After taking a somewhat long break, Teju Oyelakin, aka Teju Babyface, has returned with his television show. He speaks with OLUSHOLA RICKETTS on the challenges that necessitated the break, his new engagements and the reason he quit stand-up comedy, among other things.
Why did you stop Teju Babyface TV Show at a time?
I didn’t stop my show. I do not know what gave people that impression. For a long time, we did not record new contents, but the reason was to re-strategise because it is a challenging business environment for entrepreneurs. Since you are into it alone without financial support, you must learn on the job. And when you learn, you have to relax and put those lessons in practice. I read a few articles where they said I explained why I stopped the TV show and I was curious.
I used to make a lot of noise about it; you would see billboards everywhere and it was always on social media too. But we stopped doing that. When a captain of a ship runs into a storm on the high sea, he brings down the sail. The fact that he cannot see the sail of the ship from miles away during the storm doesn’t mean the ship is not on the sea.
What nature of trouble did you run into?
Every business runs into trouble; anyone who disputes that is rather infantile or not a business person. Every single business runs into trouble, including some of the most successful ones that we know. The trick is to manage it during the low periods so as to come out better.
We pay for airtime in this country, but in the other parts of the world, networks fund the programmes. All you need to do is to execute a project with your creative idea and give it to them. The other option is to fund the project and they buy it.
But in Nigeria, you produce the programme yourself, you pay the TV stations to air it and you market it yourself. There is no way one will not run into problems unless you have a deep pocket or your father left you with so much before he died.
If you borrowed money to record the first 13 episodes of a show, the television station would still demand you pay for all episodes. They also have a ridiculous thing called displacement surcharge. If the cost of airtime for 13 episodes is N5.2 million, you would have to pay it in double. You would pay N10.4 million in addition to the millions you have spent recording the show. And don’t forget that you must have run the show for a while to attract the right sponsors.
Also, to do a show at the level we are doing it, you need your own studio and you need a facility that is yours. We don’t have that; we have to record in bulk. That is not the way it ought to be.
You left stand-up comedy for TV. What happened?
You must always look for where life has called you to. Stand-up comedy for me was a means to an end, not an end in itself. It was a skill I needed to learn to get to where I was headed to in life. While certain people think I was a good stand-up comedian, there were people who did it far better than me. It was just something I did for a while to have certain experience. After gaining the experience, I felt it was time to move on to the television. Television is an area where I am king; I produce my content for television very well and I am almost flawless in that area.
What stops you from combining standup comedy with TV shows?
What it takes to do television at the level we are doing it cannot give any space. Television is a jealous endeavour; you would find out that the resources it takes or demands from you, is more than what you have to give. So, there is no space for you towards the direction of comedy shows, especially when one wants to build a certain legacy. I am not looking to make money so fast, though money is important. I always like to do new and different things. I did a few comedy shows in the past and they were successful.
What do you miss most about stand-up comedy?
The remarkable thing is that I never left stand-up comedy, though you will not see me performing comedy on stage. The hours and energy others spend on putting jokes together, I spend it in writing scripts for television. At a time, I was using all that creativity to form jokes, but I now use it for TV and to write business models for my organisation.
As far as stand-up comedy goes, I really do not have much to give again as I used to. But I am still a comedian; I can’t run away from that. It is what I am known for and it would always be part of me, no matter how big I get to be.
Do you still plan to bring Wole Soyinka to your show?
I am still working on that. His script was actually the first I wrote in 2008. The first two scripts I wrote, I haven’t had the opportunity to interview them. The second person is Sanusi Lamido, ex-governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and Emir of Kano. I didn’t make any attempt to get to Lamido.
When I started the show, I knew unconsciously that there might come a time we would take a break like we did. Coming back, we would need the likes of Wole Soyinka and Lamido. I didn’t really stress myself to get them because I knew the period was coming when we would have what it needed to bring them on our programme.
Were you not afraid that the break would water down the show?
What came in place when we took a break? You need to tell me a talk show that is as good as ours or even better. When you do your work well, you have no worries and it is one of the things I tell young people. When you come out in the area that life has called you and you do your work well, nobody can take your place while you are away.
I watched our show doing very well; I watched it getting to The Point we had problems and we had to stop to solve those problems. Solving these problems took a while but we needed to solve them. We’ve fixed the problems, so opportunities are coming again. It is now time to implement the solutions we got.
Does that mean Teju Babyface Show is better than all other TV shows?
Every product or service has its own niche. The niche we’ve created is still there; nobody has taken our place and followership. We have our own unique signature, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have other TV shows that are good or better. We are just good at what we do.
What are those things the show has taken from you?
I don’t sleep well; my mind always refuses to go to sleep. That is basically what I lost, but I gained so many things as well, including popularity, some remuneration and fulfilment.
Have you ever thought of reviving your acting career, your first love?
I looked for movie roles and I didn’t get them. I enjoyed acting at that time, but I don’t like to go back there anymore. It is something I can do, but it is not the best expression of my gift or talent. There are other people who can do far better than I act. I spent about five years in the movie industry. I think I became popular after ‘Diamond Ring’ because most people saw the movie. I have had to build a career and name steadily. As a comedian, for instance, there was never a period that I was the number one, though there were no official ratings. I don’t want to mention names, but certain comedians have dominated the industry at different times. I was probably number three at a period but never number one. I didn’t see that as a problem because I later realised that comedy was not my final destination. So, it was not necessary for me to get to number one; I just needed to do well there and move to the next level.
Given another chance, what would you love to do better?
That is money management. The fault with a lot of creative people is that they sacrifice everything for their dreams, including financial education. They keep feeding the dream, but unfortunately for perfectionists and creative people, the dream is never satisfied and it would eventually strip you of everything you have worked for. When they make money, instead of spreading it out and using financial sense, they would love to bring heaven to earth. I did that with Teju Babyface Show. When I started making money, I wanted everything to be done at once. I wanted bigger studio, I wanted better light and so on. But you have to grow steadily in business.
So, I would love to do certain things differently with regards to spacing myself. But we learn from life everyday so as to adjust.
How do you manage female admirers?
We have certain people that God chose for His works. I get the impression that God often shields me from the eyes of ladies. It is either they don’t see me or they are afraid of me. They greet me timidly or unsure of how to greet me. My friend once told me that it is the way I carried myself, but unfortunately I don’t see these things.
Also, I am always putting the picture of my wife everywhere on social media. My marriage is over four years now.
