Folorunsho Alakija
When in November 2012, she made Forbes mention as the 24th on Africa’s 40 richest list, it jolted many.
With a net worth of $600m, Folorunsho Alakija was announced Nigeria’s richest woman. If you think this would make her talk about money or how she made hers, you are wrong.
The business mogul is however quick to define wealth in her own words: “Wealth is beyond money and affluence. It can be classified as a large amount of something, ranging from experience to talent. It is a word that quantifies and qualifies anything. For instance, you could say someone has a wealth of interesting qualities. Many people have said the same to me because there are so many parts to who I am, who I have become and who God has created me to be. I am a businesswoman, a fashion designer and milliner by profession.
“The word wealth qualifies and measures one’s success in achieving set targets and goals, prosperity, and blessings. Blessings can be in the form of good health, the education of children and even living to a ripe old age. Therefore, a wealthy woman is someone who has been able to achieve some, all or even more than these because grace for wealth is unlimited from our God. He desires to bless us all on a daily basis. We just need to learn how to key into it so that we do not limit ourselves,” she says.
The executive vice chairman, Famfa Oil Limited, she founded Supreme Stitches, which later changed to Rose of Sharon House of Fashion, a fashion label that catered to upscale clientele.
The outfit, she explains, was stopped 12 years ago and metamorphosed into the Rose of Sharon Prints/ Promotions. She gives reasons for this: “I heard the call of the Lord into Christian ministry many years ago but I was reluctant to yield to the call.
“I believe that my passion for fashion was hugely responsible as I was definitely enjoying what I was doing for a living, although in hindsight, it was really a fulfilling and successful hobby because I was not dependent on it. The zeal to succeed in whatever I decide to do, drove the business. I don’t design clothes any more except the odd ones I may choose to design when I commission such through another fashion designer.”
She also runs a non-profit organisation, the Rose of Sharon Foundation, which she says has changed the lives of hundreds of widows, their children and orphans.
Born in 1951, to the Ogbara family in Ikorodu, Lagos State, she is from a Muslim polygamous family of 52 children. Being the eighth from her father and second from her mother, she says her relationship with 45 other siblings is cordial. “God gave my father the grace to provide for all of us and send more than three quarter of us to England and America to study. My other sibling and I were the first to go. The four years that I spent at such a young age abroad, impacted positively on my life,” she states.
“I was in boarding school and we were the only blacks in the school. I regret that the school building which is one of the most cherished buildings in Wales, has been sold. If I had learnt years ago that it was up for sale, I would have bought it and turned it into a health club. I remember with nostalgia, the etiquette lessons we got-elocution, horse riding, singing lessons, stamp collection, etc. I learnt a lot in those four years. I had to come back quickly because my father didn’t want me to imbibe the western culture to the detriment of our own culture,” she adds.
Never assume that her successes could hinder a blissful marital life. The mother of four, who is now a grandmother, says the success of any marriage depends on respect and submission. To her, a woman can be successful in business and at the home front.
“I see no reason why they can’t,” she argues. “It’s just a matter of prioritising one’s itinerary. In all things, we need to put God first, then His representative – our husbands – and then the children whom both parents brought into the world through God’s grace. However, to sustain the family and homes He has given us, we need to work and therefore need to balance work with family life and other responsibilities. One should be focused, have daily, weekly, monthly, annual and long-term goals.
“Personally, I always make sure I seek the support and approval of my husband in whatever I plan to do, either for the day or for the future. This is because I strongly believe he is the head of our home and God is in the centre. As we honour and respect our husbands, God honours and uplifts the work of our hands. He guides and directs us and prospers our plans as a result. I also make it a point of duty not to shirk my responsibilities to my children,” she states.
For any woman to become wealthy, in a male-dominated society, Alakija agrees that there are challenges. She however advises that women should prove their ability through hard work, doggedness, enlightenment campaigns, and advocacy. She says, “God will honour the woman’s ambitions if she does not do it in a confrontational manner. Women must learn to make their point boldly but respectfully and prayerfully. Then, God lifts us up to where we want to be. My husband has always supported me morally and financially. He allows me to work, whether for others or for myself. He does not renege once he gives his word and I continue to appreciate him.”
At 62, you can bet that she looks very good. Delectable Alakija denies constant exercises or special diets as her secret. Rather, she enthuses that: “My secret is in Christ. He is the one who has beautified and continues to beautify me. God created me the way I am. It has not been as a result of what I have been able to do but what He has been able to do with and through me. I think He did a little overtime on me at the very beginning when He created me; He is pleased and so am I. All my life, I have eaten what I like, when I like. In fact, I started what some would call a diet just last week. It is a new lifestyle which I pray that I will be able to sustain. I have begun exercising again and I’ve bought a treadmill. I also make haphazard attempts at facials a couple of times a year. It is the grace of God.”
Renowned for wearing unique headgear on occasions, she is one of the most fashionable socialites in town. “Tying my gele comes to me naturally as it does not take me more than two minutes to do so. It is an art because many ladies pay others good money for a two-minute job. They should hire me! My passion for fashion, my artistic, my creative talents, my spirit of perfection and excellence, all combined together, dictate my fashion sense,” she says amid smiles.
On how she dresses, Alakija has this to say, “What I wear to any occasion is determined by the occasion itself: whether the time of the day, the weather, or the type of occasion. Other determining factors are the environment, the societal segment, and the part of the country I am in. Once I have decided on the type of outfit or look I need or want to portray for the occasion, I then ask the Holy Spirit for the colour and He directs me. On a few occasions, when I did not to listen to that soft inner voice, I found out that I made a mistake when I got to the event.”
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