00:05

Q – CAN YOU TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?

My name is Raji-Lawal Oluwakemi Saidat. I'm married. I'm from the Yoruba tribe, the very illustrious, swagalicious, richest tribe in Nigeria. We moved to Wales in 2003, with my husband, no kids yet, and I'm doing my master’s currently in the University of South Wales studying Management, yeah.

00:38

Q – WHAT WAS IT LIKE GROWING UP IN NIGERIA?

OK, so, I would say I'm a mixture of both worlds. I'm a Lagosian, I live in Lagos in Nigeria, but I’m actually from Osun States in Nigeria. Let me say, growing up in, 'cause I spent my childhood, like, not the major part, just a little bit of my childhood in Osun States and then the major part in Lagos. In Osun State it was pretty fun, I would say fun, because every day it's a new thing, you know, going to the farm, cooking, playing with… It was fun actually, reminiscing about it now, it was fun. And then we now moved to Lagos and then it was still fun, but not as much as growing up in the village because in the village you were pretty free, you are free to do anything, go anywhere and then come back late in the night. But in Lagos, because it's a major city, you know, you're not allowed to wander too far from home so, tt was interesting, fun and very… let’s just say fun, fun and interesting.

01:50

Q – YOU MENTIONED THERE’S A BIG SENSE OF COMMUNITY, TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT THAT.

Yeah, yep. Like I said, growing up in, let me use the village settings. Where I come from is not a village, it's a big city. My hometown in Osun State, it's a big city. And everybody knows everybody's child. You know, everybody knows everybody child. Like there was a time my mom said I wondered, I just, I was pretty young, like say 2/3, and I left the house. I went as far as going to the main market, and the main market from our house was like, if I'm going to walk is like an hour walk. So I went to the main market and they were looking for me everywhere, “Oh, we are looking for Saida, we are looking for Saida.” News got to the market and someone was like, “I saw her in the market”, and they were like, “let's go to the market”. When they got to the market, I was already at the King’s Palace. And my parents, my mum came to them and was like “I'm looking for my child”, they said “we know she is your child”, said, “how do you know?” From the resemblance is, you know, is there, a facial resemblance, the physic is there. So, “we know she's your child, next time don't let her wander that far from home”. So that sense of everybody knows everybody's child. There's no way you would do something wrong and even if you offend somebody that you don't know, somebody that you don't know is going to give you that, you know, that discipline because that's somebody that you don't know, probably knows your mom, your mother or your father, you know, so that sense of community, like, although she's not my child, I still have to protect her, I still have to take care of her. You can never go hungry in Nigeria, let me say, you can never go wrong, someone is always bringing something to your door. Even when you say, ‘oh, I've had enough’, they are always bringing. So, I miss that sense of community, you know, that sense of, oh, I’m bored at home, let me go to the next neighbour’s house and ‘gist’ (slang term for gossip) for hours. I definitely know when I'm going back to my house, she's going to give me something. So that's the, the food, nah, I'm not a foodie, but that sense of having people around you, like when you're depressed, you have someone to, you know, to call and talk to for hours. When I'm hungry, I know if I go to sister Temi’s house she's going to cook, so definitely, I don't have a problem. I know, ooh, I don't have these shoes, I know sister Temi has, even if it is not my size she’s going to put tissues in the front, so that by the time I put my feet, you know, the shoe with size me, someone is always there to, you know, to do, yeah, that's the only thing I miss, and the weather.

04:26

Q – YOU MENTIONED BEFORE THAT YOU’RE A FASHION DESIGNER, DO YOU MAINLY DESIGN NIGERIAN CLOTHES OR DO YOU DO A BIT OF EVERYTHING?

Yeah, it depends… as far back as the ‘90s, we were only doing basically Nigerian clothes on everything. But you know, fashion is not something that stands still, it evolves and as it evolves you have to evolve with it. Now we are in the ‘20s and particularly anything and everything we sew, we make. You know, we go from making wedding gowns to making casualwears to making ‘owambe’, anything and anything, as long as it is what you're putting on your body… irrespective of which tribe, what country… we're doing it now we. I'm running to catch up with them now because they've left me far behind, so now I'm like, trying to catch up with them because fashion in Nigeria is way beyond what we think now. Yes, it’s skyrocketed. You will see a design and you will be like, I don't believe it's a Nigerian that did this, but actually it is. So it's like that now.

05:37

Q – WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE PATERNITY TEST THINGS, COULD YOU TALK A BIT MORE ABOUT THAT?

Alright, like I said, every home in Nigeria, in Yoruba culture, mostly Nigeria because I believe the Igbos too have theirs, so every home they have a way, they test to see, because back in the day there was no DNA. And as much as we like to pretend that it doesn't exist back then, it does. You know, there's a bit of frolicking on the side, you know, and then there has to be a way each family would detect if this child is actually from my home. Like, where I come from, Osun States… each state they have their, how will I say it, tourist attraction. In Osun States we have this huge river, which we believed was, how will I say it, let me look for a way to explains so that you understand… The river came about in ancient times, you know… it’s an ancestral river, so if you are a native of Osun States, my mom told me that the only way they will test if you're actually born from what you say, they will take you to the river. There's a big python in the river, a huge one, very huge, so you have to stay in that river for like, as, if you are not scared and the python doesn't come out, even if it comes out and it doesn't, you know, attack you, it just, like, walks around you and then goes back, then it's confirmed that you are a true born child of… I don't believe it, you know, but it is what it is, so, but the one that we do mostly in my own home is, if you are born from my home, from my own compound, we call it compound, family compound, there’s a ritual that we do to confirm the paternity of that child, if that child is actually from that home and not a bastard child, yes. So because I don't need a paternity test because I look a lot, very much like my dad and my mom, I’m a combination of physic, my mom, face, my dad. So what paternity test do you need?

