Exclusive: Abike Dabiri-Erewa at 57: What Nobody Knew about Her Husband’s Skills

By Dipo Kehinde/

Have you ever wondered what the colour of love is?

It was easy to see during a chance meeting with the CEO of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, Hon Abike Kafayat Oluwatoyin Dabiri-Erewa, some time ago when she painted a picture of how loving her husband could be.

Mrs Dabiri-Erewa, who clocked 57 on October 10, revealed that when she’s dressing up, her husband is always there to ensure there’s no hair out of place.

She told this writer, in Lagos, how good her husband is in the art of tying Gele, on a day she was approaching the venue of a wedding alone without her headgear in place.

Knowing that she had to be at her very best, Mrs Dabiri-Erewa who was close to the venue of the wedding, at the Tafawa Balewa Square, in Lagos, asked her driver to drive into the National Museum, two doors away, for her aides to find a suitable place, where she could put her dressing in perfect order.

After nosing around, the police escorts found an art gallery, tucked away at the far end of the museum. Then, they signalled to Mrs Dabiri-Erewa, who was then a federal lawmaker, to come over.

Her eyes lit up as she entered the Biodun Omolayo Art Gallery, a treasure trove of beautiful works of art. She hurriedly looked around, greeted the Chief Creative Officer and a worker, as well as one other bystander.

Then she walked up to a mirror and began the elaborate exercise of tying the headgear.

This way, that way, she twisted the headgear until she got it in perfect shape; then she mentioned something about her husband liking it that way.

The husband, according to her, always help out when she’s tying the headgear at home.

At the end of the exercise, Mrs Dabiri Erewa posed for a picture that brings back memories of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting. 

She later stormed the wedding of the daughter of a police chief, Mr Marvel Akpoyibo, looking like a million dollars with her headgear.

The pictures were declassified today in celebration of the 57^th birthday anniversary of Mrs Dabiri Erewa, a former Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora.

Abike got married to Segun Erewa in 2007 after they met two years earlier in South Africa.

In 2015, the journalist, politician, and motivational speaker was listed among the top 250 most influential women in the world.