One of the first things anyone will notice about Ogun First Lady, Her Excellency, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, is her modesty. She is also very unassuming. Despite the sizeable power and authority that her office wields, this adorable wife of the Ogun state governor remains humble and down to earth. And this reflects visibly in her fashion style. She likes to keep it simple. Hates to be loud. She loves the classic kind of fashion.
Those who have watched her closely have often been impressed by her dress sense, especially the fact that she does not like to be flamboyant in her dressing. Mrs. Bamidele likes to stand out in a subtle yet classy way. She has a distinct but elegant style that puts her in a class all by herself.
"I don't like following what's trending. I don't like joining the band wagon, looking a certain way just because every other lady is now dressing that way. I like to be different. I dare to be different, and it doesn’t matter to me if others like my style or not," she declares.
In this part of the interview with WALE LAWAL (08037209290) the First Lady speaks about her unique dress sense and why she’s not such a big fan of loud dressing or designer wears. She has a young, vibrant fairly unknown designer that does her outfits and creates fantastic pieces for her. She knows exactly what suits Her Excellency and she does a very good job all of the time.
Mrs. Bamidele does not believe she has to do designers to impress anyone, she has always been one that loves to do her thing her own way. She is extremely stylish. She is always elegant looking and comfortable in her own style. Of course she is blessed with the resources to buy the best fashion pieces money can buy anywhere in the world. For those who do not know, long before her husband emerged Ogun governor and she became First Lady, she has been a successful and accomplished business woman. But she chose to keep her lifestyle, including her fashion style, modest. Why does she prefer to stay modest despite her office and ample resources at her disposal? She explains in the interview below.
Each time I see you at events, watch how you conduct yourself, listen to you speak, the impressions I have of you are that you must’ve been a fiercely focused, prim and proper lady right from your youth. But I’d like you to tell us, what kind of young lady were you, ma, were you like any other average young girl out there while growing up?
Let’s talk fashion now. I know that you’re a woman of impeccable taste and panache. But I guess that, being First Lady, you try very hard to be moderate in your appearance so you don’t appear to be loud and in our faces, I guess. But, do share with us, how did your fashion style evolve as a young girl growing up? What sort of influence did you get from Mom, from big sister and the likes?
Well, thank you for your very kind words. My fashion style is rooted in simplicity and elegance, and I believe in wearing pieces that reflect my personality. Classic, timeless, or comfortable, appropriate for every occasion. I mean, some people say that, if you have something in your wardrobe and you haven't worn them for two years, give it out. I don't believe in that. Of course, I have things that I've not worn for 2 years, and I still wear them, and they still look okay. You know, because I don't like to follow the trend, I like to do classic. I like classic, I think it's clean. You know, then, growing up, my mother was a great influence. I mean, she was very simple. She was very simple, yet stylish, sophisticated. She didn't do makeup, nail polish, and all that. She was also very virtuous. And then she had an effortless way of blending modesty with sophistication, and that has stayed with me over time as well. And I also learned to infuse modern trends. Modern trends, not the one that I'll buy something today, I'll wear it today, and the next day they'll say they're not wearing it again, no. I mean, I'll still wear my own, because I believe in individuality. I don't have to follow the crowd. I can set my own pace, I can decide this is what I'm about. If you say that you can't wear it, there's nothing like that for me, because it's what I like. And then I've spent my money to buy what I like, and I like it. So why would you now tell me that I can’t wear it? And I don't have a wardrobe manager, I've never had one, none. Even throughout office, I pick my own clothes. I'm not that kind of person whereby I'm so organized I pick my clothes for one week, nope. If I have a program today, at best, maybe the day before, and I say, ah, what am I going to wear tomorrow? And I think, okay, let me wear this, and I'll bring it out. And I'm always happy with my choice, never been disappointed.
What's your favourite fashion accessory, the one that you can't do without?
I have always liked shoes. I'm a shoe person. Shoes, comfortable shoes, high heel shoes that I can walk in. Some of them I can't walk in, I'll be struggling. But because it looks too good, I endure. But shoes, I've always had a weakness for shoes. I love unusual shoes, but they don’t make unusual shoes anymore.
How about bags?
I like bags. I love bags. But I've gone to a point where, I don't know, I'm just... Maybe my values are just moving away from,’ah, I want to have this one, I want to have that one.’ It doesn't interest me anymore. And then again, in the face of extreme, abject poverty, I'll be carrying expensive stuff about? How? If I want to carry it, let me carry it in my corner, but not when people cannot eat. Sometimes I think about these things. Sometimes I want to go and eat out. Not that I can't afford it, I can afford to go and eat out and spend maybe like 100K or 200K, but I'll think about it. If you give somebody 100K, their lives will be better. I'll sit down at home and I'll cook my Indomie. And I’ll eat my food and I'll be happy. It’s about making sacrifices sometimes. Then, I'll make sure that I give that money to somebody. But they don't have to come back and say thank you to me. That's the one I don't like because that's what the Bible even commands us to do. If you give with your right hand, don't let your left hand know about it. We're too showy in Nigeria. Everybody is doing some thing, they must put their name on it. I don’t believe in that.
Well, to begin with, I wouldn't blame it 100% on them. It's the state of the economy that has made a lot of people very vulnerable. Everybody wants to get a better life, that's one. Not a good excuse, but one. Secondly, social media is not helping. Social media has its virtues, but it also has its vices. What we put out there, what a lot of us women put out there, flashy body, flashy clothing, flashy lifestyle, things that are not necessarily real and ideal, these are what the younger ladies see and they want to emulate. And many people want to get rich quickly and they have all sorts of stories, and people lie. People make things up. Many of these girls are vulnerable already. They're vulnerable already because maybe they don't have proper parental counsel and advice and care. Maybe they don't have adults around them. So they're open to these things, and they see these things, and they think it's possible. So they think if it's possible for this person, it should be possible for me and so they get lured into the wrong hands.
We have so many cases of girls who were told that they'll have a better life if they go and work abroad, and they take them, and they use them as sex workers.They use them as domestic workers. They maltreat them. They have no rights because they're living abroad illegally. Many of them are enticed by these things. They tell you, ah, they'll pay you $250 a month. If you change that to Naira, you know how much that is, you can send it back home. And they see their parents suffering. Of course they're going to want to do something. So, some of them are not even cut out for things like that, but they think that's the only means because the economy is not such that it's easy to find something to do that will give you sustainability. It's just unfortunate. What we need is more advocacies, more noise about all the dangers that lie in these things that lure the girls into all these nefarious activities that can cost them their lives.
Last year, we had a program. I think it was the International Day of the Girl Child. We had to invite one young lady who is bold as far as I'm concerned. She was taken to Libya to work in Libya and she went through the Sahara. She was raped. She was gang-raped. I mean, she suffered when she got to Libya. They locked her up. She had to work and pay people who didn't even help to facilitate her getting to that place. We had to bring her to come and speak to the young girls. And you know, these young girls have a lot of questions to ask. So, we asked them, if you're not able to ask a question in front of the cameras and your parents and your teachers, write the question down and hand them to us. You'd be amazed at the kinds of questions that children have to ask.
You know, our culture, when we were growing up, the kind of relationship that our own children have with us is not the kind of relationship we had with our parents. There are certain things we couldn't talk to them about. It was taboo. We couldn't talk to them about certain things. But now, because we're more modern, and we know the results of parenting in a different way, it is better than the way our parents brought us up. We're able to communicate with our children better. So, our children open up to us better than we did with our parents. Our parents didn't know half of the things we got up to when we were growing up. In school, when I was in university, they didn't know where I went. I'm supposed to be in University of Ibadan, I'll be in Ife, or I'll be in Lagos. They didn't know. But with our kids these days, a lot of us have made it essential and important that we know when they move from point A to point B because we've established the kind of relationship where they can trust us enough to tell us when they're doing good and when they're doing bad, do you understand? So, it's a lot. The work starts from the home. But it's not every child that has that opportunity. A lot of women are distressed already with bad marriages, they're economically battered. So, they can't make decisions for themselves or they can't help their children. Their children are also vulnerable, so it's a ripple effect. It's a chain reaction.
So, we can help through advocacy, by talking about it, by bringing up people who have had such experiences. Let them know that, look, this thing is not going to help you. Focus on your studies, do your handwork well. Whatever it is that you can do, do it well. Don't let anybody come and deceive you and lie to you about the attractions of life outside of Nigeria where you find that you suffer. That girl came back with horror stories but she was brave enough to talk about it openly. She's writing a book and I'm sure that her book will be published very soon. We need a lot of people like that. Our girls have to see that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.
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