July 14, (THEWILL) – Some women dream of marrying a king so as to enjoy the perks of royalty, such as power, wealth, prestige and a life of luxury. For Olori Ronke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi, the fifth wife of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, a fascinating journey of friendship and understanding was just enough to take the plunge. In this interview with IVORY UKONU, she talks about her marriage and passion for promoting African fashion through carefully curated international fashion shows and youth empowerment projects. Excerpts:
As an entrepreneur who is also a royal wife, how are you able to combine your duties in both roles?
I am saddled with many responsibilities and expectations, which could overshadow my personal desires and dreams, if I am not careful. I am expected to serve the people, nurture and offer them value. So I just try to combine my royal duties and my entrepreneurial duties as well. And sometimes they’re interwoven because my royal duties are about ensuring that all the members of my community, especially the women and the youth, are okay. Looking at the challenges some of them face and seeing how I can support them as their royal mother. So, sometimes these duties are interwoven.
What is your role as the global ambassador of Queen Moremi Ajasoro Initiative and as the creative mind behind ‘Moremi the Musicals’?
‘Moremi the Musicals’ is a stage show which dwells on the life of Queen Moremi, a legendary Yoruba queen and folk heroine who assisted in the liberation of the Yoruba kingdom of Ife from the neighbouring Ugbo Kingdom.
‘Moremi the Musicals’ tells the story of Moremi in a way that it appeals to the new generation of millennials. My role as the global ambassador, having founded it in 2016 under the House of Oduduwa Foundation, the Ooni of Ife, is to collaborate and create strategic ideas to enhance the brand. To inform the younger generation about the role that Queen Moremi played to seek global partnership.
Queen Moremi’s story is that of great bravery and leadership. What makes it unique is that she was a woman. So, we are using the account of Moremi, and reinventing it in a way that it is appealing to the younger generation. We want them to see her as a role model; we want her story to impact them, we also want to use it to encourage young women to take up leadership roles because she was a great leader, a true leader.
Great leaders will always put the love of their people and their countries before themselves. That is what Moremi did. We are trying to encourage that in the society. To achieve this, we have a lot of projects that are ongoing. We started with the cultural and leadership pageant in 2016 and in 2018, in collaboration with the Obafemi Awolowo University we launched the book on Queen Moremi Ajasoro, which we intend to distribute to schools across Nigeria as a literature book. Moremi the Musical is the third project that we have done to raise awareness around it. We also just launched the Moremi barbie doll. The story of Moremi happened 1,700 years ago. So, if you are telling a child of five or 10 years about a story that happened 1,700 years ago, they are not going to be interested. You have to tell it in a way that it appeals to them.
You are also the founder of Africa Fashion Week London/Nigeria. What prompted this project?
It is simply to showcase to the world thousands of African heritage brands from around the globe. The idea is to create a platform for African creatives to thrive. That is what Africa Fashion Week, London, AFWL and Africa Fashion Week Nigeria is all about, to showcase the beauty of Africa and everything we represent as a people to the world. Fashion in Africa is part of our DNA, it is our identity and so we must bear it with so much pride and showcase it with so much pride as well. The idea was born around 2010. When I came up with the idea, my husband, the Ooni of Ife, was one of the first people that I called, to see if it’s an idea that could actually work. And so we brainstormed and did a few events together. He’s always been a part of it. He might not have attended all of the events, but he’s always been a part of it, giving me ideas on how to take it further, innovation and all of that.
This year’s edition is our 14th edition in London and our 10th in Nigeria. It’s all about promoting the creative talents out of Africa. Prior to us starting Africa Fashion Week London in 2011, there wasn’t a platform that showcased the greatness of our creatives in Africa. If you look at the work that they do; the artisans, the designers, the creatives, if you see the wonderful things they do, there must be a platform that showcases them.
For creativity to grow, there must be a platform that showcases and promotes its growth. If you create something and leave it in your house without exposing it to the world, it’s not going to grow. Nobody’s going to know about it. At some point, you’re going to get so frustrated because when you create something, you’re driven by passion, but to enable it to become sustainable, to enable it to outlive you, one must commercialise it.
