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Folorunsho Alakija is a Nigerian
billionaire fashion-designer and
Executive Director at FAMFA Oil, an
indigenous Nigerian oil and gas
exploration and production company.


Folorunsho Alakija was born on July 15
1951 in Ikorodu, Lagos State. She
originates from a large family: her dad,
Chief L. A. Ogbara, had 8 wives and 52
children in his lifetime. She was the
second surviving child, her mom was
the first wife.


She and her younger sister were sent to
school abroad when she was 7 years old.
They went to a school in Wales, a
private school for girls in Northern
Wales, and they were the only coloured
(black) girls in the school. And because
their fellow mates couldn’t pronounce
their names, they coined them names –
Flo for Folorunsho and Doyle for Doyin.


They were in the school for 4 years, and
at age 11 she and Doyle moved back to
Nigeria at the request of their parents
who didn’t want them to lose their
African values, culture and tradition.


In 1976, Folorunsho Alakija got married
to her loving husband. The couple have
4 kids, all boys. All of them schooled
abroad and are all engaged one way or
the other in the family business.
Folorunsho’s mom used to be a fabric
merchant and she used to help out, and
through that she learnt a lot.


After leaving the corporate world in 1984, she
went to the UK to study fashion
designing.


A year after her training, she came back
to Nigeria and started her fashion house
– Supreme Stitches at a 3-Bedroom
apartment in Surulere, Lagos. A year
after establishing the company, she
emerged as the best designer in the
country in 1986.


On Folorunsho’s involvement in the oil
and gas industry, it is known that
through a friend whom she met while
was still actively involved in the world
of fashion, they got involved in the
business of oil. There was an oil bloc no
one wanted at that time for several
reasons, it was this same oil bloc they
got allocated.


They were approached in late 1996 by
the then oil giant Texaco who were sure
the bloc had potentials as they had done
their homework well. After negotiations
that spanned 3 months they agreed on
terms and the rest like they say is
history.


Later Texaco became Chevron and they
struck oil in commercial quantity.