TLR_Magazine - July__2017

issue 020 july 2017 

The Luxury Reporter 

n i g e r i a’s premiere lu x u ry mag a z i n e 

STEVE AYORINDE 

ON PREMIUM LAGOS 

The Luxury Reporter www.luxuryreporter.ng 1

2 The Luxury Reporter www.luxuryreporter.ng 


content 

6 

travel 

Nature’s 

Call 

THE LUXURY REPORTER 

Editor’s Note 

8 

10 

homes 

Little 

Pleasures 

style 

Haute 

Couture 

Editorial 

Publisher/Managing Editor 

Funke Osae-Brown 

Staff Writers 

Ndubueze Naomi 

Lara Oladunni 

Beatrice Isola 

Creative Director 

Peter Ehigiator 

Web Design 

Chima Oleru 

Advisory Board 

Mrs. Abimbola Wright 

Mr. Femi Adefowope 

Mrs. Mercy Omoyeni 

Mr. Ogbeni-Tope Awe 

Mr. Julian’s Luxury 

Mrs. Bola Balogun 

Mrs. Nkiru Olumide-Ojo 

Dr. Phil Osagie 

Florence Olumodimu 

12 

14 

16 

auto 

The Car 

Marques Turning 

Themselves Into 

Luxury Lifestyle 

Brands 

eclectibles 

Gifts 

For You 

features 

Superyachts 

That Rock 

TLR is published by FTI Communications. D104, Omisore Lane, Oniru Millennium Estate, Lekki 

Website: www.luxuryreporter.ng Twitter: @luxuryreportng Facebook: The Luxury Reporter 

Advert hotlines: 08033540883, 08116759771, 08023165438 

July Rocks! 

The month of July is here and we are serving 

you interesting stories from around the 

world on some of the finest cities where 

car marques are competing to provide 

holistic premium lifestyle solutions to 

their clients; from smooth urban real estate to 

bespoke tailoring. 

Talking about cities, on our cover is the Lagos 

State commissioner for Information and Strategy, 

Steve Ayorinde, who shares his experience of 

Lagos as a city of dreams and how it is being 

repositioned as a top travel destination. 

I was at the recently concluded Africa 

Fashion Week Nigeria 2017. Most of the designs 

showcased were edgy and eclectic, a testament 

that Nigerian fashion industry has truly come 

of age. There are highpoints of the designs and 

colours that ruled the runway on the Style pages. 

Also, there is something for lovers of 

superyacht in this edition. Top boat brands 

are re-creating all the rules by expanding 

their brands at both ends, building enormous 

superyachts together with sporty craft and 

classic prestige. 

Don’t miss the stories on Omu resort and 

sleek desktop accessories on the Travel and 

Homes pages respectively. 

These and more are for your reading 

pleasure this month. Enjoy! 

- FOB 

Follow me on: 

Instagram: funke_osae-brown 

Twitter: @funkeadetutu 

Facebook/LinkedIn: Funke Osae-Brown 



Travel 



Travel 

Nature’s Call 

NDUBUEZE NAOMI 

Nestled in the Omu Creek, Omu Resort is 

truly a place to get wrapped in the cosy 

arms of nature. Located at 1 Omu Resort 

Drive off Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Way, Ibeju 

Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria, it is the place to be 

for an unrivalled fun and adventure. Presenting 

nature at its best, the resort creates a lasting 

memory for every guest and visitor. All of 

the attractions at the resort are designed to 

meet the need of everyone. 

There are many activities to engage in or 

experience at the resort. You can visit the 

Zoo where you can interact at close range 

with different animals. You can see the king 

of the jungle, the lion, an experience that 

brings wild life close to you. It an adventure 

you will surely want to embark on to interact 

with different animal species like reptiles, 

birds among others. You have nothing to 

fear about getting attacked as the animals 

are well secured in the cages. 

The Seaworld at the resort ushers you into 

an untold world of sea creatures. The colourful 

interplay of different species of fish swimming 

in their natural habitat will surely take your 

breath away. There are fish species which you 

wouldn’t believe exist. Omu Resort offers you 

opportunity to have a feel of the sea world 

and everything that lives in the sea. 

The Wax Museum at Omu resort is the 

first in Africa. The art pieces on display at the 

museum are made of wax. There are statues 

of past leaders in Nigeria, from Presidents to 

governors are a must-see. Most of the images 

appear so real to have been made of wax. 

