By Adebayo Olanireti
In every epoch, there are fashion enthusiasts who discover all of a sudden that a particular trend has become outdated and, thus, incongruent with the times. Many attempts to rebel and gloriously establish themselves as trendsetters. However, more often than not, the latter divide ends up muddling trends with a personal problem or shortcoming, which leads them to commit what many fashion buffs would label as a fashion faux pas.
It is no secret that Salamatu, the dark-hued wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, loves fashion and does little or nothing to hide it. Although she has been criticised several times for making wrong fashion choices, she does not seem deterred by the opinion of her critics.
Since her husband became Nigeria’s Number Four Man, Salamatu has jettisoned her quiet, moderate lifestyle, opting instead for a garish, expensive, and sometimes weird fashion showcase. Recently, one of her pictures trended on social media underscoring the fact that she has thrown all decency and modesty to the dust bin. Salamatu was pictured in an ensemble of designers’ wears and accessories totaling an estimated N12 million which many observers termed sheer obscenity in a country where an average citizen lives on barely about $1 (N500) per day.
Salamatu was garbed in a Gucci coat, a pair of high platform heels, a Bottega Veneta double knot handbag, a high-end wristwatch believed to be Rolex with diamond rings adorning several of her fingers.
Her tubular handbag, made of lambskin with a single compartment, zip closure, and nylon lining, as described on the official website of the maker Bottega Veneta, the Italian luxury fashion company, reportedly retails for about N1.5m.
The Gucci Jumbo GG canvas coat sells for N2.64m while the exact model of the wristwatch sells between N6 million and N14 million depending on the size. The boots she wore cost N1.2 million. The cost of her rings could not be ascertained as the types could not be verified due to the quality of the picture.
Besides the ostentation that Salamatu put up in the image doing the rounds on the internet, she did so in the tackiest of all manners, making netizens question her sense of propriety and even her fashion sense.
Trust the unsparing Nigerians on social media; they have since been calling her out while others are raising questions about Femi Gbajabiamila’s leadership at home for his inability to call his wife to order. Tagged as “a pictorial representation of ‘Money miss road’” by a Twitter user, Salamatu was also a subject of interest three years ago when her husband gifted her a $300,000 G-Wagon for her 50th birthday.
The luxury machine came with a number plate customised with the fond word “ASSURANCE”. At the time, Assurance, a chart-busting single by the superstar singer, Davido, was the hottest song in Africa. The song became even more popular when the singer presented a Porsche SUV with ‘Assurance’ as its number plate, to his then-fiancée, Chioma. Speaker Gbajabiamila followed the pop culture trend to appreciate his wife.
If Salamatu can be excused for her lavish lifestyle because she is not a public office holder, her husband does not enjoy such immunity. The US-trained lawyer cum four-time member of the House of Representatives is no less ostentatious and he seems to care less what people say about his predilections and life choices.
There was understandable mass hysteria in March 2020 when the Speaker reportedly ferried about 300 guests to Dubai to celebrate his mother’s 90th birthday party. He was roundly condemned for spending tax payer’s money to organise the destination birthday party of a nonagenarian. Gbajabiamila, however, demurred, saying that the party was strictly a family affair and that no politician was present. For a man who has not done any known business in Nigeria aside from politics, even Gbajabiamila’s kith and kin would find his assertion ludicrous.
Just as Olanrewaju Suraj, chairman, Civil Society Network Against Corruption, did. Suraj said being a House member since 2003 “without any other clear stream of income, the speaker’s Dubai expedition is another show of how lucrative public offices are, with Nigerians being at the receiving end.”
Culled: The Capital
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