Everybody is still talking about the party, days after. Many of those who attended the 50th birthday party of London Gold Merchant, Hajia Aralamo Ashabi are still talking about the birthday bash, which was grand in all ramifications. It saw about 500 London based Naija celebrity ladies flying into Lagos to celebrate with this beautiful lady who is the CEO of Jamond Jewellery, based in London. She lives in London, where she is the No 1 Gold Merchant. Close to 2,000 guests attended that event with 70% coming from London. Of course, it was her birthday several weeks back, but she chose Friday 30th July to celebrate it in a big way. It has been described as the mother of all parties, as Hajia Saidat Yetunde Aralamo Ashabi Balogun shut down Lagos. It was a well planned classy party which was the talk of the town last Friday.
Tagged SAI @ 50, it was a party that took 7 months to plan. From early January 2021, Aralamo and her clique of friends (made up of successful celebrity ladies based in the U.K) sent out #SAI@50 Save the date promos to friends across the world. It read Save The Date 30th July 2021. And as months passed on, Hajia Aralamo Ashabi Aleba and friends continued to plan as they picked the colour for the event and the Aso-Ebi. The Aso-Ebi was in different shades & grades ranging from N250,000 to N350,000. And many of the women gladly paid. No one wanted to be left out of the action
Friday 2nd, July 2021 was actually her birthday but she chose to hold her party on Friday 30th July because this her birthday is a landmark birthday. She left no stone unturned as she unplugged all the stops. First of all, she chose Whitestone Place, the newly opened event centre, owned by Kehinde (Finesse) as a venue. She also chose K1, as the artiste of the day. She likes K1’s music and she is in fact a great fan of the Fuji King.
As the planning progressed, there was a mad rush for her Aso-Ebi, as many ladies (and men too) went all out to scramble for Aso-Ebi. Even those who don’t know her in flesh desired to buy her Aso-Ebi. There was a lot of begging and pleading for them to get one. Everyone also wanted to have the invitation card to this mother of all parties. By June, the celebrant had run out of invitation cards and she had to order more IV’s to satisfy her teaming fans. According to an insider, one of the reasons it was difficult to control the demand for invitation cards was because of the kind of job she does. She is a Gold Merchant who has clients all over the world, especially in Nigeria, where she hails from. This made her to decide to choose Lagos as the location for the party. When City People asked her why she had the birthday in Lagos she smiled. She said it was because some of my good friends can’t join me in London. Many like her so much and she is fondly called SAI which is a short form of SAIDAT, her name. By July, a lot of her friends and clients had begun to fly into Lagos from all over the world, so as not to suffer last-minute hitches with their flight plans. This explains why many of them were able to make the event.
And as guests began to arrive at 3 Billings Way, Ikeja, the venue for the party, slated for 12 noon last Friday, the venue looked colourful in all shades of Army green, which was the colour of the party. Many of the women made Style statements. The event planner, Bella of The Ball did a good job. The celebrant herself looked regal and radiant.
She changed thrice. She looked stunning in her different H.O.H laces. She looked sizzling in her designer outfits. HRM Oba Dr. Olufolarin Olukayode Ogunsanwo, the Alara of Ilara Kingdom was the Royal father of the day. About 10 movies stars stormed the party. Star actress, Iyabo Ojo, was there. So also Mercy Aigbe, Kemi Afolabi and her Mum and Muyiwa Ademola. The compere was MC Obama.
Many Lagos based celebrity ladies like Emmanuella (CEO Party Dreams) came. Many don’t know that the celebrant is a devout Muslim. She is. We can tell you that authoritatively. The opening prayer was done by Fadeelat Sheikh Ahmed Tijany Muhammed. Her Imam in London also attended the event.
The hall was heavily decorated with sparkling lights.
Her siblings also stood by her. They include Sekinat Mosunmola Folahan, Karimot Olanrewaju Quadri, Lateef Olubukola Balogun, Safuriat Morayo Balogun, Sukurat Ololade Balogun, Nimota Mojisola Balogun. Those who made speeches include Abiola Jinadu, Yasmin Mabifa, Kayode Quadri, Mercy Rabiu, Nikky Shittu and Airah Adesokan.
Insiders reveal that Aralamo attracted such a huge attendance because of her amiable and magnetic personality. Everybody describes her as a nice lady with a heart of Gold.
Many of the guests told City People that they attended because she also attends their events.
They revealed that she would go to any extent to honour her friends. They added that despite her success story, she is very respectful.
