing competition where you have different people children dancing the one that dance best – if the people that the audience at the one judging so they should be one that dance very well, “Is it not? Is he the one?” They say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, so if it's ‘no’ the person is out of the game then they continue dance until they get, they will now, you know from the time goes and is fun. So that's how we do, even in wedding parties also. There are lots of activities in weddings that we do also, and you know, they will be like, who knows the husband sits, the wife sits and you know, the groomsmen and the bridesmaids stays and they will like, who knows how to cook best between the husband or the wife? They decide that they move to the wife or the husband. And, you know, it's a lot of activities, people laugh, they have fun in weddings and they dance also.
ENDS