THISDAY STYLE MAGAZINE 6TH SEPTEMBER 2026 by THISDAY Newspapers Ltd

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Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436

EDITOR’S LETTER

COVER NOTE

JEWELLERY THAT NEVER DATES: CLASSIC PIECES WORTH INVESTING IN

Jewellery is one of the few things in your wardrobe that can stay with you for decades and still feel completely current. Clothes change, bags have their seasons, and even our taste in shoes evolves, but a great pair of earrings or a beautiful watch can follow you through different jobs, cities, relationships and versions of yourself.That is what makes certain pieces worth spending more on. Not necessarily because they carry a famous name, but because you will actually wear them. By Funke Babs-Kufeji

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Lifestyle & Fashion

Jewellery That Never Dates: Classic Pieces Worth Investing In

The New Wardrobe Rules After 40

Seven Fashion Fixes That Make Clothes Sit Better

S yle TR

UT H

& RE A SO

EXECUTIVE EDITOR KONYE NWABOGOR

Dress for the Woman You Are Now

Osaze Efe: Inside the Mind of Abuja’s Photography Visionary

DEPUTY EXECUTIVE EDITOR OLUFUNKE BABS-KUFEJI

Spice, Smoke and Story: The Lagos Question: Cook, Order or Go Out?

ASSISTANT EDITOR YINKA OLATUNBOSUN

Opinion: Being Single Is Not a Problem to Solve

CONTRIBUTOR EBIYEKON DORCAS DIO

The Best Trips Aren’t Always the Most Expensive

Smart, affordable upgrades to make to your Rented space

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08111847086

DIRECTOR, PRINT PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO

Life as It Is

ow was your week? Mine started slowly. Guys, I struggled. I could not seem to get much done, and I kept wondering what was wrong with me. At first, I assumed I was simply tired and would feel better after a good night’s sleep. Only around midweek did I realise it was the onset of burnout. So I shut down for most of the week. I slept, stepped away from work, and allowed myself to do very little without feeling guilty. I feel so much better now, and it reminded me just how important rest is. We often wait until we are completely exhausted before giving ourselves permission to stop, when sometimes all the body is asking for is a proper pause. Has anyone else been feeling this way? It is common around this time of year. We have been going since January, and with the final quarter approaching, many of us are already thinking about everything we still need to accomplish before December. Please rest when you need to. Everything does not have to fall apart before you take a break. Sometimes that break means staying home and doing absolutely nothing. Other times, getting away for a few days can make all the difference. And no, it doesn’t have to involve an expensive resort, a long flight, or a punishing exchange rate. A nearby destination, an off-season booking or a simple trip with good company can give you exactly the change of scenery you need. Read The Best Trips Aren’t Always the Most Expensive for useful tips on planning a memorable holiday without returning home to a financial emergency. The best choices are not always the ones that look most impressive to other people. That is worth remembering when we talk about relationships too. Society still finds it difficult to accept that a single woman can be happy without pretending that she never wants love. If she enjoys being single, people assume she is being defensive. If she admits that she would like a partner, they treat it as proof that something is missing. But two truths can exist at once. A woman can want companionship and still value her independence. She can believe in marriage and refuse to settle for the wrong person. She can occasionally feel lonely without viewing her entire life as lonely. Being Single Is Not a Problem to Solve makes room for that honesty without turning singleness into either a tragedy or a performance. Two truths can exist at home too. You can want to own property and still care about the rented space you live in now. Our feature on smart, affordable upgrades looks at practical ways to improve it without renovating your landlord’s investment. How are you doing? I hope you are well and being a little kinder to yourself. Take your time with this week’s issue; there is plenty in it worth reading. As for me, I am easing back into work and living slowly.

Start with gold hoops. There is a reason they keep returning to the conversation: they work. A small, beautifully made pair can go from a work meeting to dinner without requiring a second thought, while larger hoops bring instant personality to jeans and a T-shirt, a kaftan or a simple black dress. If you are buying for longevity, pay attention to the fastening, weight and quality of the gold rather than simply choosing the biggest pair. A good chain necklace is equally useful. The best ones need little introduction. They sit beautifully against the skin, work with an open

shirt, a slip dress or even a plain white tee, and can later become the foundation for layering. Choose something substantial enough not to feel flimsy but simple enough that you will not tire of it in two years. Then there is the watch. Yes, your phone tells the time, but that has never really been the point. A beautiful watch finishes an outfit in a way very few accessories can. You do not necessarily need the most expensive name on the market. Look for good craftsmanship, a clean face and a strap or bracelet that will still make sense years from now. The sweet spot is something elegant enough for an event but relaxed enough for everyday wear.

Pearls deserve another look too. If they still make you think of conservative twinsets and formal occasions, jewellery designers have moved on. Baroque pearls, oversized pearl earrings and pearls mixed with gold or unexpected stones feel far more contemporary. Of course, classic pearl studs remain unbeatable when you simply want to look polished. The same can be said for diamond studs. They are not dramatic, and that is precisely their strength. If natural diamonds are outside your budget, labgrown diamonds and high-quality alternatives can give you the

same clean effect. Buy the best your budget comfortably allows; jewellery should be enjoyed, not financially regretted. A simple gold bangle or bracelet is another quiet hero. Worn alone, it is elegant. Stacked with a watch or other bracelets, it becomes more personal. Look for one sturdy enough to survive regular wear because this is exactly the kind of piece you may find yourself putting on every morning. Finally, leave room for jewellery that means something. It could be your mother’s ring, a pendant you bought after a major promotion or a bracelet from a memorable trip.