If you are a lover of shooting arrows, then 

the archery is a place to see when next you 

are at the resort. It will be a good opportunity 

to truly experience the art. Giving you a 

platform to practice your skills in archery, the 

resort has facilities where you can be trained 

in archery. 

For a well-deserved family holiday, you can 

hang-out with your loved ones at the amusement 

park. You can have a ride of a life time 

with your family on the Hully gully dip, Tilt a 

whirl, Chair swing and many more. 

In addition, you can get onto the Mini golf 

to play a game of golf with your friends while 

the children hangout at the kiddies play or 

go horse riding. You may also want to go 

Quad biking, Kart riding, or try out the Wave 

pool or get on the Hook and Grill. 

Omu resort is also a great place to enjoy 

tasty meals. There are many spots to eat in 

the resort which are affordable, accessible, 

serving different varieties of food. They have 

the suya and asun spot, a place for drinks and 

any type of meal you desire. These meals are 

prepared and served in a clean environment. 

With this, you need not bother about going 

out to get food as it is within your reach. 

The resort does not offer accommodation. 

Hence if you are visiting outside of Lagos, 

there are several hotels within the vicinity 

you can lodge. You may want to stay at the 

Royal Park Hotel & Suites located at Km 36, 

Lekki-Epe Expressway Eputu, Ibeju-Lekki. You 

may also consider the Limeridge Hotel Lekki, 

a 3-Star hotel at 10 Chevron Drive, Northern 

Foreshore Estates, Lagos. 

Both hotels offer affordable services. All 

rooms are en-suite, they come with refrigerators, 

free Wi-Fi connection, cable TVs, room 

safes, lampshades and workstations, a gym 

and spa, clean swimming pools. Room rates 

are between N13,000 to N15,000 a night. 

Ticket to access the facilities at Omu resort 

starts fromN7, 000 per person. 

6 The Luxury Reporter 

www.luxuryreporter.ng 


Homes 



Homes 

Little 

Pleasures 

New sculptural desktop accessories are everything 

from classic leather to metal, concrete and crystal 

making settling down to work something to write 

home about says BEATRICE ISOLA. 

A 

perfectly made desk at work will surely 

ignite the right zeal and attitude to work. 

The way desks at work are arranged reflects 

the kind of home we have. Hence 

smart product designers are developing 

new ways to make people have productive 

days at work. They are crafting desk accessories 

from luxe, often unexpected materials. 

Celebrated artist and architect Ron Arad 

has collaborated with Swarovski to create a 

highly covetable collection of desk accessories. 

For his Alphabet & Numbers range. He 

cut chunky, tactile 15cm high crystal sculptures 

in the shapes of different letters of the 

alphabet and numbers from 0 to 9. 

His creation is one of the modern designs 

that makes the desktop never looked so good. 

It’s a delightful, witty but functional. They 

could serve as bookends or as paperweights, 

numbered and lettered to denote specific 

projects. It is surly a more glamorous way to 

organise piles of reports and correspondence. 

The choice of material makes Tom Dixon’s 

Cube collection unique; a continuation of his 

exploration into cabinets of curiosities. As with 

many his previous designs, Dixon incorporates 

rose-tinted, copper-plated zinc alloy, including 

the interior of the Mondrian Hotel in London. 

His use of the material now in small desk 

objects shows meticulous polish which are 

reflective, and have a mellow, warm glow. The 

tape dispenser, desk tidy tray and stapler gives 

an impression of someone working on a scifi 

laboratory desk. The sheen of the sculptural 

tablet stand speaks of efficiency and order. 

Also, Hermès launched the impeccably 

well-turned-out Equilibre d’Hermès collection 

last year in Milan. As is the way with most 

of Hermès 

designs, 

everything looks like a 

gently manicured, futuristic interpretation 

of classic craft and styling. 

In the collection is a fawn calfskin blotter 

with a natural solid maple stand. There is 

also the gold-plated-brass magnifying glass 

that balances like a set of scales on a leather 

cone. Also, the Icosahedron paperweight 

is fundamentally a function-free purchase, 

but is pleasant to touch. It rolls around with 

numbers on each panel. 

The serene dove-grey calfskin Grosvenor collection 

at Smythson is what could be regarded 

as an understated elegance. The collection 

consists of a letter rack, blotter and pen pot. 

