HAVING beautiful women is a way of assessment or a display of wealth by men in the olden, but not too long ago, days in the place where I come from. Up till the 60s and 70s in my part of the world, to prove or show that you are rich and have truly arrived, you must have a stunning beautiful woman as a wife or a courtesan. A Yoruba socialite elite must possess a beautiful woman to accompany him to parties and other social events. The sanmori as they are called, in Yoruba, flaunt their beautiful chicks at gatherings to the admiration of others. They all giggle, laugh, throw banters, and hug one another in the display of their mistresses. However, if there was any who did not attend a function with his beautiful lady or felt that his is not as beautiful as that of a particular friend, such men feel no shame or any embarrassment in demanding from the beautiful side chicks of their friends to get them a similar charmingly beautiful lady to keep or marry. They would simply ask the tempting lady of their friend ‘E ba wa wa eni kan to ri bi yin,’ meaning ‘Kindly find for us, a beautiful lady just like you.’ the practice later advanced, the elitists graduated from not just having beautiful ladies alone, they added brain and responsibility to the qualities of such ladies. Thus, in addition to having full lips, high forehead, broad face, small chin, small nose, short and narrow jaw, high cheekbones, clear and smooth skin and wide-set eyes, all the assets that make a stunning woman, their ladies must be intelligent and responsible as well.
Late Tatalo Alamu, the Ibadan-based popular Dundun and Sekere Maestro, later promoted this in one of his albums to a means of ‘toasting’ ladies. Tatalo, eyeing one of the delightfully beautiful ladies in the city of Ibadan then, sang ‘E ba un wa obinrin to ri bi yin o, e ba un wa obinrin to ri bi yin; t’o gbe ounje f’egbe t’o tun gb’awo bo, e ba un wa obinrin to ri bi yin.’ This means: Help me find a woman that is as beautiful, intelligent, dutiful and responsible as you. Tatalo, like most of the elites’ socialites, wanted not just a beautiful lady but the one that has all the best qualities in a woman. He was desirous of the vintage or the quintessential woman. It was this old Yoruba rich men’s style of demanding from a friend’s lady of her like in beauty and intelligence and the music of Tatalo Alamu that played in my subconscious at the special party put together to celebrate the 68th birthday of the incumbent Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Henry Oladele Alake, at the Benue Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja Friday night. As every normal human being loves beautiful things, men and even fellow women do watch admiringly, when they see stunning ladies and this is the case of Mr. Dele Alake as a communications strategist. He is admired, loved, respected and wanted by all, keenly. In my practice as a consultant in internal and external communications management, Dele Alake is the model when people are looking for spokespersons. A number of state governors including two from my state, Oyo, had asked me to look for “somebody like Dele Alake” for them to serve as either information commissioner or chief image maker for their states. In fact, it is usually the case when governors and chief executive officers of big organisations are in search of communications experts. ‘Can you get us somebody like Dele Alake’ is always a challenge.
No doubt, Nigeria is blessed with many great communications specialists and we have seen them practice their trade outstandingly. However, Dele Alake is Dele Alake. Nobody can be like him. As the Yoruba elites graduated from having just beautiful ladies to searching for courtesans with beauty, brains and good conduct; wanting the best in their women, people in authority are now on the hunt for communications experts who are all-rounders. Rising to the peak of his career in journalism as Editor and thereafter becoming Chief Press Secretary, Commissioner for Strategy and Information and CEO of global media organisations, Dele Alake is an embodiment of success in journalism and communications strategy. He is indeed the quintessential Communications Strategist in all ramifications. However, now that the owner of Dele Alake or his buddy (as Mr. Bayo Onanuga described him), President Bola Ahmed Tinubu refused to make him the Minister of Information and Strategy, we may, on a lighter note, help the President too, to look for somebody like Dele Alake. E je ki a ba President wa na wa eni kan t’o da bi Dele Alake!
Happy birthday, sir!
- Olaosebikan is the CEO of Midas Communications Ltd, a global public relations firm.
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