CLASSIC THICK HOOP GOLD

FISAYO LONGE AKANO DIAMOND

DAVID WEBB

CAROLINA BUCCI

CLASSIC WATCH

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Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436

UT H

& R E A SO

Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436

THE NEW

WARDROBE

RULES AFTER 40

COLOUR IS STILL YOUR FRIEND

By Funke Babs-Kufeji

Fashion after 40 is not about dressing your age. It is about knowing what works. By now, you have worn enough clothes to know the difference between a trend you genuinely love and one you will regret by next season. The best wardrobes at this stage are not necessarily more conservative; they are simply more considered.

FORGET DRESSING YOUR AGE

will undermine even the most expensive outfit. Forget Dressing Your Age This is where a good tailor There is no list of things women becomes invaluable. Shorten the should stop wearing at 40. trousers. Take in the waist. Adjust Denim, sneakers, mini skirts, the sleeves. Fix the shoulders. A sleeveless dresses, crop tops and few centimetres can completely bold prints do not come with an change how something looks on age limit. What matters is whether your body. they still feel like you. Instead of looking in the mirror Build Around Really Good and asking, “Am I too old for this?”, ask whether you actually Basics like how you look in it. Personal You do not need fifty “essentials,” style gets much easier when you but you do need dependable stop dressing according to an clothes. Think beautifully cut imaginary rulebook. trousers, a blazer that sits properly on the shoulders, flattering jeans, a crisp shirt, an Fit Matters More Than easy dress and shoes you can Trends wear repeatedly. You can get away with many Spend more on the pieces that things in fashion when the fit is do the most work and experiment right. Clothes that pull, gape, with everything else. A strong bunch or hang awkwardly wardrobe foundation also makes

KAREN KOSHONI

LAMIDE SHONEKAN

trends easier to wear because you always have something simple to pair them with.

easier, not remind you of a life you are not actually living.

Stop Shopping for Your Fantasy Life

Turning 40 does not mean entering your beige era. If you love red, wear it. Cobalt blue, emerald green, orange, yellow and pink can look incredibly sophisticated. The trick is styling rather than avoiding colour altogether. Wear one strong shade with something quieter, try tonal dressing or introduce colour through shoes, bags and jewellery. Neutrals are useful; they should not become compulsory.

We have all bought clothes for imaginary occasions. The glamorous holiday dress when no holiday is booked. The uncomfortable heels for dinners we rarely attend. The smaller trousers we plan to fit into “soon.” Shop for the woman you are now. If your week involves meetings and dinners, your wardrobe should reflect that. If you travel constantly, look for pieces that pack easily and work several ways. If weekends are mostly casual, invest in elevated casualwear rather than another cocktail dress. Your wardrobe should make getting dressed

Keep the Colour

LILIAN PAUL

it everywhere, ask yourself three things: Do I actually like it? Does it work with clothes I already own? Will I still want to wear it when Instagram has moved on? If the answer is no, leave it in the shop. One of the advantages of knowing your style is recognising when fashion can carry on without you.

Let Accessories Do Some of the Work

This is one of the easiest ways to make familiar clothes feel new. Great earrings can transform a white shirt. An interesting bag can rescue an otherwise basic Know Which Trends to outfit. Sunglasses, scarves, belts, jewellery and shoes allow you Leave Behind Not every trend deserves space in to experiment without rebuilding your wardrobe, regardless of your your wardrobe every season. Your clothes do not always have age. Before buying something to be the main event. simply because you have seen

TOKE MAKINWA

YOSOLA KUTI

Start paying attention to fabric, stitching, construction and Comfort Should Still Look cost per wear. Before buying something, think about at least Good three ways you can wear it Comfort and style are not opposites. The goal is clothes you with what you already own. One excellent pair of trousers can actually live in: breathable will serve you better than five fabrics, flattering shapes, waistbands that don’t torture you, mediocre ones bought because they were cheap. and shoes you can walk in. That does not mean hiding Allow Your Style to under oversized clothes. Look for pieces that skim rather than Change squeeze and fabrics that move Perhaps this is the only wardrobe with your body. If you spend an rule worth keeping. You are entire evening pulling down a allowed to outgrow things. The dress, adjusting a neckline, or dress you adored at 30 may no dreaming about taking off your longer excite you. Your body shoes, the outfit isn’t working. may have changed, your lifestyle

Buy Less, But Buy Better

A sale is not a bargain if the item spends three years hanging in your wardrobe with the tag still attached.

may be different, and your idea of what looks good may have shifted completely. That does not mean you have lost your style. It means your style is moving with you.

Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436

SEVEN FASHION FIXES THAT MAKE CLOTHES SIT BETTER

Build a small but useful underwear wardrobe: seamless briefs, properly fitted bras, strapless options and pieces in shades that disappear under lighter fabrics. Shapewear is optional, not compulsory. The goal is not to make yourself smaller; it is simply to give certain clothes a smoother foundation when you want one.

4. Use Fashion Tape

There is a particular frustration that comes with loving an outfit on the hanger, then putting it on and discovering something is… off. The trousers are bunching at the ankles. The blazer looks boxier than you remember. Your bra is announcing itself under a perfectly good dress. Or the beautiful shirt you bought keeps pulling between the buttons. Before you decide the outfit simply does not work for you, look again. Very often, the problem is not the clothes or your body. It is the fit. And sometimes the difference between an outfit that looks fine and one that looks fantastic is a surprisingly small adjustment. Here are seven fashion fixes worth knowing.

BISOLA DEJONWO

5. Steam Before You Judge

We underestimate how much wrinkles affect fit. A creased shirt can look bulky, a folded dress can hang awkwardly, and trousers fresh from an overstuffed wardrobe may appear completely different once the fabric relaxes. Before deciding something does not sit properly, steam it. This matters even more with linen, silk, satin and lightweight cottons. Once the fabric falls the way it was intended to, you may discover that the supposed fit problem has disappeared. A handheld steamer is one of the least glamorous but most hardworking things you can own.