The designer Michel Charlot’s O-Tidy is a fun, 

slightly cartoon-like plastic saucer, incorporat- 

ing a pen pot that comes in six different colours. 

A product and furniture designer based in Vienna, 

Klemens Schillinger’s Tabletop Landmarks 

have been fashioned from concrete. Each piece is 

also a playful experiment in formalism. Schillinger 

started by experimenting with simple geometric 

shapes and repetition. He didn’t intend to create 

something that resembled archetypal building 

shapes, but the resemblance was obvious when 

he designed the large Landmarks bowl. He just 

went with it and designed his bookends set, 

based on the shape of a pyramid. The choice of 

concrete is functional as well as aesthetic as it emphasises 

architectural resemblance but also gives 

weight to the pieces, for larger books. 

Punctuating a desk with fascinating shapes 

and textures is like hanging art on a white wall, 

but for many people, harmony is more appealing 

than a bold statement in an era when 

desks are often dominated by computers. 

The Connecticut-based design studio Bassam 

Fellows is known for sleek modernism 

that leans on mid-century innovations. Its two 

designers, Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows, use 

the term “craftsman modern” to describe their 

aesthetic, which is embodied in the home they 

share in New Canaan – one of Philip Johnson’s 

1950s architectural masterpieces, right across 

the street from his landmark Glass House. 

Their desk accessories are made of walnut, a 

favourite material for the rich. It comes in two 

styles- the Sharp Series and the Soft Series. 

The former is defined, as its name suggests, by 

precise and architectural lines, in the style of a 

parallelogram. The latter features gently rolled 

edges. Each set is carved from a solid wood 

block and both are modular: there are three 

Sharp boxes; and two Soft boxes with a Soft 

tray. At home, Bassam has the Soft series on 

his table, while Fellows uses the Sharp objects. 

Most people prefer to work on large tables, 

rather than desks. Tables don’t tend to have 

drawers, so the designers developed these 

pieces to satisfy a need. They wanted pieces 

that are beautiful and tactile to the touch. 

They used off-cuts of walnut that are too small 

to be used in their Tractor stools, chairs and 

tables. They have a heft to them that makes 

them feel special, like little sculptures. 



Style 



Style 

Haute 

Couture 

The Africa Fashion Week Nigeria 

(AFWN) 2017 was a display of 

bold, edgy designs says FUNKE 

OSAE-BROWN. 

It’s the first time the African Fashion 

Week Lagos would be held at 

the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, 

Lagos, Nigeria. The entrance to the 

Cinema Hall was full of people walking 

through the exhibition. Interesting 

designs made of bright coloured Ankara 

fabrics were hanging on the hallway. 

Da Viva and ABC Wax the event’s main 

sponsor took a vantage position next to 

their franchise brand, Swarovski. 

No doubt, this edition of the AFWN was 

well-attended by many fashion vendors. 

After going on a tour of the pavilion, 

the commencement of the first 

show for the first day was announced. 

We all moved into the hall to witness 

what could be called entrée of epic designs. 

The Designs 

Most of the designs showcased at the 

AFWN were edgy and eclectic, a testament 

that Nigerian fashion industry has 

truly come of age. The fashion week offered 

a genuine platform for new fashion 

designers to be discovered. And one 

is not disappointed at the calibre of designers showcased 

this year. Many bespoke pieces graced the runway 

at the AFWN 2017. Bespoke traditional outfits, 

dresses that would bring that dramatic change to the 

wardrobe were showcased. 

Also, most of the designs will dictate the pace for the 

fashion industry this year. Exaggerated shoulders were 

some of the drama brought into the dresses on display for 

women as seen in pieces by Ara Ewa, Bijelly, Maufechi and 

others. Funnel and bell sleeves also rocked the runway. 

Likewise, frills and patches returned in a big way as designers 

turned out a pleasant collection of forever chic 

flowing and mini dresses. 

Lemah Hassan’s collection brings back in full force floral 

Ankara designs which was used to add substance to 

the pieces making the dresses quite daring. 

For lovers of Artwears, handmade clothing with arty designs 

graced the runway most of which were expressed 

in very interesting skirts, dresses and pants. Also, the 

Ankara fabric was used to create tops and pants that 

made bold statements. Off shoulder dresses which 

have been strong fashion statement since last season, 

are still very relevant this season. Designers showed 

various dresses with off shoulder effect. 

