By Niyi Tabiti
I spent sometime asking questions about whats next for ex- Fashion Editor of City People magazine, Miss Bola Akinboade recently.
Here is the interview
Gistmaster: What are the things you intend doing now after resigning from your position as city people magazine's fashion editor?
Right now my dream is to have my event outfit and also have a fashion label. I have always loved fashion designing; I have attended a fashion school couple of years back, I am just waiting for the right timing. I didn’t just want to start and end up being like just another designer coming up so for now, I am starting with my event/PR outfit, reason because that is much easier for me to start with and with my years with City People, i have been exposed.
I have handled couple of event and it has given me confidence that I can also do that and for the fashion label that is CHANTALLE, I am still hoping to do an advanced training before I start officially. Hopefully, towards the end of the year, I will be launching my clothing line by the special grace of God.
What are those things that you have in line at the moment that you want to start with? Like sometimes ago, people were speculating that you already have a shop somewhere.
Shop ke? I don’t have a shop yet. Like I just said now, my life is going to between events, PR, fashion and maybe blog. I also enjoy blogging so definitely I will do more. I know I can a lot of things maybe that’s why people think Bola will soon open a make-up shop or start selling hair products and all that but really, that’s not what I’m passionate about.
I am passionate about event and fashion; these are the two things I really want to do. I can do other things because you will always want other streams of income but fashion and event is going to be my core basic business line. You have to be a specialist in whatever you are doing. I just don’t want to do everything, Jack of all trade and not good at anything. So, that is why I am streamlining into those two.
Gistmaster.com: How do you like to dress and what do you like to wear?
BA: I just wear things that enhance me. You know I am slim, have always been a slim person and I have never added, I tried adding weight but I think my dream for now is being slim and I think I’m very lucky because a lot of people actually dream of having a slim figure. I try not to wear anything too big because I don’t have the body to carry it but I feel like anytime I put on anything, if it is a dress, let it be fitted, if it is a top, let it be fitted. I don’t do too much of boubous except it is a flowing dress and even when it is a flowing dress, it must have fit in it.
Gistmaster: There’s this speculation that female journalist are generally wayward. What is your view?
It depends on your background. I think most of the story people carry about us is just mere speculation. A lot of those stories are not true because if you get to hear some nasty things people say behind you and you are wondering, blood of Jesus! I don’t even have a clue of where this person’s office is and you know people will just try to link A and B together because they feel maybe she’s this or that.
To me I don’t think all those stories are actually true because if you have a purpose of coming into journalism; that is to grow and develop yourself, you will not even think of being wayward. Journalism helps you to be independent, it nurtures and improves you. Is not even about what those men are giving you, it is the grace of God that helps and sustains. Well, I think I can only speak for myself.
Gistmaster:How is it now because you have been doing journalism for many years and now you are going off?
I am not going off. I still hope to be a contributor in a national paper. I like writing that is why I said that I am also going to be blogging because I am passionate about writing, I can never stop writing, it gives me joy. It is a way of expressing myself. So I am not going off journalism, Oh! I am not going off media. Let me put it that way. Of course I can’t be a full time journalist again.
Gistmaster: From experience, most fashion editors leave their profession to become a fashion designer. What is the reason for this?
Bola Akinboade: Is like most of the time before you can ever say “Oh! I want to become a fashion editor. So there’s always this thing at the back of your mind that maybe along the line, I am going to do this thing. As for me for instance, I have been making clothes ever before I even dreamt of working with City People.
I have been making clothes for 15 years now and one of the reasons that made me to become a fashion reporter is because of the idea I have in my mind that in the next couple of years I am going to have my clothing line, so I just saw it as an opportunity to mix with people and share their views about fashion.
Initially when I was younger, I used to think that having a fashion label is going to be very difficult but in the course of working, I noticed that talking with a big designer that started small like Frank Oshodi helped to change my orientation that I don’t need a lot of money to start and that if this person can do it then I can do it better.
So it’s not because I am a fashion reporter, then that means I can be a fashion designer. All the things I did along the line was just preparing me for the next level of my life.
So when is Bola getting married?
BA: Very soon
GM: How soon?
BA: For me, I have discovered that marriage has been misconceived, the idea most people have about marriage is wrong and bad. One of the things a lot of people believe is that marriages are no longer working and these days, men don’t want to commit themselves. So, marriage and relationship is not something I can just say I’m getting married tomorrow or next year. When it is God’s time you will know about it.
GM: Aside journalism and what you do, you also have passion to assist young people. Can you tell us a little about this?
BA: I am also hoping that very soon, before the end of the year, I will start a ministry. I have a name already but I haven’t registered it. I don’t want to mention the name because I don’t know if the name is accessible or not.
I just want to do something for the teenage girls. I notice that a lot of things are wrong morally. If you notice these days, most men go for these teenage girls and maybe because every woman is a working mother, we are not spending time with our teenagers. These girls sleep around for ridiculous amount-#200.
I am looking at a coming generation of where you would see a sixteen year old girl achieving great things that are amazing. I am trying to do something interesting, interactive, something to empower and change the lives of people and make a better tomorrow.
Somebody invested in me years back and that is why I am who I am today. I started making clothes as a teenager because I was focused. These girls need to be focused. You can imagine a young girl making beads; you train her on how to make it better. She doesn’t have to sleep around; she can start making money at a young age. I am thinking of getting organizations involved to see how we can change the lives of these young girls for good. It is going to be like a club, so I am hoping of going to schools to get girls registered and during vacation; we will have different interactive activities just to make these girls better and the society better in the long run.
GM: For the commencement, you will spending money but is this not also an avenue to make more money for yourself?
BA: I don’t even mind spending my money because it is something I’m passionate about. I know that I am gifted with relating with children, it is my calling. The society is getting somehow with our children especially with our girls keeping men. Girls don’t have to sleep around, they can close up.
At times when girls come to me and say they are pregnant for a guy, I tell them you should have said no and you won’t find yourself in this situation. The worst that can happen is that the guy sees her the next morning and doesn’t say ‘hello’ but at least she has protected her future.
I am passionate about changing the future positively and not making money from it. I see a lot of things because I interact with these girls. For example, there’s this 16 years old girl who had done 6 abortions and how much do you think they give her, #200! When you see things like this you will want to cry, I am trying to help the girl now but she’s so addicted to it and she doesn’t even want my help. She still want the #200, her mind is into it.
I know this change in some girls might not be easy; I will also include prayers because for some people it might be ancestral curse or different factors. I will have to do a lot of motivational talking and I believe that God who gave me the call is also going to show me ways to go about it and also send people to help me actualize the dream.
