Ekiti Tourism & Hospitality News

Seun Oluwafemi. Edited by Adebanji Adelusi

As the preparations towards the hosting of the 6th edition of Ekiti Fashion Exhibition this weekend continue, the convener of the classy event, Busayo Owajoba reveals that more fashion entrepreneurs have indicated interest to participate in the exhibition.

Owajoba disclosed this in an interview with ekitourism’s Seun Oluwafemi on Wednesday at the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism, Ekiti State. Sit back and enjoy the details of the exclusive interview.

ekitourism: Who are you? In a few words kindly describe yourself.
Busayo: Thank you. I am Owojoba Oluwabusayo, the convener of “Ekiti Fashion Exhibition.” I add joy to people’s life and I love to make impact, I do not like to see people in suffering, so I always like to make people happy. I have organized wedding for so many people,so I have contributed a lot to the life of people. I do not take No for an answer and I love to try new things.

I am a very industrious and Practical person; because I love creativity. I always jump at new opportunities, I do not waste it. I hate cheating, so I stand up for people,when they are being cheated you won’t be far from the truth if you call me an advocate or activist in a way. it makes me happy and I am not easily distracted.

ekitourism : Let us go straight and talk about your passion, fashion.
Busayo: fashion is wide. There are lot of things you can venture into,when it’s come to fashion. it goes beyond cutting and sewing. We have other areas like makeup, nail fixing et al. That is why I started an event “EKITI FASHION EXHIBITION “

Fashion is wider in scope than just sewing. When I started my fashion business, I thought about what I can put together,what I can do differently to make me stand out among others. I sew ready to wear and I have created a website for the business and I plan to take it beyond Ekiti State. I want to see beyond my environment, your location does not determine your allocation, you just have to spread out and get people to locate you.

I can actually say that Ekiti discovered me and I have been located. Therefore, the business has started growing. I also have a fashion school to educate and empower people.

Ekitourism: can we talk about your educational background?
Busayo: I graduated from the university of Ado-Ekiti now Ekiti State university where I studied accounting and graduated in 2010.
Ekitourism: talking about Ekiti Fashion Exhibition, is it all about Ekiti indigenous fashion?
Busayo: well, the name Ekiti Fashion Exhibition is not just about the Ekiti exclusive local stuff, it is just the brand, just a name but it is about bringing Ekiti fashion entrepreneurs together to showcase creativity and let people believe in designers in Ekiti state. We have good designers in Ekiti State. So the programme is predicated upon the need to change the wrong notion of gross incompetence people hold against our local designers.

Ekitourism: Tell us more about the objectives. Busayo: The event is to showcase what we have in Ekiti State. I started the event since 2017. I had just only 6 fashion designers to showcase then. I thought people would be interested at the begining but I realized that the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism or any relevant government agency needed to be involved before I could earn the trust of local designers.

Ekitourism: What could you say have been the impact made so far? Busayo: An Ekiti woman who sew bridal wear was discovered during one of our events in Ekiti State. The event by and large has brought about an exposure. The programme has, like a stimulant, widened people’s horizon and enhanced their vision. The effect of such is that more people have indicated interest in participating in this year’s event including people from States like Ondo, Oyo etc. That was why I said initially that it wasn’t only about the local brand exhibition but the event is being hosted on Ekiti soil.

Ekitourism: You said this is the 6th edition, what exactly has been your source of inspiration?
Busayo: like I said earlier,there are so many talented people in ekiti state but they were not discovered and because I love to make a change, I love exposure and I do not follow what people do. I like to look inward into what people really need, so when I discovered ekiti has a lot to do when it comes to entrepreneurship, I decided to stay and make a change.Also when I heard people complaining about fashion designers in Ekiti state. I ask them who they patronize. This year I am bringing good designers on board, so that people can see them and patronize them.
Ekiourism: By your own assessment now, how can you describe the level of people’s subscription into that idea?
Busayo: Ekiti people are hard to convince except government is involved. But through students, we have been able to reach out to so many. Most entrepreneurs in Ekiti State are students or graduates from different institutions and are trying to make a change. It has not been really easy; a lot of people still need proper orientation. I almost stopped this year event but I realized we need consistency to achieve our goals.

Ekitourism: What level of individual or corporate support are you getting? Busayo: I used to get some form of support from Aare Afe Babalola but it has not been so easy gaining access to the philanthropist lately. No one has ever assisted in funding the exhibition which costs me close to 10 Million Naira annually due to the empowerment content. I guess I have not been pressing necessary buttons to make funding support accessible to me from government. Nevertheless, I won’t deny the fact that the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism has been a source of encouragement to me. Ekitourism: How is the weekend show going to be? Busayo: The programme will run for 2 days . We are using the open pavellion at the Fajuyi area from Saturday when there will be workshops and other capacity building as well as the empowerment events. On Sunday, from 4pm, the runway would commence.

The End.