Finally, designers like Maufechi returned to the runway 

Victorian puffy sleeves designs with a touch of modernity 

using beautiful Da Viva and ABC wax fabrics. 

The Colours 

Bold bright colours in hues of green, yellow, pink, 

green, blue, purple graced the runway. Nearly all the 

designers brought these colours to live in a daring and 

eclectic way. Their interpretation of these colours tells 

of a new vibe in the fashion industry this era. 

Monochrome, black and white, also got a strong showing 

on the AFWN 2017 runway, especially from Regalia, 

Marobuk and Asake’s collection. Models strutted the 

runway in classy and comfy collections all in black and 

white. 

A dramatic twist was also brought to the colour red in 

all shades. Bright red was huge on the runway, either 

as dresses, or accessories to break up the all black look. 

Colour block aficionados were not left behind in the 

fashion offering at the AFWN 2017. There were interesting 

pieces in different colours that were well mixed. 

The Fabric 

Floor-length skirts in silk taffeta, tulle, and organza are 

paired with everything from lace to colourful Ankara 

fabrics from Da Viva tops. The African print like ABC wax 

as we know it was reintroduced in a new way. It is a fabric 

that is still very much around as designers created 

sexy pieces with it. 

Of course, the Ankara fabric from Da Viva was well 

showcased and was creatively put together with other 

fabric using sequins to create dazzling effects. Silk 

combined with sequined African print was used to create 

diverse yet interesting dresses. Sequins and metallic 

added sparks on the runways. 

If you missed the 2017 edition don’t miss the next edition 

in 2018. 



The Luxury The Luxury Reporter Reporter www.luxuryreporter.com.ng www.luxuryreporter.ng 11

Auto THE LUXURY REPORTER THE LUXURY REPORTER Auto 

The Car Marques 

Turning 

Themselves 

Into Luxury 

Lifestyle Brands 

London’s contribution to the centenary 

events marking the death of Auguste 

Rodin will begin with an exhibition 

and sale of rare sculptures and 

drawings at St James’s gallery Bowman 

Sculpture on June 7-July 27. 

The 30-plus works on show at Rodin: 

The Birth of Modern Sculpture come from 

every period of the artist’s long and prolific 

career. Earlier pieces include Right Hand 27 

(£68,000) and Mask of a Man with a Broken 

Nose (£180,000), while later works demonstrate 

Rodin’s move towards abstraction. 

Pas de Deux – Movement de Danse 

Type G (£75,000), for example, depicts two 

dancers in such contorted poses that their 

fluid, richly patinated bodies seem almost 

to lose human form. 

Maquette for the Burghers of Calais 

(£280,000), meanwhile, conceived in 1884 

as a monument to six Calais citizens who 

sacrificed themselves to invading English 

forces during the Hundred Years’ War, offers 

a fascinating insight into Rodin’s approach 

to commemorative sculpture. A 

version of Maquette stands near London’s 

Houses of Parliament, and this cast was 

made in 1975. 

Collectors are most likely to be lured 

by scarcer works such as Fugit Amor 

(£750,000), but no celebration of Rodin 

would be completed without familiar 

favourites, and The Thinker (not for sale) 

and of course The Kiss (£1.2m) will both 

be present. 

All the pieces in the show are originals, 

cast either during his lifetime or posthumously 

by the Rodin Museum, following 

his direct instruction. For the gallery’s 

director Robert Bowman, the exhibition 

marks the culmination of an almost 35- 

year investigation into Rodin’s art. “These 

pioneering works really changed the 

world of sculpture,” he says. “They demonstrate 

his fascination with the human 

form, its beauty, and its flaws.” 

12 

The Luxury Reporter www.luxuryreporter.ng 

www.luxuryreporter.com.ng 


Eclectibles 

Gifts 

Michael Kors X Fujifilm 

Instax Camera 

The Michael Kors X Fujifilm 

Instax camera is a limited-edition 

camera with amazing features 

that gives life to photography. It 

is very handy and produces the 

best picture quality you desire. 

Available at: michaelkors.co.uk 

N49, 220 (£120) 



Greggo Orlato Flat 

Excite your feet with 

one of the amazing 

collections of Christian 

Louboutin. Simple yet 

classy. Made with patina 

leather and chic denim. 