1. Find a Good Tailor — and Keep Their Number

This may be the most useful fashion relationship you ever have. Clothes are produced according to standard measurements; bodies, thankfully, are not. Your waist may be one size and your hips another. Your arms may be slightly shorter than the sleeves on most blazers. A good tailor can take in a waist, shorten a sleeve, adjust a shoulder, move a button or give a dress a cleaner line. Even relatively inexpensive clothes can look considerably more polished when they fit properly. And no, tailoring is not only for special-occasion clothes. Those everyday trousers you wear constantly deserve it too.

6. Belt With Intention JENIFFER OLIZE AND OLATERORA MAJEKODUNMI ONIRU

2. Get Your Trouser Length Right

Nothing ruins a great pair of trousers faster than the wrong length. Wide-leg trousers should skim rather than sweep the floor. Cropped trousers need to look deliberately cropped, not as though you accidentally bought them too short. With jeans, the ideal length depends on the cut and the shoes you intend to wear. This is particularly important if you regularly switch between flats and heels. One pair of trousers may not work perfectly with both. When possible, take the shoes you wear most often along when having trousers altered. That extra inch can change the entire silhouette.

TENICKAB

A belt can rescue an outfit, but only if it is doing something useful. An oversized shirt, loose kaftan, blazer or flowing dress can suddenly make more sense when the waist is lightly defined. But automatically belting everything at the smallest point of your waist is not always the answer. Sometimes a lower placement gives a more relaxed proportion; sometimes the outfit looks better completely unbelted. Experiment in the mirror. Move the belt up, down, loosen it, change the width. The difference can be surprisingly dramatic.

7. Dress for the Clothes You Actually Own

3. Pay Attention to Your Underwear

Sometimes the outfit is innocent. The underwear is the culprit. The wrong bra can alter where a dress sits, make a shirt pull strangely or completely change the proportions of a fitted top. Visible panty lines can interrupt the cleanest silhouette, while underwear that is too tight may create lines where the garment should fall smoothly.

Fashion tape is one of those tiny things you wonder how you managed without. Use it to stop a wrap dress from opening unexpectedly, secure a low neckline, keep a shirt from gaping between buttons or hold a stubborn collar exactly where you want it. It is especially useful with occasion wear and those outfits that behave beautifully while you are standing still but develop a personality the minute you start moving. Keep some at home. Keep some in your handbag. You will eventually need it.

OPE MAKINWA

TRACEY NWAPA

One reason clothes sometimes appear to fit badly is that we are styling them with the wrong supporting pieces. A midi skirt may need a shorter top to balance its proportions. A long blazer can overwhelm a full skirt but look brilliant with slim trousers. A voluminous top often benefits from a cleaner bottom half. Even shoes matter: changing a chunky sandal for something sleeker can make trousers appear to fall differently. So before abandoning an item, try changing what surrounds it.

Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436

DRESS FOR THE

WOMAN YOU ARE NOW ... why your wardrobe should evolve with you

By 40, you have probably figured out that not everything in your wardrobe deserves to come with you. The trends you chased at 25, the uncomfortable shoes, the dresses that never quite worked—you have had enough fashion trial and error to know what suits you. But dressing in your 40s is not about becoming more conservative or suddenly abandoning trends. It is about becoming more intentional. Your body, lifestyle and taste may have changed, and your wardrobe should reflect the woman you are now, not the one you were 15 years ago. So, what should change? From knowing when to tailor rather than toss to choosing trends more selectively, here are the style rules worth taking into your 40s.

By Funke Babs-Kufeji

Stop Dressing for Who You Used to Be Many of us keep clothes for an old version of ourselves: the jeans we lived in ten years ago, dresses bought for a lifestyle we no longer have, or pieces we keep hoping will somehow feel right again. Your wardrobe should reflect your life now. If your days involve meetings, dinners, travel, school runs, events, or simply wanting to look polished when you leave the house, dress for that reality. You don’t need to throw everything away, but you do need to be honest about what still belongs.

Your Body Has Changed. Your 8

KEMI IBRU

Clothes Can Change Too

SIKE SARO TOLA ADEGBITE

Bodies change. Waistlines shift, weight fluctuates, and proportions can change over time. Instead of fighting that, find clothes that work with your body now. This is where good tailoring earns its money. Trousers that sit properly at the waist, a jacket that falls neatly across the shoulders or a dress that skims rather than clings can completely change how you look. Stop saving clothes for the body you used to have and start buying for the one you are dressing today.

tops or whatever else makes you happy. The better question is whether the piece suits you and works with the rest of your look. Sometimes a mini with a beautifully cut shirt feels far more sophisticated than a supposedly “age-appropriate” dress. Don’t let an arbitrary number suddenly dictate your wardrobe.

You Don’t Need to Dress Younger

Buy for the Life You Actually Live

gowns. If most of your week is spent at meetings, invest in great workwear. If your weekends revolve around brunches, errands and family gatherings, you need clothes that move easily between them. Before buying something, ask yourself where you will wear it, what you already own that works with it and whether you can imagine reaching for it regularly. If you are struggling for answers in the changing room, that is probably your answer.

