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It’s always a tricky question because I wear so many hats. I'm the father of 3 boys. I live in Kent with my wife and family and have been for a while. I’m originally from Nigeria, so I came to the UK to do my PhD.
I'm currently Head of LCC, but my background is in theatre, storytelling and actor training to be precise. As a leader, I describe myself as a relational leader; I'm very interested in people. I think that it's people that make organisations, not structures and processes.
As a leader, I always like to see the individuals behind the data. So, you have that personal touch. That means that when decisions have to be made, I'm thinking about it from a human perspective. What does it mean to be kind and compassionate in a given circumstance? For me, those 2 words are really important. We forget that within businesses, but I really think it's important to be kind. And kindness doesn't mean doing everything everybody wants. But it's just letting people know that you see them, even when you have to make a very hard decision. So, I think that's one of the things that really defines who I am as a person. I like to make that human connection with people.
That's a very interesting question, because often when you ask that, people usually go with all the big names. But there are two people who have been particularly important to me and one of them is my mum. I still haven't met anybody who's worked harder and cared more about people than my mum.
Growing up, we always had children from different families in our home back in Nigeria. My mum would come back home with somebody's child who's lost their parents at some point. So, we always had lots of different people growing up in our house, and she would put them through school. We have lots of people that call her mum, not because of her age, but because she was really a mum to them.
But also, during long holidays, I used to go to work with my mum. She was a Chief Superintendent in Nigeria Police Force. A lot of things I do in my career today, I learned from the way she wanted people to feel comfortable. She always wanted people of a lower rank than her to feel very important. If she wanted to talk about something, she'd go to their office. She used to describe it as “coming into their space”. When you come into people's space, they feel more comfortable, rather than inviting them to your office, where they feel like they're in trouble.
The second Black person who’s inspired me the most is my eldest sister. She's a managing director at Heineken in Belgium and has embodied all the things that my mum was to us growing up. She's got at least 3 different children living with her at the moment who are not related to her directly. And like our mum, she's training them through school. One of them is at University in the US now.
Those 2 women were quite fundamental in shaping my thinking and my approach to life.
I think one of my greatest achievements was becoming a father for the first time. And I'll tell you why I say that; it's not a cliché for me. When I had my first son, I was doing my PhD. I still remember how excited I was to have a baby. My wife was working full time then, so I did a lot of the caring when she went back to work after maternity leave. I can’t remember exactly, but I think it was probably when he was 3-4 months old, and I was dressing him. For the first time, I felt a very deliberate action from him putting his hands in his t-shirt. It was like he knew what I was trying to do. I can't explain that feeling, but it felt like I'd won the lottery. I had goose bumps. I felt like screaming. For the first time I felt like, wow, this is an independent human being here.
I think that’s what makes life worth living. I could use being Head of College to define my identity. But if that's my identity, I've got nothing to give you; my sense of self is not tied to my position. I think my sense of self is more tied to my faith, to helping other people succeed, and using my leadership to facilitate creativity and enable others to do their jobs well.
Black History Month, for me, is about being out there, being more focused in what I'm trying to do that benefits African and African Caribbean people in the UK by highlighting some of the achievements of people that look like me, because that is often very difficult. It’s also about educating people on what Black people in this country have achieved, as there is so much that the public don't know about.
I hope that the time will come when Black History Month as a celebration of Black achievement is less important and that what we do on a day-to-day basis and our achievements are recognised. Black history needs to be taught in schools so that people like myself growing up in this country can see role models that look like them in every sphere. There's a place for Black History Month now and in the future, but I hope that time will come when we don’t place so much emphasis on that month because we celebrate and recognise Black people all around the year.
We have a very diverse student body. It's really important that every student can see people like them and can learn about their histories and cultures. It's all part of the education we want to give our students.
Most hegemonic institutions that are part of the British establishment will have baggage related to African colonialism and all the other things that are associated with it. I think that it's important for institutions to look back into their history and ask themselves questions about their role then and what they're doing now to address some of the historic injustices linked to colonialism.
For me, it's really important that a leading art and design University such as UAL is at the forefront of this work. I also think it sends a clear message to the sector, not just within education, but the wider creative sector, that this is something that is not just about paying lip service, but it's something that needs to be infused in the way we think about creativity.
For us as a creative institution, it’s important to show that the things we are talking about are things that influence creativity worldwide.
I think that we need to come to a point as a society where everybody is recognised for what they can contribute and not for how they look or sound. That's what I hope that campaigns like Black History Month can contribute to. When everybody is recognised equally and we don’t have to add a qualifier in front of our Britishness. We need to talk about things like access to culture: who's got access to culture, who is welcome in venues? At the theatre? Who are we welcoming to a particular community?
I would like to see a more accommodating environment. I would like to see the creative industries lead the way because often, whether you're talking about scientific or other breakthroughs, it's the creative people that lead the way. We imagine it and then science catches up and makes it a reality.
I would like to see the creative industries, more general the arts and creative industries, take a lead in championing inclusion, equity and anti-racism. We know that culture is created through art, and I don’t feel like we as practitioners and creators have challenged ourselves enough to make equity and inclusivity something that drives our practice. I'd like to see that inform our work more.
That's why I'm so pleased that UAL as an institution has decolonisation and anti-racism at the very heart of their curriculum. Because then we are producing creatives who are going to change the world for the better. We need to make sure that anti-racism is clearly embedded within our curriculum so that when students graduate from here, they have that anti-racist mindset and take that into their work, because that is how we change culture. Changing culture takes time but I think that's what we're here for. We make our own little impact, and the next person comes and builds on it.
I hope that we, beyond this Black History Month, retain this sense of urgency that this month creates in the conversations that we have going forward as a University community.
Find out more about how we're celebrating Black History Month.
As part of our Black History Month celebration, we interviewed UAL alumni and current staff member Ella Okoromadu, who works as a Brand and Creative Services Assistant. Get to know Ella, find out why acknowledging Black History is important to her and how it has helped shaped her creative practice.
Gracia Mutombo speaks about Colonised Beauty - an experiential event that asks participants to reflect on the ways in which social media perpetuates racial biases and westernised beauty ideals.
Black History Month profile of Dr David Dibosa - art historian, Reader in Museology and Course Leader of MA. Get to know David and hear what he loves about his work, what has changed and is changing for the better in the art world, and his hopes for putting ideas into action.
As part of our Black History Month celebration, we interviewed Student Enquiries Administrator Sharifa Edwards, who is currently working on raising deaf awareness at LCC. Get to know Sharifa, find out why acknowledging Black History is important to her and how it has helped shaped her creative practice.