•LAGOS Society Woman, OLA ALADESURU, Opens Up
When you talk of society women in Lagos, her name crops up within the social space.Friendly, beautiful are apt words to describe one of the celebrity women, who make parties tick. You might not have known her by face, but what she wears and how she puts it together do all the talking. With a nice physique to flaunt, Ola Aladesuru is one woman you can not miss at any party.
She has many circles of friends and hardly will you not see her at any A. list shindigs, though, she does not make noise about herself, but she runs a thriving hospitality business in Lagos and also sits atop a thriving enterprise.Ola is well connected and happily married to one of the Lagos big boys, Bayo Aladesuru. She moves with a caucus of 5 friends and one of them is Queen Ayo Balogun.
They have been together for 44 years. They met at a very young age in their teens and the relationship has been waxing stronger till date. They usually wear the same outfits to parties and are so close that you rarely see one without the other. Penultimate weekend, Queen Ayo Balogun celebrated her 60th birthday and it was a pay-back time for Ola Aladesuru, who went out of her way to make sure the event came out beautifully. She was looking beautiful in a floor-length Ankara style, which was very unique at the party.
She was fully in charge of planning and was the one responsible for the black-and-white themed party with the Ankara aso ebi that guests wore at the superlative soirée. She spoke glowingly about her friend in a lovely tribute, “My friend-turned-sister from another mother. It’s great to know we have come a long way.you are one in a million,soft spoken,kind hearted,gentle and jovial. And now that you are celebrating your diamond jubilee birthday,may God continue to bless you.i am proud of you babe, love you forever” and atter much efforts in making sure guests were treated well because she was practically on her feet all through the duration of the party, she took out a little time to speak with City People’s Society Editor, TAYO FAJORIN OYEDIJI on her friendship with the celebrator.
Congratulations on your friend’s 60th birthday, how do you feel today and how did you become friends.?
Wow! I am happy for Ayo today because God has spared her life to celebrate 60. I am very excited because we have been looking forward to this day, a bespoken milestone for a while, I celebrate with her, I celebrate God in her life and I pray God will continue to shower her with abundance of good health and she will celebrate, many years more by Gods grace.My journey and friendship with Ayo started 44 years ago, I met her through a friend of ours called Bunmi Odubiro.
The first day I met her, we bonded easily, Ayo is very friendly, kindhearted,soft spoken and God fearing.We were very very young at that time and we have the friendship going since then, I have never regretted meeting her for once.
How have you been able to keep this relationship for this long?
It takes the grace of God,to be with a friend for 44 years. One thing that has kept us going and intact was that we understand each other very well.
You are a good pair that attends virtually most A.list parties together, has there been time you rarely do this?
I am at this event because I have to be here for her, not that it is because she is an artiste, I love her so much because she is the only one who can talk to me when I am angry apart from our very good friend,Affordable’s boss, Lara Akinsanya. They are the 2 persons who understand me very well.That is why we are both here.yes we attend parties together, but not all parties,sometimes they call her to perform not as a guests and sometimes we have common friends whose parties we attend together so it’s in between.
You are one of the stylish celeb women on the social scene, what does style mean to you?
I define style as being comfortable with oneself. Wearing what suits me and not what is invogue. I take after my mum so there is no way one can not be stylish. Even if I have a party tomorrow as we speak, I know what to put together or put on and look fashionable, to be consistent in this also takes the grace of God because since I was a very young girl, I have always been consistent about my style and I have to make sure I dress well. You don’t need to expose any part of the body to look beautiful, but one needs to be appropriate in any dressing.i don’t go beyond the border, moderation is key, but I go for good things.
Is there anything she can do to make you angry?
There is nothing Ayo can do to me that I would fight her, I would just keep quiet because she is also very quiet as well. She does not even get angry, she is so calm despite her profession, it is very rare you see her in anger.
You were saddled with the responsibility of planning and coordination of the party and you also handled the sale of aso ebi?
Why did you put in so much?
I created time for Ayo because she is more than a sister. Her birthday was put together with some other close friends, but I have to handle many things because we are more of sisters now. I made sure,out of my tight schedule ,the planning was not faulted and to the glory of God,it’s been the way we wanted it.
What do you do for a living?
I am a business woman.I am the managing director of Balcom Royal Suite and CEO of Genesis Complex Enterprises.