Stop shopping for your imaginary life. If you rarely attend black-tie events, you don’t need a wardrobe full of

Invest in the Pieces That Make

Updating your style doesn’t mean trying to look 25. You can still wear denim, trainers, miniskirts, bold prints, crop

LESLIE ORJI-OKOYE BOLA BALOGUN

Everything Else Look Better By your 40s, quality becomes more noticeable, but that doesn’t necessarily mean designer. Pay attention to fabric, construction and fit. A beautifully cut blazer can elevate ordinary trousers. A good leather bag can make jeans and a T-shirt look considered. The right shoes can transform a simple dress. Spend more on the pieces doing the heavy lifting in your wardrobe, then have fun everywhere else.

Don’t Let Your Wardrobe Become

LOLA OGUNNAIKE

Beige Maturity doesn’t come with a compulsory palette of cream, camel, black, and grey. Neutrals are useful, but if you love colour, there is no reason to abandon it. Wear the red dress. Carry the green bag. Add the patterned skirt or fabulous shoes. Even one strong colour against a simple outfit can make everything feel fresher. Your wardrobe can grow up without losing its personality.

You don’t always need new clothes to change your look. Jewellery, sunglasses, handbags, belts, scarves and shoes can make familiar pieces feel completely different. Add sculptural earrings to a crisp white shirt, oversized sunglasses to a simple dress or a statement belt to a blazer you’ve owned for years. Clothes may provide the foundation, but accessories are often where personal style really shows.

Let Your Accessories Edit Ruthlessly If something doesn’t fit, Do Some Work hasn’t been worn in years

or belongs to a life you’ve

clearly moved beyond, ask yourself why it is still taking up space. Sentimental pieces are different. Keep your mother’s scarf, the special dress, the jacket attached to a wonderful memory. But the trousers you haven’t worn since 2018 because “one day” you might? They can go. A good wardrobe isn’t necessarily a big wardrobe; it is one in which most things actually get worn. .

Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436

or Osaze Efe, photography has always been about more than the image. It is a way to tell stories, build community and create opportunities for the people behind the lens. That thinking led him to found the Abuja Photo Festival in 2017, which has since evolved into the Abuja International Photo Festival, one of Nigeria’s notable platforms for photography and visual storytelling. But Efe’s work extends well beyond the festival. An artist, curator and cultural builder, he has spent years creating spaces for emerging African creatives to learn, connect and be seen, mentoring and empowering more than 3,000 early-career talents along the way. In 2022, he was selected for the U.S. International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), where he explored the role of the arts as a catalyst for societal advancement. Based in Abuja, Efe continues to work at the intersection of creativity, youth development and community, proving that sometimes the most important thing you can do with a camera is create opportunities for others to pick one up. By Yinka Olatunbosun Nigeria’s major creative hubs have historically been centred in Lagos. What made you commit to founding the festival in Abuja, and what unique possibilities did you see there? For me, founding the Abuja Photo Festival was never about competing with Lagos—it was about expanding Nigeria’s creative map. Lagos has deservedly earned its reputation as the country’s creative capital, but I believe that creativity should not be confined to one city. Every nation needs multiple cultural centres that reflect different perspectives, create new opportunities, and make the arts more accessible. Abuja presented a unique opportunity because it sits at the intersection of Nigeria. It is one of the few cities where people from every state, culture, and background come together. That diversity creates an incredible environment for conversations through photography, which is ultimately a medium for understanding people and society. Another reason was the gap that existed. At the time, there was no photography platform in Northern and Central Nigeria. Talented young photographers often had to relocate to Lagos or look outside the country for opportunities. I wanted to build an institution that could bring world-class photographers, curators, editors, and educators directly to them, while also attracting international attention to Abuja as a cultural destination. AIPF is your effort to bridge the specific career gaps and resource shortages you faced early in your own photography journey. What was the single biggest obstacle when you launched in 2017? When I started my own photography journey, I realised how difficult it was to access mentorship, international networks, portfolio reviews, exhibitions, and conversations with some of the world’s leading visual storytellers. Those opportunities existed, but they often felt out of reach, especially if you weren’t connected to the right circles or based in cities where those ecosystems already existed. That experience shaped the Abuja Photo Festival. I wanted to create the kind of platform I wished had existed when I was starting—a place where a young photographer could learn from globally respected practitioners, exhibit alongside established artists, receive constructive feedback, and build relationships that could transform their career. Launching the festival in Abuja meant we had to earn trust from everyone—artists, partners, sponsors, and international collaborators. We had to prove that a world-class photography festival could succeed outside the traditional creative centres and that there was both an audience and a community ready for it. And of course, funding. I used personal savings to kickstart the event and still partly fund the festival personally, even as we are 10 years old this year. The festival is an open, non-competitive space rather than a contest. How has that non-competitive philosophy shaped the community of photographers around AIPF? From the very beginning, I never wanted the Abuja International Photo Festival to be another competition where people came to win prizes and go home. I wanted it to be a space where photographers came to learn, share, question, collaborate, and grow together. I believe that creativity flourishes more through community than through competition. Photography is a deeply personal practice. Every photographer brings a unique perspective shaped by their experiences, culture, and environment. When you remove the pressure of competing against one another, people become more willing to exchange ideas, critique each other’s

Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436

Osaze

EFE

INSIDE THE MIND OF ABUJA’S PHOTOGRAPHY VISIONARY

work honestly, and celebrate different ways of seeing the world. That philosophy has shaped the culture of the festival in remarkable ways. We’ve seen emerging photographers comfortably sit beside internationally renowned visual storytellers, asking questions, receiving portfolio reviews, and building genuine relationships. Those interactions are often far more valuable than winning an award because they create mentorship, collaboration, and long-term professional networks. It has also encouraged generosity within the community. Many of the photographers who once attended the festival as participants now return as speakers, mentors, facilitators, or exhibiting artists. That cycle of giving back is something I’m particularly proud of because it shows that the festival is building a sustainable creative ecosystem rather than simply producing annual winners. AIPF collaborates with international bodies like UNODC, UNESCO and various foreign embassies. How do you exercise artistic freedom while pursuing the goals of policy and development institutions? For me, the relationship between art and development is most effective when it’s built on mutual respect. At the Abuja International Photo Festival, we don’t see artistic freedom and institutional objectives as opposing forces—they can strengthen one another when there is a shared commitment to truth, dialogue, and human dignity. When organisations like UNESCO, UNODC, or foreign embassies partner with us, they are not coming to commission propaganda; they are coming to engage with artists and communities through honest visual storytelling. We are very clear from the outset that the integrity of the artist must be protected. Authentic stories are far more powerful than carefully manufactured messages, and our partners understand that credibility is what gives photography its influence. Our role is to identify where the values of these institutions naturally intersect with the concerns of artists. Whether the conversation is about media and information literacy, youth empowerment, cultural heritage, gender equality, migration, peacebuilding, or the responsible use of technology, these are issues that photographers are already documenting because they are part of our everyday realities. The festival provides a platform where policy meets lived experience. Through exhibitions, panel discussions, workshops, and community engagement, policymakers can hear directly from photographers and the communities they document. At the same time, artists gain a deeper understanding of the broader social and developmental context surrounding their work. That exchange creates better conversations and, ultimately, more meaningful impact. The festival has directly engaged over 3000 young creatives and helped hundreds transition into sustainable careers. What does a successful mentorship model look like within the photography space? For me, mentorship is not about producing great photographers; it’s about developing complete creative professionals. You can learn to use a camera in a few weeks, but building confidence, discipline, ethics, creative vision, and a sustainable career takes time. That’s the kind of mentorship we’ve tried to build through the Abuja International Photo Festival. A successful mentorship model begins with access. Many talented young people don’t lack creativity—they lack opportunity. They need access to experienced photographers, editors, curators, publishers, commissioners, and international networks. Sometimes, a single portfolio review

or conversation with an established photographer can completely change the direction of a young person’s career. The second element is continuity. I don’t believe mentorship should end when the workshop is over. That’s why we’ve created pathways that extend beyond the festival—through exhibitions, internships, collaborative projects, grants, international exchanges, and introductions to organisations looking for visual storytellers. The real measure of mentorship is what happens six months or two years after the training, not what happens during it. Nigeria’s creative sector is expanding rapidly, contributing billions to the economy. How do you train emerging artists to balance artistic authenticity with the commercial business of photography? I always tell young photographers that you don’t have to choose between being an artist and making a living. The idea that creativity and commerce are enemies is one of the biggest misconceptions in our industry. The goal is to build a career where your artistic voice becomes your greatest commercial advantage, not something you sacrifice to earn an income. At the Abuja International Photo Festival, we train photographers to think of themselves as both creators and entrepreneurs. Creating powerful images is only one part of the journey. They also need to understand pricing, contracts, copyright, licensing, client relationships, branding, proposal writing, marketing, financial management, and increasingly, how to position themselves in a global digital marketplace. Talent opens the door, but professionalism keeps it open. At the same time, I encourage them to protect their creative identity. The photographers who build lasting careers are not necessarily those who follow every trend; they are the ones who develop a distinctive visual language and remain consistent in what they stand for. Clients and collectors are drawn to authenticity because it creates trust and makes your work memorable. With AI imagery and digital platforms altering how visual media is produced and consumed, what role do physical photo festivals play in the digital age? I actually think the digital age has made physical photo festivals more important, not less. Today, we are surrounded by an endless stream of images. Every minute, thousands of photographs are uploaded, shared, altered, and increasingly generated by artificial intelligence. The challenge is no longer access to images; it’s finding meaning, context, and authentic human connection within them. A physical photo festival offers something the internet cannot. It creates a space where people slow down, spend time with an image, engage in thoughtful conversations, question ideas, and connect directly with the photographer behind the work. Photography has always been more than pixels on a screen—it’s an experience, and that experience becomes much richer when people encounter the work together. Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly transforming our industry, and I see that as both an opportunity and a responsibility. AI is changing how images are created, edited, archived, and distributed, but it also raises profound questions about authenticity, authorship, ethics, trust, and the future of visual truth. These are not conversations we can leave to technology companies alone. Festivals provide an important public space where artists, technologists, journalists, policymakers, and audiences can come together to explore these questions. That is one of the reasons why the theme of the 10th Abuja International Photo Festival is “Convergence – The Future of Imaging.” We are embracing the reality that photography is evolving. The future lies not in resisting technology but in understanding how emerging technologies can coexist with human creativity, ethical storytelling, and documentary integrity. When you look ahead at the next decade of the Abuja International Photo Festival, what mark do you hope it leaves on Africa’s visual history? When I think about the next decade of the Abuja International Photo Festival, I don’t think first about the size of the event or the number of countries represented. I think about legacy. I want the festival to become one of the institutions that future generations point to and say, “This helped shape the course of African photography.” My hope is that we leave behind more than beautiful exhibitions. I want us to leave behind stronger photographers, stronger institutions, and a stronger visual archive of Africa created by Africans themselves. Every year we fail to document our own stories, we leave gaps in our history that someone else will eventually fill—often from a perspective that isn’t ours. I want the Abuja International Photo Festival to be part of ensuring that Africa’s visual memory is preserved with authenticity, dignity, and depth. I also hope the festival helps redefine what it means to be an African photographer. I don’t want young photographers to feel that they must leave the continent to gain recognition or build meaningful careers. I want Africa to be a place where world-class education, mentorship, exhibitions, publishing, collecting, and creative opportunities exist. If the festival can contribute to building that ecosystem, then we’ve achieved something far more significant than hosting an annual event. Another ambition is for Abuja to become one of the world’s recognised centres for photography and visual culture. When people think of major photography festivals, I want Abuja to be part of that global conversation—not because we’re trying to imitate existing festivals, but because we’ve built something distinctly African that the world respects and wants to engage with.

Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436

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Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436

MADUEWESI

15 YEARS OF BUILDING ZARON BY KONYE CHELSEA NWABOGOR

hen Oke Maduewesi founded Zaron in 2011, Nigeria’s beauty landscape looked very different. International brands had a strong presence in the market, social media had yet to transform the way women discovered and bought beauty products, and Maduewesi was coming from an entirely different professional world. After years in banking, an MBA at the University of Leeds redirected her ambitions towards entrepreneurship. Zaron would eventually emerge from the business dissertation she developed there. What began as an idea has since grown into a beauty business with a presence beyond Nigeria and an offering that has expanded from colour cosmetics into skincare. Zaron has also grown alongside a very different African beauty consumer: one with more choice, greater access to information and increasingly high expectations of the brands competing for her attention. Keeping pace has required more than a good product. Maduewesi has had to navigate changing consumer habits, increased competition and the realities of building a business through different economic cycles. Along the way, she has also made social impact part of the Zaron story, with initiatives focused on supporting and economically empowering widows and underserved women. Now, as Zaron marks its 15th anniversary, she sits down with Konye Chelsea Nwabogor to talk about the decisions that shaped the brand, the moments that tested it, what 15 years of serving African women has taught her, staying relevant in an increasingly crowded beauty market and, perhaps most importantly, where she intends to take Zaron from here.

If you had to tell the story of Zaron’s first 15 years through three defining moments, which would you choose and why? I would probably start with before Zaron was even launched, because I believe that period is a defining part of the story. At the time, I was going through a lot personally. I was raising two children on my own, and I knew that paid employment alone would not give me the kind of financial freedom and future I wanted to create for myself and my children. That experience gave me the drive to want more and to build something of my own. In many ways, that was the beginning of Zaron before the brand even existed. The second defining moment was going back to school and gaining a broader perspective. I began to notice how little representation there was for African brands—not just in beauty, but across different industries. There was such a heavy reliance on foreign brands, and it made me realise that Africans needed

& R E A SO

to take more ownership in building businesses that could stand the test of time. For me, it was never just about creating another beauty brand. It was about believing that we could build African businesses that were structured, sustainable, globally competitive, and capable of becoming some of the best in the world. That realisation gave Zaron a much bigger purpose. The third defining moment would be learning to turn challenges into opportunities. Over the years, we have faced different experiences, setbacks and situations that could easily have been seen as negatives. But one of the things that has shaped Zaron is our ability to look at those moments differently—to ask, What can we learn from this? How can this make us better? Where is the opportunity? I think that mindset has been one of the biggest defining factors in our journey. Every challenge has helped us evolve, improve and grow. So, if I had to tell the story of Zaron’s first 15 years in three moments, it would be: the experiences that gave birth to the vision, the realisation that African brands could build for the world, and the resilience to turn every challenge into an opportunity.

COVER

OKE

UT H

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You came into beauty after a successful career in banking, without the typical beauty industry background. In hindsight, did becoming an outsider become an advantage in the way you approached and built Zaron? A thousand percent, yes. I genuinely believe that my background before beauty is one of the reasons I have been able to build Zaron the way I have. I always say that, for me, it is not just about beauty—it is about the business of beauty. Sometimes, when people are extremely passionate about a particular craft or industry, their passion and creativity can influence their business decisions. You see this a lot in creative industries. For example, someone may be incredibly passionate about fashion and create pieces that they personally love, without necessarily considering whether the product makes commercial sense or delivers a sustainable return on investment. Creativity is important, of course, but a business must also be commercially viable. Sometimes, the cost of bringing a creative idea to life can be higher than what the customer is willing to pay for it, and if you cannot translate those costs into a sustainable business model, growth becomes difficult. Coming from banking gave me a different perspective. For me, the product was beauty, but the foundation was always business. I am not a makeup artist, and I don’t believe you have to be one to build one of the most successful and fastest-growing beauty brands in Africa. What I needed was to understand how to build and manage a business, create the right structures, identify the right opportunities and bring in the right people. You can always access or invest in the expertise you need. You can hire makeup artists, formulators, creatives and other specialists. But ultimately, building a sustainable business requires strong management and an understanding of how all the different parts of that business work together. My experience in banking and working in a structured, professional environment taught me that. It taught me the importance of systems, management, structure and commercial discipline. So, in hindsight, I would say being an outsider was absolutely an advantage. I honestly do not think I would be where I am today without that experience, and I am incredibly grateful for it. When Zaron launched 15 years ago, the beauty landscape was very different, and international brands dominated the market. What did you understand about the African woman and her beauty needs that you felt the market was missing? I think this was one of the key reasons we started Zaron in the first place. At the time, very few brands truly catered to women of colour, and it was painful to see how limited the options were. I remember some international brands offering just two or three shades for women of colour, and somehow, we had all accepted that as enough—as though those were the only options we deserved. But I kept asking myself: who understands the woman of colour better than the woman of colour herself? I wanted to bridge that gap. I wanted to create products specifically designed with us in mind—our skin tones, our undertones and our unique beauty needs. Over the years, people have asked whether we would expand significantly into other segments, with a much wider variety of shades and

