In a society that
is mainly dominated by men, women who have distinguished themselves in their
chosen careers are worth celebrating. Thus, Mrs Folorunsho Alakija is an
example of a woman, who has shown, through her immense contributions to the
socio-economic well being of our nation that being a woman is not a barrier to
reaching lofty heights in life.
The founder of
Rose of Sharon Foundation had her education in Wales and Nigeria and she began
her career in secretarial services and ended up with banking and finance.
After 12 years,
she discovered her true calling and started Supreme Stitches, designing a
fusion of Nigerian and western styles for her many diverse and important
clients.
She became the
President of FADAN, (Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria) before her
family commenced business in the oil industry with Famfa Oil Ltd.
In this exclusive
chat with Funsho Akinwale in her posh office on Ajose Adeogun, Victoria Island,
the highly celebrated mother of four talked candidly on her life at 60, her 35
years of marriage to Mr Modupe Alakija and most especially the 3rd birthday of
her first grandchild, Femi.
You
are looking very good even at 60, what is the secret
I don't have any
secret. I do all the wrong things at the right time and the wrong time because
I have no particular routine. So, if you are looking for a method or ideology,
I'm afraid, I might disappoint you. Every good thing about me, especially my
look, is by the grace of God because I eat at odd times, I eat the wrong
things, I sleep at odd hours, and I exercise regularly. So, I can only
attribute what you see to the grace of God not because I've done the right
thing at the right time.
Looking
back at your life, did you envisage that you would go this far in life
What do you mean
by go this far? Or is it in my age?
Yes
I intend to live
up to 100 years of age by the special grace of God. God willing, every body
wants to live for as many years on earth as possible. I'm not usually ill, I
thank God for that and nobody wants to die young, so I'm just like any person
who wants to live long.
Of course, I still
pray to God for Him to give me a long life as He gave the opportunities to my
parents who died in their 90s. So, I see no reason what anyone should not
aspire to live long, as I said, nobody wants to die young and I give all the
glory to God.
Using
your 35 years of marriage as a yardstick, why is it that marriages don't last
these days
Well, I give glory
to God, but a lot has to do with individuals and their perception about
marriage. God has always wanted human beings who get married to remain in
marriage till death separates them.
As a result, it's
in the hands of the couple to ensure that their marriage works because you have
to please God in that area and you can't reciprocate according to God's
commandment that we should have children and we should see our generation come
to life and live in happiness and joy without making some efforts.
Both parties are
responsible in ensuring that their marriage works. So, it takes a lot of
patience, submissiveness on the part of the wife and love on both parts and
respect and honour for the wife by the husband, and communication between both
of them, understanding, perseverance between both of them.
And remember that
it takes two to tango, If one person play his or her own role it would be bad.
It's like a chain and once a link in a chain breaks, it can never be the same
again unless you mend that chain. The key is to ensure that the chain does not
break because no matter how you mend it, it can never be the way it was, the
best is to find ways of ensuring that you don't break that chain.
So, as I said, if
you put all these things into practice more often than not, you will find out
that you can have a sustainable loving marriage.
The
massive turn-out of eminent Nigerians at your 60th birthday showed that you are
very well respected and highly loved. How have you been able to build the name
over the years
I've always
believed in God, I've always believed in being upright, I've always believed in
working very hard, loving my neighbour. I've always tried to please many people
as I can as I was growing up and I am always conscious of my reputation. I
don't believe in lying, deceiving people or cheating, I'm a very straight
forward person. That is how I've lived my life all these years and I pray that
God will continue to give me the grace not to change and if I'm going to
change, it will be for the better.
Now
at 60, what do you still look for in life
In life right now,
I'm looking out for two things: that is to be able to do the will of God
according to His plan and purpose for my life. God has a purpose for every
human being and you have to discover your purpose in life because if you don't,
you will miss it and if you miss it, you will be asked before you enter the
gate of heaven why you did not fulfill your destiny. I want to be able to
fulfill my destiny and I want to be alive to see my grand children.
