Last Friday, 29th December, 2023 Chief (Mrs.) Joko Oni celebrated her 70th birthday in a big way. It was elaborate. It was the mother of all birthdays as top dignitaries stormed the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island to celebrate with her.
Though she is 70, she does not look it. She has refused to age. She has continued to glow and radiate warmth and youthfulness, despite having bestrode the top social circles, for decades running.
This top Lagos socialite, , is surely one of those lucky women who have continued to age gracefully. Her love and passion for looking good has remained constant, even as the years rolled by. Same with her penchant for quality Jewelleries and her admirable sense of fashion.
Last weekend this ageless beauty and respected society matriarch celebrated 70 in grand style. The high society woman of style, has been consistently on the social radar, since her youthful days, while working at Nigerian Technical Company Limited NITECO, before resigning to start her own company GOLDRUSH in the year 1984.
Since then, she has moved on to become one of the society women from this part of the country who is highly respected. Joko Oni has also carved a niche for herself as a fashion connoisseur, socialite and jewellery magnate who ranks high among her peers. To her, age is just a number as clocking age 70 has not changed her youthful thinking and reasoning as she still feels 30 years at heart. Her dress sense, aura, poise, elegance and beauty are still top notch as she is still a delight to many who admire her strong will and her straightforward approach to life.
The preparation for her big event reached a frenetic pace couple of months ago, as her friends, both within and outside the country, all geared up to support her and make her day a memorable one. Joko Oni, is one woman who has been there over the years supporting her friends and standing by them whenever they had big occassions to celebrate. For them, this is like a perfect opportunity for them to pay their dear friend back for all her good deeds to them.
She has friends scattered all over the world who flew into the country specifically, to party with the elegant Joko Oni and celebrate her. “Many of my friends flew into the country from all over the world for my birthday party. They have come in from America, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Austria, Canada, Benin Republic. They have all come down to Nigeria to celebrate with me,” she told City People exclusively.
City People also gathered that almost all of her friends based abroad bought the Aso-Ebi for the party. Everyone who saw the Aso-Ebi loved it because of its undeniable appeal. That is why there was a big rush for the Aso-Ebi. Many of the London and U.S. big babes transformed theirs into very attractive styles that made them the synosure of all eyes at the bash.
The exquisite Balmoral Hall of the Federal Palace Hotel, venue of the party, was filled to the brim for the big event. The ageless Joko Oni has been a part of the celebration of many top society ladies. She has been a rallying point amongst her peers. She flows very well with ladies much younger than her and has been a pillar of support to many of them. She counsels them when they go to her for advice and plays the role of big sister to many of them. This is one of the reasons why a lot of them love her and often gravitate towards her.
The interior decoration of the hall was handled by late Ibidun Ighodalo’s decoration company.
The colour code for the party was Gold, while all the women were in their Aso-Ebi, the men wore their white and blue Agbada on Gold caps. No doubt it was a massive event and all of Joko Oni’s friends, family and well wishes were there on the 29th of December to celebrate with her.
In the Lagos social scene today, not many names can claim to be bigger than that of legendary Joko Oni. Ask anybody who knows a thing or two about the social scene in Lagos, and they will tell you that Joko Oni is an Icon when it comes to the Lagos social circuit. Madam Joko Oni, has been in the public glare for well over 30 years and she does not look like one ready to slow down yet. At 70 she is still going strong. Her grip and influence on the social scene has not waned, one bit. This ebony beauty who came into prominence over 2 decades ago while she was resident in Ibadan was popularly called Gold Rush, a feminine store owned by Joko that stocked the best of jewelries, shoes, bags, etc. Back then, there was no big party that didn’t have the beautiful and high-flying Joko Oni, in attendance. And she used the best of gold back then. Long before many society women these days started flaunting gold at parties, Joko was the undisputed Gold stocker and user. At 70, she still wears her gold. Top celebrities and prominent Nigerians, including royalties, are her friends. Madam Joko Oni, is on first-name terms with most of the accomplished politicians, captains of industry, business moguls and celebrated career women in Nigeria today because she knew most of them way back when they were all younger and striving to make their marks in life. Over the last 30 years, she has remained a permanent feature on the social scene and still going strong. How does she feel about this? City People asked her recently?
