Yesterday was the Arise gala for women of note.
Mbok, don’t mind me; I really am not blessed with the attention span to wait to get the actual title of the gala.
I had reached out to the Publisher as he is called by his people on something. He had called me out of the blue to give me some very exciting information…
Edgar, are you having fun? He had asked very late one night on the phone and I in turn replied – my Lord, I dey where you keep me oo
Get ready, you are going to….. And I jumped up naked splashing my Friska BP tea all over the place
So two months later, I reached out to ask – How far, and he replied by sending me a VIP ticket to the Arise women something.
I went o. Saw so many beautiful and accomplished people at the gala who were really; interested in my weird ensemble
You know me na, while the rest were in very beautiful ballroom gowns and elegant cocktail suits, I sauntered in looking like a badly morphed Area Fada and Bobrisky complete with tattoos, chains and dreadlock
They were just looking at me and me, I was preening and enjoying the attention- who send their papa as we say it in Shomolu
It was handsome Chike Ogeah looking very dapper like an Asaba Brad Pitt, who first drew first blood – Mudi don influence you finish, he said as he reached out with a handshake
The hall was rich, this was a quality ensemble as always the case with a Nduka outing
Sectors were represented in a fine mix of class and elegance but very importantly, the depth was also extremely rich
Ruth Osime with her beautiful and colourful friend Nkiru Anumudu who came out like an exotic bird from the Caribbean in a bold but delicate ensemble that made her glow and attract attention
Sweet Eno Udoh, classic Dupe Oduwole, electric Konye of Style, Ijeoma, a cerebral beauty, amazingly beautiful Udo Okonjo who never ceases to amaze me with her beauty and carriage, iconic Molade Sherafa Yusuf of the NTA fame, my sister Alero of UBA, the new deputy CEO of Stanbic IBTC and the ever famous Atedo Peterside in his usual ensemble and many more made up the glitzy crowd at the cocktails
Then we were ushered into the main hall and the thickness of Nduka’s networking ability once again shown bright
As a salesman, when I go to such events, I not only rush the food, I take time out to survey the richness of the Network.
Its depth, its expansiveness and its richness are the things I look out for
Uncle Nduka who is the original Duke has always been a legend in that space
His last event which honoured certain individuals from all works of life was a case in point
He was in the thick of his ‘fight’ with one of the oldest banks on the continent and there were rumours that – oti salo, all over the place.
Me, I kuku thought that he would cancel the show in the midst of all of that wahala.
He not only did not cancel the show, but he also went along to pull in over 90% of award recipients on a night that saw the bold, powerful and not-so-powerful pulled in by the influence and charisma of one man.
Last night was the same. From former President Jonathan who looked quite amazing in his ijaw attire to icon Fola Adeola who stretched a hand of friendship to me and who was still looking very fresh and handsome down to a lot of female powerhouses like my ever true sister Bolanle Austen Peters, my other sister Dr Dupe Oduwole Minster for trade thru the controversial Senator Natasha who came with her handsome husband who was not ready for anybody to whisper anything in his wife’s ear again
I didn’t physically see Aigboje but saw him arriving on the blogs, and media stars like Azuka Ogujiuba, Rufai Oseni, Eniola Bello whose beuatiful wife helped find my glasses that had gine missing, with PR guru Tosh Adefeko and the rest filled up the crowd.
On the stage, Rotus, my brother, in a tux and looking very dashing and feeling like Denzel in an Igbo accent, rocked the mic after which he yielded the stage to Teni, who was looking like a ‘small boy’ in that whatever she was wearing.
As usual, I stood up and inspected the crowd and a lot of things came to my mind
How do you put all these powerful people in a room with all the crazy schedules you would be faced with?
Crazy politicians, super busy business executives, naturally scattered top Media Executives, busybodies, top Government officials etc
How do you not only get them into the room but how do you now keep them in the room for the duration of the Show without the room thinning out 30 minutes into the show?
The biggest comedy shows that I have attended used to end in less than 30 minutes as people who would have paid millions to attend will start leaving gently as the show progresses
But at Nduka’s shows, Wike would sit down to the end, giving Fubara a reprieve, and Segun Agbaje would keep his whole Board waiting as he is on stage delivering an acceptance speech in a voice that reminds you of Michael Jackson screaming Beat It.
To what do we lay all of these but the massive networking ability of a man, who these days is dressing like an angry Fulani herdsman.
I am compiling the maddtimes power list and as such last night was of varying interest to me
You see in Political Science where I have a master’s degree after not attending 50% of my classes, we were taught about power and influence
They told us that there are three types of power – institutional – Tinubu and Akpabio type that comes from the constitution or the IBB type that you gather after taking a smelly mouth to a Radio station and saying – my fellow Nigerians.
The second one is the Oba of Oniru type, which is called traditional. This one you get from juju. Ooni of Ife, Obi of Onitsha, all the Emirs and the very plenty chiefs who have either bought, been conferred or just arrogate to themselves like me, who is the Duke of Shomolu and Oniduro of Akure after Green Africa Airline stranded me in Akure, titles.
The third one is those who control with charisma. Here you see pastors, orators, great men and women who pull crowds without having any constitutional or traditional backing
Here you have Peter Obi, joseph Edgar, Ituah Ighodalo, Mo Abudu and those people that just use their charisma to chance people
This third category we were tokd is yhe most powerful kind of power. Its the most destructive if not handled well.
World wars have come out from here, Empires have been built and destroyed from here as they simply zombify people with the raw strength of their conviction – see MKO Abiola, see Hitker, see Mandela, see Bobrisky, see Nnamdi Kanu, see Pastor Oyedepo and his brother on the express Adeboye.
It is in this third category that you find Nduka Obiagbena.
The third category I dare say and as they taught us in class is the most powerful, i repeat as they make people involuntarily just bow to them using the force of their character and the magnetism of their charisma
People like Michael Jackson whom people will faint just by touching his bleached skin, Davido with his croaked voice, Dele Momodu with his prose, that Chukwumerijie boy who used to read poems and butter will be melting all over the Nation, Adeshina the ADB man, the champion Chess player, that boy that acted Odogwu in that film, Obi Cubana and the like
Nduka has over the years curated power and influence to the extent that I begin to wonder what kinds of names would be saved on his phone
His charisma and understanding of power flows have kept him super influential and massively relevant from his bow tie-wearing days to only God knows what he is wearing these days if you know what I mean
Without the other two types of powers, he not only summons players in the other categories but accesses them with ease and gets what he wants almost all of the time
That is true power and influence, and that is what really counts in a society like this.
Last night, as I surveyed, the hall filled to the brim with powerful people all sumoned and fed by just this one man, I bowed to the power of his vision and the influence he wields in a system that is so massively flitting and short-lived with current champions being flipped like eggs on the abokis frying pan.
The flitting nature of power and influence is often cos its usually tied to office and appointments-
variants of power you can only get in the aforementioned top two.
As I found my way back to Shomolu , I stopped to hug the man, and he screamed – Edgar, go get a whisky, as I turned to get the drink, I saw Uncle Fola Adeola again, and I rushed to hug him.
I came back to Nduka, looked at him very well and vowed to be a man of influence and power like him- shebi, I don kuku steal his nickname.
This is real power in its truest and most naked form, I tell you.
Nduka Obiagbena is a strong entry in the Maddtimes Power list being curated as we speak.
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu
