… As An ALAGA
This is the story of a beautiful lady who is currently making waves as a traditional wedding anchor called Alaga. It is the story of Oluremi Akintola-Samuel popularly called Oluremi SAN (Senior Abiyamo of Nigeria). Right now, she is the hottest traditional wedding anchor across the South-West. No wonder she is the Alaga of Choice for most weddings.
So good is she that she has set up a school for socio-cultural entrepreneurs called Alaga Iduro & Alaga-Ijoko. The school is called Strictly Weddings Academy in Lagos. It is a school where interested people learn the Art & Business of Engagement anchoring. When she anchors engagements she does it with a lot of panache and style. She is beautiful and she is blessed with a good figure. She is also very stylish and looks the part. She is a sweet talker. She knows how to anchor engagements. She has the required sweet raps that come with the job. She is very good at what she does. She is a very good traditional wedding anchor. She is an Alaga Iduro.
She is also an Alaga Ijoko. How did it all start for her?
“I started from my mum. She is an Alaga. She is still an Alaga anyway. I started my company. I can say I started this job from my mother’s womb. (Laughs). I started in Lagos”.
“I was born and bred in Lagos. I lived all my life in Lagos. For my university days, I went to Olabisi Onabanjo University, at Ago-Iwoye (former Ogun State University). I was able to learn a lot of Yoruba songs and culture”.
“I grew up seeing my mum do engagements. I watched her. I see the way my mum talks, I didn’t think I will have that boldness to do it. I like music generally. I like dancing. I like singing”.
“At that time, I wasn’t really gifted, and I didn’t think I will have that boldness that the job requires. But I developed it. I studied the way my mum talks, how she does it and everybody listens to her. But because I like dancing and I like music, I was enjoying it back in the days from school, my mum will come and pick us up and take us to her events. On Saturday, she will take us to her event. So, I have always been going to weddings. I love weddings from childhood (laughs)”.
How many weddings has she done now?
“I have lost count, from the time I started with my mum, from the time I started doing it on my own, I have been doing events. It’s been long ooo.
My company will be 30 years next year. So, you can imagine. I can’t remember all”.
Which event gave her the big break?
“Interestingly, the event that gave me my biggest break was a very small event. But with the advent of social media, gave me that platform that helped my business, because it is an industry that was dominated by older women. So it was when social media came, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp that people started liking my videos and they were like, are you serious? It wasn’t as if, I have not been doing the videos before. They were like see this small girl”.
“Somebody saw one of my old videos and posted it. That was how it was going viral and then people started saying I want this lady, I want this lady”.
“That is the power of social media. So, I wouldn’t say this particular event shot me to the limelight. It was some of my videos that brought me to the limelight, people saw them and they just posted them and it went viral”.
At a recent traditional wedding held in Sagamu, Remo in Ogun State, Oluremi spoke in the Ijebu dialect. Is she Ijebu?
Does she speak Ijebu normally? Or did she just speak the dialect for the purpose of the wedding? She smiles. “What usually happens is this”, she explained. “When we get information about a person and the family we do research”.
“Our job has to do with a bit of research. We talk to people and I am always learning on the job. You learn as you move on. You keep learning new things. You learn the culture. Once we get the data, with the information, that is what we use to work”.
“When we get information about the home town of our client, the paternal parents, maternal parents sometimes we even go into their genealogy-like their grandma, great grandma, especially when they have a large and extended family”.
“We get to know about their nuclear family and also their extended family. That is what we use in working”.
She is a Pastor’s wife. Yet she handles Muslim weddings. And sometimes her husband goes to events with her. How easy has it been juggling all these roles? “It has not been easy”, she explained. “Sometimes we are coming from ministration, and I have an event. So, I will go with him for ministration, and he will then take me to the event and wait for me to finish. Most times, what helps is professionalism.
So you apply professionalism to all you do.
Whether it is for a Christian or a Muslim, there is a cultural aspect they want to see. So I bring in the professionalism for them to see”.
Many young people are excited about the popular prayer she always prays for brides. We asked her to tell us more about it.
She laughs. “This is a 3rd generation business. And my mum has been doing it before I joined and there is this prayer they always pray that Gbedigbedi ko ni lee yin kuro ni ile Oko yin. My grandma is always praying that prayer. And my mum is always praying that prayer also.
Because some brides don’t speak Yoruba, I say it to them in English. Like my Bride, today doesn’t speak Yoruba fluently. So when I said it in Yoruba: Gbedigbedi ko ni gbe di mi ni ile Oko yin, she said, what? What do you mean by that? I now told her what it means in English, keep my Bumbum, my Bumbum. That is how everybody picked it up and it has become a common saying. I usually say it in English because a lot of Brides don’t speak Yoruba and everybody always says I want that prayer. The younger generation likes it when I say it. I mean generation Zee”.
What advice does she always give Brides? “I always tell them that for any marriage to be successful it takes hardwork. You work it out and you give it your best. I always advise them that they need Patience. You keep learning every day. Marriage is a school that you don’t graduate from. In marriage, you learn every day. Whenever my Brides are anxious? I always tell them they need Patience. You should be patient with the Wedding. You have to be patient with the Marriage. You have to love your new family, the family you are going into. You have to be very patient with them because you are just getting to know them”.
“I always advise my brides to make sure you respect and honour your husband”.
He has moved from being your boyfriend. He is now your husband. There is a difference. You have to honour him and treat him in that role of husband”.
What is the difference between Alaga Iduro and Alaga Ijoko?
Alaga Iduro is the spokesperson for the Groom side. “Alaga Ijoko is the spokesperson for the Brides side. Alaga Ijoko is expected to be seated and asks the Groom why are you here and Alaga Iduro is supposed to be on standby to help the Groom respond to these questions like why do you think we should give you our daughter? That is why they call those on the Brides side, Alaga Ijoko because they are usually seated and the Grooms side is coming. They are the ones coming to make enquiries, coming for the hand of the bride, in marriage. That is the difference”.
In her own case, what makes Oluremi SAN different or unique from the other Alagas?
“I have been able to blend the Contemporary with our Culture. I always want the couple to get the vibe of what I am doing. I am always thinking of how to sustain our culture whilst we modernise it a little bit. How can we use the internet in sustaining our culture?”.
“What can we do? So we are always bringing in something new like new songs, new ideas, new dimensions, things that will always make them look forward to their traditional wedding? Things are changing. Fashion is changing. Now people want to rock the latest style, the latest fabrics. Back in the day, it was just pure Aso-Oke. People used to wear Buba & Iro for their weddings. The way that industry is transforming, we are also transforming in our deliveries, so that we can be on the same page with our clients, especially our Groom and Bride and we are not leaving the parents out”.
So, we do a blend of both the Past and the Present”.
Why is she always particular about single ladies? “It is because many of them don’t have the privilege of maybe counselling, or having the right parenthood, some single ladies were not raised in a regular family, some don’t have parents, some ladies grew up on the streets, some grew up with their grandmas. They didn’t have that family figure to say this is the role model for marriage”.
“So, I decided on putting them through it so that they can know how to choose right before they get married rather than giving them remedy after the sickness”.
“My concern is for single ladies. I always want to advise them, counsel them and make sure that they are happy after their marriage”.
“I always tell people. Don’t ever rush into marriage. Don’t bring down your standards when you are getting married. If you know that this is what you like go for it. Choose rightly. If you know this is your value and this person does not fit your standard, don’t manage to cope. Don’t drop your standard because you want to get married”.
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