Available at: 

christianlouboutin.com 

N 297, 911 ($945) 

Eclectibles 

For You 

Spoil yourself with some of these 

exquisite gifts as compiled by 

NAOMI NDUBUEZE. 

Dior VIII Grand 

Bal Plume 

This simple yet classy 

wristwatch by Dior is 

designed with diamonds 

giving the watch elegance. 

Available at: dior.com 

N10, 827, 827 (£26,400) 

J Crew Necklace 

Beautiful your necklace 

with one of the lovely 

designs from J. Crew 

called “Girls’ sparkle gem 

star necklace” made with 

poly, acrylic and agate 

stones, pipe beads and 

steel. Available at: 

jcrew.com 

N10, 049 (£24.50) 

Lock & Co Hatters 

This is an elegant hat made 

with cotton hand-woven in 

Ecuador by artisans. Also 

available in other materials. 

Available at: 

lockhatters.co.uk 

N 102, 522 (£250) 

Charlotte Olympia 

Exotic Salsa 95 

Decorate your feet with one 

of the exquisite andelegant 

designs of Charlotte Olympia, 

Exotic Salsa 95 with 

heels that measures up to 

95mm. Available at: 

uk.charlotteolympia.com 

N 121, 821.02 (£297) 

Coach Wallet 

This wallet is designed 

with polished pebble leather, 

having nine credit card 

slots, a place to house your 

bill, a snap closure, and a 

pocket for coin. It comes 

in different colours. 

Available at: 

uk.coach.com 

N25, 637 (£62.50) 

Eton Pocket Square 

Style your blazers with this 

navy paisley silk pocket 

square from Eton. It comes 

in different in different 

patterns and colours. 

Available at: 

etonshirts.com 

N 32, 403 (£79) 




Features THE LUXURY REPORTER THE LUXURY REPORTER Features 

SUPERYACHTS THAT ROCK 

Superyacht brands are re-creating all the rules by expanding their 

brands at both ends, building enormous superyachts together 

with sporty craft and classic prestige, writes LARA OLADUNNI 

Something new is happening in the 

world of superyacht. Boatmakers 

around the world are keeping it elegant 

yet simple by creating a new 

brand for the bigger boats to improve 

quality and raise the price. 

Bayliner, one of the most successful 

boatbuilders in history in Chicago, which, 

it seemed, had recently lost its way; introduced 

America to cheap and cheerful 

speedboats had been building ever bigger 

craft that nobody wanted to buy. 

Also, Azimut-Benetti used this approach 

in 1980s when two different brands Paolo 

Vitelli of Azimut, builder of fibreglass family 

cruisers, bought the sick Benetti shipyard, 

constructor of lavish steel superyachts. Vitelli 

has navigated the companies on similar 

courses ever since. 

Benetti’s designs start with a huge mini 

superyacht, the 29m Delfino, with its dislodgment 

hull, modest horsepower and 

long range, and proceed through various 

stock models up to the 43m Crystal, before 

opening into the world of fully bespoke 

megayachts like the 63m 11.11 or 90m Lionheart, 

both launched in 2016. 

At Azimut the emphasis has been on 

lighter, faster, planning boats, subdivided 

according to size and type, from the sporty 

and affordable Atlantis collection, which 

starts with a fun, family 10m model, appropriately 

named Grande fast motor yachts 

that top out with the 35 Metri. While it may 

be right to say there is some overlap in size 

between the smallest Benettis and the larg- 

est Azimuts, there is no mixing the identities 

and characteristics of the two brands. 

The posh Italian boatbuilder Riva, that 

recently put its name to a leather-upholstered 

and mahogany-trimmed edition of 

the humble Fiat 500, has a strong brand 

equity that makes it the darling of classy 

yacht. Beyond the brand equity, its array 

of designs offers clients plenty of choice. 

At 37m overall, the yard’s current flagship 

is the Riva 122 Mythos, with three to five 

cabins on two decks, 7,000 horsepower. It 



Features 



Interview 

would seem to have little in common with 

the Iseo, a diminutive, single-engine but 

undeniably splendid open launch, which 

at 8m is the baby of the Riva range. 

These boats embody two elements of 

the company product range – smaller designs, 

intended to reflect the aura of the 

classic wooden boats, and big, powerful 

motor yachts with a more aggressive 

profile and a technological mien. A third 

strand has lately been added, but in the 

meantime the company cannot be accused 

of neglecting its heritage. 

There is also the newly launched Rivamare, 

an open 12m model that has all the classic 

style of its mahogany forebears, but combines 

this with modern engineering courtesy 

of Volvo Penta’s superb DPH Duoprop drives. 

It also has a beautifully fitted-out interior that 

makes it a perfect getaway boat. 

Whether Riva’s new flagship will pass the 

wave test remains to be seen, but it will certainly 

be noticed. Also, the shipyard’s production 

of the new Riva Superyacht Division 

(which has absorbed the 122 Mythos), 

where the first 50m Riva 50 MT is currently 

under construction – a true bespoke displacement 

superyacht, which, with its steel 

hull, aluminium superstructure, three decks 

and 14-knot cruising speed, is unlike anything 

the company has attempted before. 

It is a venture that is driven, to some extent 

at least, by external forces. No other 

yacht builder attempts to bridge such 

a gap between entry level and ultimate 

luxury under the same name, but if it has 

occurred to anyone at the yard that this is 

something of a high-wire act, they’re not 

giving anything away. 

Perhaps, British shipyard, Sunseeker is 

the only other global yachting brand that 

can rival the recognition achieved by Riva. 

It may be no coincidence that Sunseeker 

has an equally open-minded approach 

to brand management. As the Riva was 

launching its gorgeous Rivamare at the 

Cannes Yachting Festival, Sunseeker was 

also unveiling a new model down towards 

the bottom of its product range. 

The new Sunseeker Manhattan 52 can 

only claim a distant kinship to the rapid, 

ravishing sportboats with which the 

company made its name, but it handles 

well enough, goes fast enough and looks 

sharp enough to live up to the brand 

promise. It also has some very cool design 

touches, such as the nifty seat, shower 

and barbecue that unfold from the transom 

– although they are best not all used 

at the same time. The fact that Sunseeker’s 

range now starts at the 16m mark reflects 

the shift upmarket that many boatbuilders 

have made in recent years. 

Additional report from FT’s How To Spend It. 

STEVE AYORINDE 

ON PREMIUM LAGOS 

He is driven by a passion to succeed and he has been on top of 

the game since his appointment two years ago. In this interview, 

STEVE AYORINDE, Lagos State Commissioner of Information 

and Strategy tells FUNKE OSAE-BROWN about his life and how 

Lagos is being repositioned as a top travel destination. 



Interview THE LUXURY REPORTER THE LUXURY REPORTER Interview 

Our meeting that Friday afternoon was 

not in any way unnerving. Finding a 

place to park on a day like this could be 

a bit herculean. Cars of different sizes 

littered the expansive car park. The 

Lagos State secretariat, Alausa, is designed in 

such a way that each ministry has its own car 

park. I made a left turn just by the Ministry of 

Information and Strategy to use the car park 

behind the building, but all the spaces were 

occupied. It was not a surprise the entire 

parking space was occupied. For a state with 

a population more than most West African 

countries, it’s administrative headquarter 

should be this busy daily. 

After driving round for a few minutes, 

I made another left turn by the Ministry of 

Health, just a stone throw from the Ministry 

of Information. Suddenly, I heard a cry. ‘There 

is space here,’ screamed Naomi, my colleague 

who was in the car with me. Turning to my 

left-hand side was an empty space between 

two cars. After a few minutes of manoeuvring 

the car, it fitted into the space. 

The lobby at the Ministry of Information 

was a little busy when we arrived. A couple 

of visitors were putting their names in the 

guests’ register. “Who would you like to see?” 

asked the young woman. She looked clean in 

her high collar Burgundy uniform, her braids 

falling down her broad shoulders. 

“I would like to see the commissioner,” I 

responded. She pointed at one of the registers 

on the table. I signed in. “Take the staircase to 

the first floor, turn right,” she said. 

As expected, he was busy at his desk. 

We had to wait a while. Before long, we 

were ushered into his office by one of his 

assistants, Samson. 

“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Funke,” 

he apologised in that familiar gentle voice. 

“It has been crazy.” It is understandable if his 

schedule has been tight. For a man who is 

the image maker of Nigeria’s commercial 

capital, Lagos, Steve Ayorinde, as the 

Commissioner for Information and Strategy, 

must continually be on his toes. 

