Lagos businesswoman and MD of Montai, an upscale fashion outfit situated on Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos, Alhaji Tai Elemosho-Okesanjo, parades an intimidating wardrobe. Very rich in native and English attires, YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine’s peep into her closet uncovered some of the most wondrous and exotic dresses you can think of. Sweet-mannered and ever supportive, she is the first of 28 children, from a polygamous home. Trained as a mass communicator at the University of Lagos, her NYSC was at the defunct Savannah Bank. From where she later joined the Commercial Department of Nigeria Television Authority (NTA). Then, Victory Merchant Bank, and later Victory Finance, as Head, Treasury Department. Married to Abiodun and blessed with a daughter whom she adores ceaselessly, she set up Montai in 1994; first on Apapa Road. And 6 years later, she relocated the business to Toyin Street, in Ikeja, Lagos, where it still stands. A true and bona fide Alhaja, she has been to Mecca over 20 times and is still not tired. Outgoing and always outstandingly dressed, taking your eyes off her made-to-fit dresses is not just possible. And even if that fails to attract and magnate you, her soothing ways and manners will definitely do. Likewise her industry, which she really brought to bear in her second year in school when she travelled abroad with her pocket money, bought some goods which she sold on her return, made some profit and has been building on that ever since, a la Montai.
NB: First published October 2014