For this year’s edition, AFWL is going to have about 55 designers from South Africa, Botswana, Benin Republic, Nigeria, Morocco and more to showcase their designs at the show. We have about 20 African countries that are going to be represented. In addition to that, we have our exhibitors as well. This year and for the first time, we are also adding an Africa food village, about 10 countries are going to be showcasing various cuisines. It is going to cut across different foods from different African countries so that people can taste various foods from Africa.
We are also going to have a celebrity charity fashion show in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation in the United Kingdom. It will feature celebrity designers and stars on the runway. All these help to create visibility for designers beyond the catwalks.
With so many fashion shows in Nigeria, what is it you are doing different from the others?
Africa Fashion Week is the pioneer fashion week. When we started, there was no Africa Fashion Week both here in Nigeria and in the diaspora. The ones currently available in Nigeria emerged from the back of the Africa Fashion Week Nigeria. So we must have done something right for a lot of people to want to jump on the bandwagon and do what we are doing. We created a platform for established designers, aspiring and emerging new designers in the fashion industry. We run a comprehensive platform and we accommodate everyone who we think is interested in fashion and who has the possibility of making it in the fashion industry. The same thing with our models. Every year we have new models on the catwalk, fresh faces within the modelling industry that we discover and promote. So, for me, our platform is like a springboard, for models, makeup artists, hair stylists, for everyone who wants to have a place in the fashion industry.
You are also the Chief Executive Officer of the ‘Adire’ Oduduwa Textile Training and Production Hub in Ile-Ife. What do you hope to achieve with it in years to come?
In 20 years’ time, when I look back, I want to be considered or regarded as one of the gatekeepers of African or Nigerian culture via what I do, promoting our textiles and our fabrics. And it is very important because it’s part of our identity. For us, our textiles, our fashion, our fabric goes beyond just fashion statements. It is who we are. This is the right time for the government to key into it and see it as a wealth creation, poverty alleviation and job creation project that can benefit Nigeria and help grow our GDP and create jobs for our young graduates who come out of school with no work. What we do at the ‘Adire’ Oduduwa hub is to train women and young people in textile making; from the ‘Adire Eleko,’ ‘Adire Oniko,’ ‘Adire Alabela,’ the different techniques of making Adire so they can generate an income for themselves. We’ve trained over 1,200 people at the moment, courtesy of my husband who supports the training with funding. And right now, we’ve now graduated to another programme of taking youths on national service so that they can come and do their youth service with us. We pay them and we train them. We give them accommodation. We pay them for training to learn in Ile-Ife.
But ‘Adire’ is generally known as part of the culture of Abeokuta in Ogun State. Why is an ‘Adire’ hub sited in Ile Ife?
Well, the Egbas in Abeokuta made it popular. They became the commercial hub of it, but it actually originated from Ife because all the Yorubas are affiliated to Ife. During migration from Osogbo to Ibadan and other parts of South-West Nigeria, it spread across. But what Abeokuta has done that is very unique is how they commercialised it.
How do you unwind when you are not at work?
I love to sleep. I try to sleep early, I sleep at about 9 pm, I enjoy my sleep. Most times I wake up in the middle of the night to work at about 3 am. After that I go back to sleep and wake up at about 10 O’clock in the morning.
Your fashion has since evolved and now you wear only traditional attires
It has. For someone who promotes African fashion, I shouldn’t be seen wearing something else. Maybe occasionally, I can wear English attires, but 90 o per cent of the time I wear an outfit that is made by African designers. I try to be patriotic. Every year, I discover new designers, but I have my favourites. I wear Ade Bakare, Sister by Eyoro, these are designers I have worn their outfit from 2018 to 2019. But I am very proactive, if I see something, I like it and I wear it.
What inspires you?
To be able to enjoy what I am doing, not to go in the same direction that everybody is going but to take a step back and see if it is right for me and do it. I am passionate about Africa, African stories and that was why we started the Africa Fashion Week, being able to express ourselves and our culture through fashion. I moved further working with the Ooni of Ife. So, we are both passionate about telling the African story.
How would you describe your marriage to a king who was previously married and currently has other wives?
I knew the Ooni a year before he became King in 2015. We remained friends and got married in October 2022. We’ve been friends for 10 years and this year, we are celebrating 10 years of friendship. I have witnessed his two sides; before he became king and after he became king. Being married to him is bliss. It’s been good. It’s different, but it’s been good. So, my union with him is more of a friendship. So, in that regard, it’s been good.
