December 19, (THEWILL) -Nollywood actress, Eniola Badmus, recently celebrated 20 years in the entertainment industry and the launch of her book, ‘Delayed Not Denied’. Here are highlights from the event as compiled by SHADE METIBOGUN
The Venue
Upscale event centre, The Monarch, which is situated in the highbrow Lekki area of Lagos, was the venue of the event. Besides the fact that the celebrant is a personal friend of the owner, Olori Sekinat Elegushi, parties held at the place are usually considered A-list parties.
Lagos State flouts own COVID-19 protocol
The last thing on the minds of the guests, many of who were ready to let their hair down, was to adhere to COVID-19 protocol. Following the significant rise in positive cases of the Omicron variant of the virus, the Lagos State Government decided to step in by putting measures in place to curb the spread of the virus. Several days before the event, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu insisted that occupancy limit at any event must not exceed 60 percent of maximum design capacity, adding that attendees of social gatherings must present their vaccination cards or digital bar code page showing evidence of full vaccination, at least the first dose, but preferably double dose. Well, none of the guests had any vaccination card to present, nor were they willing to wear a face mask. The number of guests at the party was above the 60 percent stipulated by the state government. In fact, the same government had a representative at the event, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism, Arts and Culture, Solomon Bonu, who partied hard without a face mask.
No defined dress code
Unlike most parties, there was no defined dress code. The celebrant had announced, ahead of the grand event, that her guests were free to ‘outshine’ her. And so, a lot of people turned out in their best and fashionable clothes, adding colour and glamour to the event.
The celebrant’s grand entrance
The plus size actress was driven to the venue of her event in a black Rolls Royce with some security guards as escorts. She also wowed her guests with the way she stepped into the hall. The backdrop of the stage parted into two and she appeared in the middle of the hall with fireworks on display.
Funke Akindele-Bello shunned best friend’s party
Actress and movie producer, Funke Akindele-Bello, is one of the closest people to the celebrant. Many expected to see her at the party and take charge on behalf of the celebrant, but she was conspicuously absent. The mother of two had earlier made a social media post where she showered blessings on the celebrant, but she did not give reasons for not making it to the event. Her absence naturally set tongues wagging as many berated her for not attending her close friend’s party. Many also believed that the actress wanted to avoid the duo of Iyabo Ojo and Toyin Abraham, with whom she has not been on speaking terms with.
Sanwo-Olu pledges N10m to celebrant
Some of Eniola Badmus’ friends gave her money to help with the planning of the ceremony. Kayan mata seller and Chief Executive Officer of Miwa Signature Place, Akinola Oluwatomiwa Balquees, gave the actress the sum of N10 million. Singer Teniola Apata, also known as Teni, donated the sum of N2 million. A few others launched her book with undisclosed sums of money. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State made a pledge of N10 million. The duo of Nollywood actresses, Iyabo Ojo and Toyin Abraham gave the celebrant the sums of N200,000 and N250,000, respectively.
Lateef Adedimeji, Bimpe Oyebade step out together
The duo of Nollywood actors, Adedimeji Lateef, and his bride-to-be, Adebimpe Oyebade, came to the event together. It was the first time the duo would be stepping out together as a couple since their December 22 wedding invite surfaced online. The two held hands as they stepped into the venue together. Before their wedding invite surfaced, the two vehemently denied any romantic relationship between them.
Pretty Mike steals show with 24 ‘spiritual convoy’
The king of party stunts, Mike Eze Nwalie Nwaogu, more popularly known as Pretty Mike, came to the party with 24 ‘spiritual convoys’ who stole the show with their display. His convoy was made up of men and women who were scantily clad in black underwear and painted in white all over. They displayed their dance skill to Mayorkun’s song Holy Father, as guests had their fillof drama before they all marched out of the hall.
Davido doled out N2m to KWAM 1
David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, is one of the closest people to Eniola. As a sign of support, he performed at the party to the delight of guests. Shortly after he arrived, he went straight to pay homage to King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal and while the king of Fuji music was performing on stage, he walked up to him and gave him N2 million. He later sat down as a guest to enjoy the evening.
The queen without her king
Olori Sekinat Elegushi has made it a custom to always attend
parties held in her event centre, particularly if she knows the celebrant personally. This she did at Eniola’s party. She however waltzed in without her king, Oba Saheed Elegushi. Instead, she was accompanied by her first daughter and her retinue of friends.
Between Faithia Williams and Iyabo Ojo
There seems to be no end in sight to the feud between actresses, Iyabo Ojo and Faithia Williams. Unlike Funke Akindele-Bello who many say shunned the party because of Iyabo Ojo and Toyin Abraham, both actresses knowing the other would be at the party, made sure to attend. They however kept a safe distance from each other. The erstwhile friends, fell out with each other after Iyabo accused Faithia of making public her near death experience during a tummy tuck procedure in Turkey. According to Iyabo, only Faithia was with her during the trip and in the know of what she travelled to Turkey to do and was therefore the only one who could have leaked the information. Iyabo waited until Faithia’s 49th birthday last year. While others congratulated her, Iyabo launched a social media attack on her, calling her a witch who was envious of her and wished her death.
Saheed Balogun, Faithia Williams shun each other
The duo of Nollywood actors, Saheed Balogun and Faithia Willams were at the event, but they surprisingly looked the other way and avoided exchanging pleasantries. Even when their colleagues were taking pictures, they ensured they stayed far away from each other. Saheed and Fathia used to be married and their marriage lasted more than 10 years. It produced two children who are now teenagers. The marriage ended due to allegations of infidelity on the part of Faithia. However, about three years ago, they reunited in a movie produced by Faithia. Perhaps their feud was reignited again because of Iyabo’s closeness to Saheed.
Even drinks were served stylishly
Some expensive wines and spirits were served at the party, but the really expensive ones found their way into the hall in a stylish manner. About seven young men dressed in black costumes raised the encased drinks up for guests to see as the popular club song Dorime played in the background. The procession was led by one of them who had on a costume with flashy lights on it. The seven marched to the service area where the drinks were to be served.
Who did what?
Standup comedian and actor, Justice Nuagbe, otherwise known as Ushbebe, was the master of ceremony. Saheed Balogun was in charge of the book launch. He narrated how the celebrant walked up to him when she wanted to start acting. He didn’t want to give her a chance at first, but Fuji artiste, Sulaimon Alao Adekunle, also known as Alao Malaika, persuaded him to. King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal and Olori Sekinat Elegushi both unveiled the book. Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome, a.k.a Ali Baba, supervised the cutting the five-tier all white cake by asking guests to count from 1-20, which signified the number of years the actress had spent in the industry.
The roll call
The event had many actors, actresses, music stars, standup
comedians and wealthy businessmen and women in attendance.
***Additional reports by Ivory Ukonu.