products. But from the beginning, I made a conscious decision that Zaron would remain a brand primarily tailored to and targeted at women of colour. And the truth is, it is incredible how much better we understand ourselves when we are the ones creating the solutions. I believe Africans and women of colour have to increasingly take ownership of solving our own problems and meeting our own needs. When we started, the lack of representation was significant. It has improved over the years, but there is still so much work to do. If you look at the African beauty market today, foreign brands still dominate a large part of the space. My hope is that we continue to see more strong, structured and sustainable homegrown brands emerge and actively take their place in the market. For Zaron, it has always been about proving that we can build products for ourselves, understand our consumers deeply and create brands that can compete at the highest level. With so many beauty brands competing for the same customer today, what do you believe genuinely distinguishes Zaron beyond simply being an African beauty brand? For me, competition is a sign of opportunity. The growth in the number of beauty brands—both globally and locally— shows that more people are beginning to understand the enormous opportunity within the beauty industry. You can see it in the number of global and local celebrities, entrepreneurs and businesses that are choosing to enter the beauty space. For us at Zaron, we do not necessarily see the influx of competition as a problem. We see it as an opportunity. One thing that has always distinguished Zaron is our ability to look beyond challenges and identify the opportunities within them. That has been part of our mindset from the beginning. The beauty industry is becoming more competitive, but it is also becoming bigger. The consumer is evolving, the market is expanding and there is room for brands that genuinely understand their customers and continue to deliver value. After 15 years of creating and selling beauty products, how has the Zaron customer changed? Is the woman you are selling to today very different from the woman you started with? That is a very interesting question because, yes, the Zaron customer has definitely changed over the years. When we started 15 years ago, the beauty landscape was very different. Consumer behaviour was different, income levels were different, and, importantly, Nigerians were not embracing local brands in the way they do today. At the time, there was a strong perception that foreign automatically meant better. Local brands often had to work much harder to earn the consumer’s trust because, for many people, being locally made was not necessarily seen as good enough. We were very conscious of that when we started Zaron. So, from the beginning, we knew that our quality had to be right. We wanted to create products that could compete confidently in any global market, regardless of where the brand came from. Over time, we began to see consumers become more open to—and more proud of—supporting homegrown brands. Today’s consumer is also much more enlightened and exposed. She has access to more information, more brands and more global trends, which means she is more discerning about what she buys. Of course, the economic landscape has also changed significantly. Consumers are increasingly conscious of value and affordability, even while still expecting excellent quality. So, that has also influenced how we think about our products and our customers. But one thing that has remained consistent is our commitment to quality. The goal was never to create products that were simply expensive or positioned as high-end for the sake of it. Our goal has always been to create fantasticquality products and make them as accessible and affordable as possible. So, yes, the Zaron customer has evolved—and she continues to evolve. And as she changes, we have to continue listening, learning and evolving with her, while remaining committed to the core promise that has always been at the heart of Zaron: great quality beauty products created with our consumer in mind. You came into entrepreneurship with years of banking experience and have since built a sizable retail business. What has running Zaron taught you about business that banking never could? First, I always give credit to my banking experience, and I will continue to do so. I genuinely do not believe I would be as good at what I do today without the experience and foundation I gained from banking. In many ways, banking already gave me an entrepreneurial mindset. It taught me how to think commercially, manage people, understand numbers, take responsibility and work within structured systems. But running your own business teaches you something remarkably different: the weight of ownership. When I was working in banking, I had responsibilities and targets, but I was an

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employee. If I did my job well, I knew what was expected of me, and at the end of the month, I would receive my salary. As an entrepreneur, it is quite different. The risk is yours. The responsibility is yours. Every major decision, every challenge, and every outcome directly affects you and the business you are building. You are also responsible for managing all the moving parts at once—people, finances, products, customers, operations, challenges, and opportunities. There is no part of the business that you can completely disconnect yourself from. So, I think entrepreneurship has taught me how much more there is to business when the responsibility and the risk truly sit with you. And honestly, I enjoy every bit of it. It has been challenging, but I am incredibly grateful for the journey because I genuinely believe this is what I am supposed to be doing. I believe I am a natural entrepreneur. What has been the biggest turning point for Zaron commercially—a particular product, expansion, partnership or decision that took the company to another level? I would have to say the introduction of Skin by Zaron was one of the biggest commercial turning points for the business. More specifically, I think the success of our skincare products—particularly our Vitamin C Body Lotion—really changed the narrative for Zaron. Before launching skincare, we did extensive research. We tested, refined, and made sure we understood the product and the consumer need we were trying to address. And, thankfully, we got it right. The products worked, consumers saw the results, and the response was incredible. For me, one of the biggest lessons from that experience is that business is not simply about having a wide range of products. It is about creating products that genuinely make an impact. Our Vitamin C Body Lotion was one of those products. Seeing how strongly it performed in the market, among a portfolio of hundreds of SKUs, gave us a different level of confidence. It showed us just how transformative one truly successful product can be for a business. I often say that you can build a successful business around one exceptional product, just as you can have hundreds of products and still not achieve the same level of impact. The important thing is understanding where your star product is, recognising why consumers are connecting with it and building on that opportunity. At the same time, you must be careful not to become too dependent on one product. A star product can drive growth and open new doors, but the longterm goal is to use that success to strengthen the wider business. There is often pressure on successful African brands to prove themselves by going global. What does expansion mean to you at this stage—conquering more of Africa, entering international markets, or going deeper into the markets you already serve? That is such an important question because there is often a misconception that, for an African brand to be considered successful, it must at once expand into Western markets. I say this a lot when I mentor young entrepreneurs. Everyone wants to say they are a global brand; everyone wants to enter Europe or America, and sometimes people see that as the ultimate proof that they have arrived. But I do not necessarily agree that expansion must mean going West first. For me, the strategy has always been to go deeper before going wider. Nigeria is an incredible market. We have a large, growing population, and there is still enormous opportunity in the market. So, before we start chasing markets elsewhere, it is important for us to continue strengthening and deepening our presence here. The second part of that strategy is Africa. Zaron products were created primarily with African women and women of colour in mind. Africa is therefore a natural growth market for us. There are millions of consumers across the continent with similar needs, and I believe there is a significant opportunity for African brands to build strong positions within Africa first. And when you expand into other African countries, you are also growing beyond your domestic market and earning foreign exchange. So, Africa itself presents a huge opportunity that I believe many businesses sometimes underestimate. Of course, international expansion is important, and I am not saying that Western markets should not be part of the vision. But those markets require significant investment. You need deep pockets to build visibility, invest in marketing, support distribution, and compete effectively. Simply being present on the shelf of a retailer in a Western market does not necessarily mean you are succeeding in that market. If consumers do not know your brand, and you do not have the resources to support awareness and growth, you may spend significantly without achieving meaningful results. So, for me, expansion at this stage means being strategic. It means continuing to deepen our presence in Nigeria, strengthening our position across Africa, and entering international markets when we have the right strategy, resources, and infrastructure to truly compete. I do not believe in expanding simply for the prestige of saying we are present somewhere. I believe in going into a market with the intention—and the capacity—to win. For Zaron, the focus is to build deeply at home, spread our wings across Africa