You
are still strong and healthy, how have you been able to manage your health
That is also
through the grace of God, not through what I do. I know a lot of people who
look after themselves, but still don't enjoy the grace of good health as much
as they would have liked to. So, as I said, it's not because of what I do, but
I only enjoy His grace.
How
has life been with your husband, Mr Modupe Alakija
Life has been
wonderful with him. He is an extremely kind, loving and caring husband, and
father to me and my children. Alakija has been an extremely responsible husband
to us all. He dotes on all of us and he provides and attends to our needs as
required by God. We know each other inside out because we courted for three and
half years before we got married. So it's like knowing each other for thirty eight
and half years. So when he winks, I know what he means, if he cough,s I know
what he means, if he codes me with any particular tone, I understand him. So,
we both know each other well more than anybody else. And God has given us the
grace so much that we are very much into each other in the sense that we don't
hide anything from one another. And we try to please one another, we have just
lived 35 years of a good life together and though there is no perfect marriage,
every marriage have its ups and down, we thank God.
Before
the birth of your granddaughter, didn't you feel somehow that you did not have
a female among your four children
The first few
years, when I was having children and I was longing for a girl, and it didn't
come, I was initially disappointed. I accepted it the way it was. And I've said
to myself that I'm sure some of them would have girls and make up for the girls
I didn't have and God answered my prayer, and the first grandchild we had was a
girl. So, God has fulfilled my heart desire because I had been the only female
all along and now I have a partner.
What
went through your mind when the baby girl arrived
She arrived the
day after my 57th birthday and I had just spoken to God to give me a birthday
gift that money could not buy and this bundle of joy arrived the following day
and I was extremely happy.
What
kind of person is Mrs Folorunsho Alakija
Folorunsho Alakija
is someone, who is extremely hard working, very warm hearted, someone who likes
putting smiles on the faces of others and who likes given pleasant surprises to
people. Folorunsho is also passionate about her family and husband who have
given her the opportunity to have four wonderful sons. She is someone who is
passionate about God and be the woman he wants me to be.
At
your age, some women have reached their menopause, do you still enjoy sex
I think it's the
same way with every human being, its part of life, that is the way it's with
every human being and I'm not different.
How
rich is Mrs Folorunsho Alakija or how comfortable is she
We have cause to
glorify God.
In
your own word, how would you describe a total woman
A total woman is
someone who is self conscious of her looks and her behavior as a woman.
You
are known to be a top fashionista, how did your fashion statement evolve
Apart from having
studied fashion designing as a profession, I believe that God puts a lot of
talents and creative ability in me. And
then, as I came to the world, I picked a lot of things along the way with the
interaction with my mum and dad from whom I learnt a lot about fabrics, colour
and creative design. I believe all that helped me in my career as a fashion
designer.
Being
a fashion designer, what determines what your wear
The occasion I'm
attending determines what I wear and it also determines the colour, weather and
time of the day.
What
is your favourite colour and how do you mix colour
I don't have a
particular colour as my favourite, I love all bright colours. For me, black is
very beautiful, though it's very dark, co-incidentally I'm wearing black and
white today. I like it because the mixture is beautiful. I'm an extrovert not
introvert; I know a lot of introverts wear dull colours. I don't want be to be
too loud in my picking colours but you need to be bright and unique
Okay,
where do you shop
I shop locally and
internally.
Are
you a label freak
I'm not into
label. I like looking for unusual things no matter where I find it. I don't
like paying for a label because of its big name.
What
of your achievements so far in life
I shouldn't be the
one telling you all these, I think it's people out there that will say what
they've noticed or find out over the years about me.
But
you are fulfilled
Yes of course, I
thank God.
If
you come back to this world, would you like to marry Mr. Modupe Alakija again?
Absolutely, I will
not even think about it twice.
You
are on a journey to 70 , so how do you intend to live your life after turning
70
I pray that by the
time I'm 70 I would have been able to fulfill my destiny as far as God is
concerned. I don't think I have done that. The two things I'm going to do is
writing a book on marriage and stretching my hand more on widows and orphans.
.jpeg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment