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Saturday, December 29, 2012

LIVING LEGACY - Folorunsho Alakija


As National President and lifelong Trustee of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN), Mrs. Folorunso Alakija – a philanthropist, fashion icon with an infallible sense of style has broken many uncharted territories, and continues to be a source of inspiration to many.

Photo via Societyreel

Seven years was my age at the time; God’s number for perfection. Not that I I was perfect, but it served as a new beginning for me, and new it was, as it changed the course of my entire life. In 1958, fifty –three years ago, my parents decided to send my sister, Doyin and I abroad for further studies. 

This was to be the new beginning into my God-given destiny that caught the attention of many whom I would meet later on in life. My parents’ epoch-making decision became news in reputable local newspapers, because sending children so young to study abroad was extremely expensive, and therefore rarely done at the time. As soon as the news was out that they were sending not one, but two children to school in England at the same time, visitors started trooping into our house. Friends, family and well-wishers came with goodwill messages and gifts. My sister and I were full of excitement and longing, as children are, and so we went shopping almost daily. 

We bought clothing, shoes, and African foodstuffs that were not readily available to give to our relatives living in England, who were eagerly awaiting our arrival. There is a saying in my language that translates to as remaining only one more day to ‘D’-day.

Read full post about Folorunsho Alakija in the December 2012 edition of Mania magazine.

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