Mrs Bisola Bamidele is a popular traditional wedding compere. She is known as Alaga Iyawo on Instagram and also doubles as the founder of BisBam Communications Ltd.
Lady Bisbam has taken her trade beyond the shores of Nigeria; she has anchored traditional weddings in the US, the UK, Canada and some other European Countries.
Surprisingly, she started off the compering job from the church but then, she’s become so good that only the high and mighty now contract her to anchor weddings for their children or family members.
On Saturday, June 30, 2022, she was at one of those weddings. It was the traditional wedding between Olaide Agarah and Folahan Ajayi, the son of a popular caterer and CEO of Kitchen Ltd., Olori Olayinka Ajayi. As usual, she did extremely well at the party so much that many of the guests were requesting her contact at the end of the traditional wedding.
City People’s Brands Editor, DAMILARE SALAMI 08155134152 had an exclusive interview with her at the event. There, she revealed a whole lot about herself and her brand. Below are excerpts from the interview, enjoy.
You are one of the most fascinating traditional wedding comperes that we have in the industry today. How were you able to carve a niche for yourself in this business?
Well, I can say it’s consistency. If you can be consistent with what you do, people will always make you their preferred option. These days, people don’t like it when you waste time or say things you are not expected to say. I also like to entertain my guests, I go straight to the business of the day and that has helped me a lot.
Let me take you down memory lane. How did compering traditional weddings start for you?
Oh! It started as a church thing, back then at our church, they always wanted somebody that can talk, and people would say Sister Bisi go and do this and that; to which I willingly oblige. Being a classroom teacher too, some of my colleagues used to patronize me until I gained enough experience and became what I am today on the job. It is now a profession for me.
How long have you been in the business?
It is now 32 years this year. I started doing this job 32 years ago and it has been really worth the while.
Between then and now, what would you say has changed in the traditional wedding setting?
A lot of things have changed now because we no longer cherish our culture like we used to do in the past. There are things that have been taken away from our traditional marriages which ought not to be but we hope that with time, we will be able to forestall them. Our children want to do things their own way and by so doing relegate our culture and tradition to the background. Today, traditional marriages have mainly become entertainment and this is not very correct. However, in the Alaga industry, we are trying to bring back some of these things so that we can uphold and improve the Yoruba culture and tradition to prevent extinction.
A lot of young people are coming into the Alaga business but they are not as deep as the older ones, how are you planning to integrate them into the system?
We are trying to train them, I have some of them who are my mentees, they are learning fast and they are making us proud. Before now, some of them believe that the business is just about cashing out but now, they are learning fast, they are beginning to adapt to the trend of things and they are practically soaking in all the training they are receiving and are delivering optimally. Some of them don’t even know how to speak the Yoruba language but we have taken it upon ourselves to teach them and they are learning a lot about our language, culture and traditions.
You are fond of always giving out a talking drum as a gift to your couples. What informed that gesture?
My gift is all about culture; I just want them to remember wherever they are maybe within or outside the country that our culture is rich and I want them to cherish it. It is a way of making our culture relevant.
Where do you see BisBam communications in the next couple of years?
We are going places, very soon, I shall be inviting City People to our office opening in Ikeja. It’s going to be massive. We’ve taken this job outside the country and we still hope to do more in the coming years.
Apart from Alaga Ijoko, what else does BisBam Communication Offer?
I do jewellery, the popular Arewa Jewellery shop is owned by me, it is a branch of BisBam. I made the Gele-Ebi you are seeing today, I do Aso-Ebi, I do Aso-Iyawo, most of the gele you are seeing here today is BisBam Aso-Oke, that’s what many of the guests including myself are rocking today.
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