So I was accepted for that. But others they do, I don't know how they do it, but they do. So each home they have their ways of testing their own. Like we said, the Ijaws, is by throwing their child in the river, if the child can survive after 10 minutes, you know, actually breathe after 10 minutes then it's confirmed which is from us. Like, Tunde, it is water on the feet. Some, it is by throwing water in the roof of the house and then the mother will carry the child an run through that water, like, 3 or 4 times to… They have different homes with different rituals, you get, so it's like that.

08:34

Q – COULD YOU JUST EXPLAIN A LITTLE ABOUT THE FACT THAT EVERY FAMILY WITHIN THE TRIBE HAS A CERTAIN SKILL?

Yeah, in the olden days when Africa was still Africa, not everybody wants to be a farmer, not everybody wants to be a drummer. That's something that you are specialised in. We have the farmers, their own specialty is going to the farm. We have the fishermen, their own speciality is fishing. In their own home, from their own compound, there is nothing we want to see about different types of fishes in the river that they don't know, even the ones that you've not seen before. The drummers, there's nothing that can’t beat with a drum. We have the cotton weavers, they make our fabric. There's nothing they cannot do with cotton weavers. So, each home, they have like, every home with a specialty and then when we have like an occasion or a festive season, they all come together. You are bringing the drum, you are bringing the fabrics, you are bringing the food, you are bringing the fish, you know, everybody like that. So that's when we're doing any festival, not in the city, in the, you know, villages, when everybody comes together, bring different things from the… if you're up from the royal family, you are bringing beads, and your presence, your royalty; if you are from the family that they make beads, we call them ‘edo’, they are brining colourful and beautiful beads, so everybody is bringing something to the table for everybody to, you know, bring together and make the occasion very, very lively and, you know, interesting. So it's like that. Like, where my own part of Osun States… he's [REFERRING TO AGBOOLA BABATUNDE TIMOTHY] from Oyo States, they do the drumming. Each state, irrespective of the home that you come from, you have your specialty. In Osun States, we also have the drummers, they beat the drums too. So, we have the drummers, we have the singers, what they do in their own home is they sing. We have the king-praisers, what they do in their family is they praise the kind, they don't do anything else. If one dies, then you go to that family and bring another one. So, that's the way it is. So every home with their speciality.

11:04

Q – WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF YOUR CULTURE?

My favourite part of my culture is the respect. If you are… like Esther [REFERRING TO ESTHER SUNDAY] said, the Hausas, if they want to greet you, they don't need to prostrate or kneel down, they just greet you, the Igbos too. If you are a born and bred Yoruba woman or Yoruba child, even if the person is not from your culture, like it has become an habit now, even at work now when I'm in Wales and my boss be like, “Saidat”, I go like “Ma”. She has corrected me, “What’s Ma?” But it’s because… that's what has been inculcated in us. You have to respect irrespective of who you are, even if the person is older than you by two seconds, like, if you are twins, you are born the same day, the same time but you're 2 seconds apart you still have to respect that’s your twin. So it's the respect for me. Anywhere I go, if I want to reach you, if I have not done like this, then it doesn't show that I respect you. You have to respect… that’s the most interesting thing that I like about Yoruba culture, respect.

12:19

Q – IF WE GO BACK TO THE FASHION, CLOTHES, CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE WEARING TODAY?

OK, so because I'm a Muslim, I have to be covered up always, so that's why I'm always covered with my head… because I'm the fashionable Muslim type, that's why I'm like this. If I were not the fashionable Muslim type, then I will be covered from head to toe, you know. So this, I made this myself. I made, I got the fabric from, it's an African print, we call it African print, so I made it myself... I did the pattern, sewed everything and brought it to life myself. So, this… I was thinking let me wear a shirt but I wanted it to be a little more casual, you know, so I went with this stop and this jacket. And then, of course, I complete it with my head scarf. So, and nice shoes too… I’m a walking mannequin of what I do. Back home in Nigeria everything I wear, I make myself, you know… every Saturday in Nigeria, there's a party. So I'm always busy from Monday to Friday making party clothes for everybody… If you want to know who a fashion designer is in a Nigerian party, their clothes is not always flashy, because they make their clothes the last minute, just do something and then you go, yeah, so I'm always busy… When I got here, like, I need something to keep me busy, let me do this. I'm still looking for a fabric shop in Rhondda where I can go and get more fabrics, because to tell you the truth I’m not really comfortable wearing, you know, so I have to wear something that I make myself. That’s the only thing that’s keeping me sane here. When I’m stressed out, or when everything else is bothering me, once I sit behind my sewing machine, I’m gone. Yeah. [INTERVIEWER – AND YOU LOOK GREAT]. Thank you. [LAUGHTER].

ENDS