Taiwo Ajai- Lycett, OON is a Nigerian actress, journalist, television presenter, and cosmetologist. The veteran actress, who is highly revered and respected by many, has passed through a lot of pain in her lifetime and shares her story in the recent interview, encouraging the youths to forgive and move on irrespective of the situation.
The 80- year- old recipient of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) revealed: ” I have been through the fire, I emerged fortified. I was 15 years old when I had a child. By 16, I was on my own. I knew I was going to get a good education. I was going to be a lawyer.
” But I knew that I was on my own. My family disowned me. I married David Akinduro after I relocated to the U. K, but I left him due to domestic violence. I met Thomas Lycett long after I divorced my first husband. Eventually, I married him. We had a blissful marriage. He died Some years back but I remember him every day.
He was the one that told me that I was better off being an actor. After his death, I was robbed and raped in my house in Egbe. I was tied. I was beaten. I was brutalized. My health was ruined. ” I was blindfolded and raped. The man who raped me complained that he couldn’ t gain easy entry into me because I wasn’ t wet. I told him ‘ widows don’ t get wet. ‘
” I kept talking to them and asked them repeatedly, ‘ Are you doing this to your mother? ‘ Angrily, they taped my mouth but I remained fearless and prayed all through the attack. ” The police came. They expected me to pursue the case. I knew the masterminds. I could have gotten them incarcerated but I simply moved on. Look at me today, I am over it. See, the mind is a beautiful thing. When you hold on to past hurt, you tie yourself down to grief. You get infected with its poison. ”
” Rather than wallow in grief and self- pity, I picked myself up and sought medical help, ensuring that they hadn’ t infected me with an STD. ” A few years later, one of them came to prostrate before me, pleading for my forgiveness. I told him to seek forgiveness from God. I told him I had moved on. “