‘Before we married, I thought Ayo Aina was a lecturer in my school’

Mrs Edna Ayo Aina is the wife of famous Nigerian visual artist, Ayo Aina. She is a mother of three and a head teacher of a private school. In this interview with Daily Trust, she describes her husband as ‘Father Christmas’ because of his generosity, the care he extends to his family, and more. Excerpts:

How would you describe your husband?

He is a simple person, easygoing, and friendly. He’s a caring husband, and he cares for the entire family. Not only that, he cares about his friends. He has a large heart.

What kind of a father is he?

Aside his humility, he can be very strict. I can say that he has two sides as far as his children are concerned. He is jovial with them, caring to the extent of playing games with them, but he doesn’t compromise discipline.

Our first child, Praise, is nine and she is a girl. The second one, David, is a boy and he is seven and the last one, Peace, is three.

How did you meet your husband?

I met him during my undergrad days at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. I think we met in my second or third year. I met him through one of my lecturers. He was a friend to my lecturer then. At the pace he frequented our department, I thought he was also a lecturer there.

One day, my lecturer called me. When I entered the office, I saw my husband sitting there. The lecturer told me that his friend wanted to talk to me. When we started talking, he stated his agenda. As he’s a friend to my lecturer, I didn’t have interest.

I told him that he was a friend to my lecturer, therefore there could be nothing between us. He tried to convince me that we are not in the same department. I was in Biological Sciences, while he was in Arts. I think he had finished his Masters then.

I said to him that ‘I thought you’re a lecturer here’. He said no, that it was only because of me that he frequented our department. He kept on pestering my lecturer, until he agreed to introduce us. He didn’t give up, and after some time, we became friends. We continued to be friends until I left the university. We lost contact after that. To my surprise, when I completed my NYSC, he just called me. I think it was in 2005. We started talking again, and one way or the other we became close, and the rest is history. We got married in 2006.

What traits of your husband would you say you have imbibed over the years?

His generosity, as I mentioned earlier. He is practically a Father Christmas. Now, I don’t know when I am being generous to people. It is usually afterward that I would be asking myself that am I the one doing all these things to people? I think I have naturally learnt how to be generous through my husband to the extent that generosity has become like a competition between the two of us.

The other attribute I learnt is patience. My husband is very patient with people. His humility is second-to-none.

Which one of these attributes are you passing down to your kids?

I think all. By God’s grace, I am going to pass all these good attributes to the kids. He is also doing his best to see that the kids take his footsteps. 

What is your favourite part of being married to a famous artist?

This is a hard one, because I have many. One, whenever he is invited for events, he usually invites me to go with him and it’s always fun. Through that, I have met many interesting people. My children are still talking about one of those outings that we’ve had. But our honeymoon is still my favourite. 

Is he into sports? 

He keeps saying that if he has opportunity to come back to this life again, sport is one aspect he would make sure he explores. He said he did not explore sports and it is now he has realised it was a mistake. What made him to be saying all these is his recent interest in jogging. He jogs every morning and sometimes he walks for hours. 

What other field or profession, other than art, do you think he would have excelled in?

I think teaching, because he is a patient man. Also, he has been involved in several workshops, so I think he is a good teacher as well.  

Have any of the kids shown signs of artistic talent?

One of our sons has. Every second he keeps taking plain paper, saying ‘Daddy I want to draw’. This made the father to make a folder for him, where he keeps a collection of his drawings. In fact, the other children, too, have shown interest in drawing.

What is his favourite food?

White rice and chicken stew. He doesn’t tire of it. 

Do you have any artistic talent?

I have never tried, therefore I can’t know if I have the talent or not. I think one artist is enough in the family (laughter). However, he sometimes asks me to interpret some of his works, and I do that for him. I give my own understanding, but I have never tried my hand at art itself.