Dressed in white traditional buba and 

soro, the dress code for most organisations 

on Fridays, he was seated behind his large 

mahogany desk -- different folders and some 

white papers were neatly arranged on it. He 

was tidying up a couple of them with another 

of his assistant, Yinka. There are two sitting 

areas. One is close to his desk. The other, 

arranged with neatly upholstered chairs, is like 

a mini living room. The muted TV was on BBC. 

I have always admired Ayorinde since my 

first encounter with him nine years ago at The 

Punch newspaper where he was the daily 

editor. He had a calm aura around him giving 

the right impression of a man always in control. 

The same aura I could see around him that 

sweltering Friday June afternoon at his Alausa 

office. When the news of his appointment 

as the information commissioner broke, the 

arts journalists’ community was excited. His 

appointment held a lot of promise for other 

young arts journos who are towing his path 

that every dream is realisable. 

“No, I never thought I was going to be an 

Editor,” he says of his sojourn to journalism. “I just 

wanted to be a good journalist, wanted to be a 

good writer. I wanted to write books. I wanted 

to contribute to the society. I like the fact that 

I have a twin kind of interest which is media 

and writing. And then, arts and entertainment. 

I have been a script writer myself for films and 

I have written books, so the two for me go 

hand-in-hand and I thought I knew right from 

the beginning that I could make a decent living 

from either of the two or both combined.” 

Ayorinde has truly written his way to 

the top as a man who came up with the 

communication strategy for the election of 

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode two years ago. 

Like his boss, he is unassuming. 

His late father became a politician after he 

retired from Osogbo Steel Mill Company. He 

was first a civil servant who retired early because 

he couldn’t stand the politics of civil service. He 

later joined private practice at Osogbo Steel Mill. 

In 1983, Ayorinde senior’s name came up as a 

commissioner in Oyo State but the night before 

the announcement was to be made, his name 

was no longer on the list. 

“We were all dejected, Ayorinde recalls, 

my whole family. We didn’t understand. We 

thought it was a done deal.” 

Ayorinde was 13- years-old at the time. 

In his teenage mind, he could not fully 

understand what really happened. However, 

as an adult, he is learning and seeing even 

without being a politician. 

It turned out that, the commissioners were 

removed three months after being sworn in 

when the military took over. The commissioners 

were temporarily sent to jail. All public office 

holders were first asked by the military regime 

of Muhammadu Buhari to report at the police 

station. Fortunately, his father never had to suffer 

the same fate. Two years ago, Ayorinde’s mother 

was reminded that what she lost more than three 

decades ago has been replaced in Lagos when 

her son’s appointment was announced. 

“I always believed that no work is ever 

too much. It would not be sufficient if you 

would not have tried enough if you didn’t 

give any assignment your best shot. For me, 

that’s how it has always worked even as an 

editor, a reporter, as an executive director, a 

managing director, as a consultant and now 

a commissioner. For me that’s the only way. 

There are no half measures in my dictionary. 

It’s either you want to do it or you don’t do it.” 

Photos by: 

Bamiyo Iselema Emina, 

Bie Photography 

Wearing the hat of a commissioner of 

information could be a tough job. Ayorinde 

agrees with me. A governor in Lagos State is like a 

mini-president in Nigeria. Hence whoever will be 

the mouth piece for a state like Lagos, is speaking 

for a country. This comes with pressure. In West 

Africa, there are not many countries with the 

population of Lagos State. The Gambia, Ghana, 

Cote d’ivore, Sierra Leone are countries with 

presidents and ministers who don’t shoulder the 

kind of responsibilities the current governor of 

Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode and his team 

carry. Despite all the challenges, Ayorinde has 

stayed true to the cause. He has succeeded in 

managing well his big boss. 

“The thing in life is that as you grow older,” he 

tells me frankly, “it gets tougher but then quitters 

don’t succeed. It was going to come without a 




Interview 

doubt with its own pressure, with its 

own challenges but who says that 

life was going to run on a straight 

course? It was never going to be 

because you knew what you were 

going into. But it has been okay 

because it is a line that is my turf. Also, 

I’m working with my boss. I have had 

a privilege of working with Governor 

Ambode as a director of his media 

before he became governor and it’s 

a lot easier. 

“One thing I learnt from 

management school is that 

50 percent of the job at top 

management level is managing 

your boss, the other 50 percent is 

using your skill to excel on the job. 