“I feel blessed and honoured and I thank the Almighty God. Everything I am today is by the grace of the Almighty God. The grace of good health, of life, everything, I think I’ve just been favoured by God and I thank God for everything. I am also a very contented and disciplined woman. If you’re disciplined, you have God and if you’re not looking at what others are doing and you always remain yourself, trust me, the sky is the limit for you.”
“When you have contentment and you’re really into God, He knows you and you know Him, and you try to keep His commandments, He will surely favour you. I think the grace of God has been sufficient for me and my family. Then, I have also been blessed with good children who don’t bother me or give me problems. They are beautiful and focused children who are doing very well in all their endeavours and I thank God for that. It is the grace of God, it’s not my doing.”
“I thank God for the lovely grand-children He’s given to me, I have eight of them, all are wonderful grand-children. I have never known sorrow in my life, yes, there may have been little hitches here and there, but nothing grave enough to shake me or break me. But the important thing in life is know God and be contented with whatever you have.”
Anyone who knows Joko Oni very well knows that there’s possibly no big name or personality, particularly within the South-West, that she cannot see or seek audience with. It is either you know the person directly or you know someone who knows the person directly. How did she build this very strong network over the years?
“I think its love and respect. I respect people a lot. There are so many people that I’m older than that I greet and say ‘yes, ma’ to. All my sisters, my big sisters in the society, I kneel down to greet all of them. I think my humility has also played a huge role. You have to be humble and bring yourself down. You must also show love to people and try to help others who need your assistance. If you have ten naira, take at least one naira out of it to help people. I love blessing the church, giving to people who are poor, that’s my passion. No matter how small, you have to give so that God will continue to bless you. That is exactly what God wants from us.”
Where was she born, and raised?
“I was born in Lagos but I was raised in different parts like Abeokuta, Ibadan, Lagos. I grew up with my sister’s husband, late Justice Adewale Thompson. My sister raised me from the age of two years. So, when they were in Lagos, I was there with them. We started from Lagos then we went to Abeokuta. After Abeokuta, we went to Ibadan, but I actually spent more time in Ibadan. I schooled at Ibadan Grammar School.”
How did she emerge on the social scene?
“When I was in Ibadan, I had this shop called Gold Rush and I just found myself in front of magazines. It was City People & Ovation that featured me. It was during Abacha’s reign. What they said was that anything Joko Oni tells Abacha he listens. At that time, I was not even close to Abacha, it was later that I was close to him. They said anything I told Abacha to do he will do. Ah, I said, me? So, everybody started looking for me. People were wondering, who is this Joko Oni, that knows Abacha, that can talk to Abacha? What happened was that, while I was in Ibadan I worked with my boss, Chief Awomolo who was a big auto dealer back then. At that time, Abacha was heading the GOC in Ibadan and we were the ones supplying vehicles to that GOC. That was how I got to know Abacha.”
Gold Rush was big back then. As a matter of fact, some people didn’t even know your real name, everyone just called you Gold Rush. When did you set up Gold Rush, was it something you started when you were much younger in school?
“I started Gold Rush after I had my second child. I was working with Niteco, Nigeria Technical Company. So, I moved from Lagos to Ibadan. And when I found I had nothing doing, I opened the shop and called it Gold Rush and I thank God it went well. But later, I had to move back to Lagos. But Ibadan gave me the name Gold Rush. And just like you said, most people didn’t even know my name, but they knew Gold Rush, so I think I did well in Ibadan.
How did her love for gold start?
“It started with my mother. When she was alive, she sold gold. My mother’s firstborn, Alhaja Animashaun, also sold gold, so, I was brought up within that environment. Even when I was born and was just a few months old, they put gold on my fingers, on my waist. So, it’s something that’s been part of the family. All my siblings, everybody in my family, we grew up wearing gold.”
Apart from gold, what other fashion accessories does she like?
Nothing, nothing. I only love two things in my life, and that’s gold and cars.”
Looking at life, what has life taught her?
“Life has taught me to always be nice to people, to be kind, to be humble in everything I am doing and always put God first. Everybody says I am always saying God, God. I will continue to talk about God. I have eight grandchildren.
Apart from that, I’ve got everything I want in life, everything, just name it. I’ve got eight grand-children, all my children are doing great in life. I have deliberately shielded them from the limelight, but they’re all doing well. I’ve got three children, they are all married and not even once have I had to go and settle any marital rift between any of them. This is why I always say that everybody who wishes me well, I wish well too.”
–WALE LAWAL
(08037209290)
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