BABAJIDE ADESOJI FAGADE
As a Timid Child I Struggled to Deal With Bullies and Peer Pressure
What’s your name and can you give us a glimpse into your childhood? My name is Babajide Adesoji Fagade, popularly referred to as ‘Babs.’ I would submit that my growing up was good. I come from a family of four –I am the fourth; if you like, I am the last born of my mum. I will always remember travelling to different countries abroad with my parents as a child. Growing up with my mum as a textile merchant, I enjoyed the few holiday trips to Zurich, Milan and London. Those trips added to my growing up in a lot of ways. My parents put me through early education; I attended nursery, elementary, secondary and tertiary institutions. Looking back, I can only conclude that the moral value of those days was borne out of societal culture rooted in our tradition as a people. I can still remember vividly well that our neighbours’ parents acted like our parents. It was with unspoken permission that the neighbours’ parents can flog another neighbour’s child in an effort to correct such child and the only thing that would come out of such action was for that child’s parents to complement the flogging as a sign of saying thank you to that neighbour’s parent. As a child, my talent was obvious to everyone around me both at school and at home. I could draw and paint pretty well and I was encouraged by my parents. To the extent that I used to draw visitors that came to see my parents while they stayed in the living room discussing. I was not only just a creatively talented child, it also reflected in my Fine Art grades at school. My best grade was always in Fine art and I maintained the performance till I graduated from high school.
However, it turned out that my parents would not support my desire to study Fine Art or even Graphic Art at a tertiary institution. I could not rebel against my parents’ decision based on the upbringing and this slowed down the pace of my education. It took a couple of attempts at JAMB to choose or even pass and gain admission out of such state of confusion as it was then. I later figured a way out to ensure a career in the creative industry as my parents insisted that I should study accounting. So I opted for marketing after I discovered that advertising is under it from the last of the four ‘Ps’ (Product, Price, Place and Promotion). I got admission to study Marketing and graduated with a Higher National Diploma in Marketing. As an undergraduate back in school then, I used to create hand-made cards and sell to students. I should add that the hand-made card creation actually started when I was about finishing secondary school and this continued through my tertiary institution days. I later furthered my education with a post-graduate in Advertising and Public Relations. Were you the boisterous type as a child? I can confirm to you and likewise everyone that encountered me as a child that I was a very calm child who never got involved in any troublesome situation. Other than being a very careful boy, I was a fairly timid child that had to learn to stand up for myself in the face of bullies and peer pressure. What values have made you who you are? The values that made me who I am today cannot be plainly described because it is a combination of several standards. However, I value integrity, commitment, responsibility, contentment, discipline and a life of purpose.