You can get it right on the job but if 

you can’t work with your boss, you 

can’t read his mood, understand his 

moves, communicate his vision then 

you are wrong. My old boss, Jimoh 

Ibrahim, would say: “Don’t execute 

your own vision inside my vision”. 

You need to have agreed with his 

own vision before accepting to take 

the job. If you couldn’t read these 

lines before signing them, you will 

run into turbulence and then there 

will be a crash.” 

Truly, Ayorinde bought into 

his boss, Akinwunmi Ambode’s 

vision he spoke confidently and 

authoritatively on the current 

administration’s plan to market 

Lagos as a premium destination. 

For him, the vision is clear, “to 

harness all the potentials of the 

state.” Beyond the slogan, Lagos has 

emerged as an ideal brand suitable 

for marketing under the current 

leadership of Ambode. 

The One Lagos brand is the 

master brand designed to sell 

Lagos as a tourism haven. The larger 

branding process for the State will 

emerge from the end of 2017, which 

will run for about five years. It will rest 

essentially on two legs -- the business 

and the investment commercial leg 

and then the art, tourism, culture and 

entertainment leg. 

In 2016, Lagos was profiled in 

a documentary by CNN as one of 

the cities in the world with the best 

scuba diving and surfing waters in 

the world. This brought the world’s 

attention to Lagos waters. 

And so, Lagos is going higher 

to develop its waterways to have 

a semblance with Cannes’ French 

Rivera. The Epe and Badagry 

Marina are currently undergoing 

massive transformation which will 

be completed in two to three years. 

The coastlines are being secured 

from Iyana Oworo ascending 

the Third Mainland bridge from 

Alapere. The result will be a Jetty, 

mall, hotel and a car park that can 

contain more than a thousand cars. 

What this means is commuters 

from Gbagada, Alapere, Ojodu 

Ambode formerly known as Ojodu 

Berger can conveniently park their 

cars, get on the ferries, sleep over the 

weekend at the hotels if they wish. 

This is expected to greatly reduce 

traffic inflow to Lagos Island. 

“With that done, it means we can 

replicate it in Badore in Badagry, in 

Ikorodu. Once people can see what 

government has done, then, the 

private sector will be encouraged to 

invest in building more resorts on the 

coastline. Look at what we have done 

in terms of road infrastructure in Epe, 

people couldn’t believe it. Our target 

is to make sure that by 2019, which 

is the time that we have for the twoyear 

period to phase out the yellow 

buses; we would have created the 


necessary water infrastructure that 

will move between 10 to 15 percent 

of people who will be going to Lagos 

Island by water.” 

In addition, Lagos is developing 

the sport sector to sell itself with the 

annual Lagos Marathon. The last two 

editions have surely contributed 

in no little measure to the state’s 

economy. A-list Marathoners who 

are worth millions of dollars graced 

the Lagos shores, lodged in top 

hotels, spent money on food and 

other sundry needs. It won’t be 

wrong to say Governor Ambode 

is just whetting the appetite of 

Lagosians with the on-going 

developments across the state. 

“We would create what is 

necessary for Lagos to excel as 

a destination for businesses and 

investment on one hand; and then 

for art, entertainment, tourism and 

sports on the other hand. You can 

see what we have done with the 

Lagos Marathon in two successive 

years. When we started it in February 

11, it was the first in 30 years. A good 

number of those who came spent 

their money and they left with 

messages that they had the fun of 

their lives in Lagos State.” 

Therefore, everyone who lives 

in Lagos has his own Lagos Success 

Story, Ayorinde has his own too: 

“If you have found your footing 

from here, married here and raised 

your children here, you schooled 

here, have worked here all your life; 

this is where you know as home. 

Then you are a Lagosian. I am 

qualified to say that Lagos is my 

success story. If you have edited the 

biggest newspaper in Nigeria which 

is in Lagos, if you have managed 

one of the newest newspapers; in 

its first three years turned out to 

be one of most impactful young 

newspapers; and then you go on 

to run what most people acclaim 

as the most strategic in terms of 

communication strategy as a media 

political campaign that brought in 

the governor; ultimately having the 

privilege to serve in this capacity, 

then you are a Lagosian and Lagos 

is your success story.” 

22 

The Luxury Reporter

TLR_Magazine - July__2017

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?