and expand globally with purpose when the time and conditions are right. You have also made philanthropy part of Zaron’s story, particularly through initiatives supporting widows and underserved communities. Was that always part of the vision, or did your idea of what the company should contribute to society evolve as Zaron grew? It was always part of who we are and, therefore, always part of the vision for Zaron. I often say that Zaron is kind. Zaron is giving. Zaron has to be able to see people who are struggling and be sensitive to the needs around us. That has always been at the core of the business. In fact, from the very first day we launched Zaron, we carried out a CSR activity. So giving back was never something we introduced later because the company had grown, or because we felt it was the right thing to say publicly. It has always been part of our DNA. As the business continues to grow, the goal is simply to grow our capacity to do more and reach more people. For me, it is a privilege to be able to give back. It is not about trying to be politically correct or creating a good image for the company. We genuinely enjoy doing it. And I believe that, as a business grows, it should also become increasingly aware of the impact it can have beyond its products and profits. Zaron has been given an opportunity to grow, and we see it as a privilege to use that growth to positively impact lives and support communities where we can.

COVER

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Fifteen years of building Zaron may have changed you too. How different is Oke, the entrepreneur today, from the woman who started the company? The truth is, sometimes I feel like I am in a relationship with Zaron. Over 15 years, you build such a deep connection with the business that it becomes difficult to separate yourself from it. And it is not just a financial relationship. It is the time you give, the energy you invest, the satisfaction the business brings you, and sometimes the emotional impact it has on you. When Zaron is going through a difficult period, Oke feels it. When Zaron is doing well, Oke feels that too. The business affects your emotions because you have invested so much of yourself into building it. In many ways, the outcome of Zaron begins to feel connected to your own personal outcome. I think that is one of the biggest ways entrepreneurship has changed me. The woman who started Zaron 15 years ago may have seen it as a business she was building. Today, Zaron has become such a significant part of my life and identity. But I think one of the things I am still learning is how to separate the business from the person. Because Zaron is the business, and Oke is the person. And sometimes, after giving so much of yourself to something for so long, knowing where one ends and the other begins can be difficult. So, yes, I have changed. I have grown alongside Zaron. In many ways, we have grown together. But perhaps one of the most important lessons I am still learning is that while Zaron is a very important part of my life, I also have to remember that I am more than the business I have built. After 15 years, you have earned the right to think beyond the next product launch or financial year. What do you want the next 15 years of Zaron to look like, and what would you like the brand to ultimately be remembered for? The vision is for Zaron to become a truly global brand. But for me, being global is not simply about being present in different countries. It is about building a brand that is globally relevant, globally competitive and capable of standing confidently alongside the very best beauty brands in the world. I also believe that the next generation of Zaron will be very different. Beauty is changing. Technology is changing the way consumers discover products, shop, interact with brands and even understand beauty itself. There is a new frontier ahead, and I want Zaron to be ready for it. I want us to continue embracing technology, embracing innovation and understanding where the future of beauty is going—while continuing to drive the market rather than simply follow it. Of course, I want Zaron to continue growing across Africa and into new territories. I want us to remain one of the leading beauty brands in Africa and continue expanding our reach. But beyond growth, one of my biggest goals is for Zaron to outlive me. I want to build something that is bigger than any individual—something that can continue to grow, evolve and impact lives for generations to come. Ultimately, I would like Zaron to be remembered as a brand that proved that an African business can be built to last. A brand that understood its consumer. A brand that created quality products. A brand that remained innovative and resilient. A brand that gave back. And, most importantly, a brand that started in Africa but was built for the world. That is what I hope the next 15 years will take us closer to.

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SPICE, SPICE, SMOKE&& SMOKE STORY STORY THE LAGOS QUESTION: COOK, ORDER OR GO OUT?

here was a time when eating out in Lagos was an event. You made plans, picked a restaurant, dressed accordingly and probably knew what you were ordering before you got there. Eating at home was simply what happened on all the other days. Now, dinner has become a little more complicated. We eat out because we want to see people, order in because Lagos traffic has defeated us, cook because restaurant prices have become difficult to ignore, and invite friends over because sometimes the best table in town is your own. There are even evenings when you cook the main meal and order dessert because, frankly, nobody needs to prove anything. The question is no longer simply, what are we eating? It is: where are we eating it? Home still has a very strong case. Some of the best food we eat will never appear on a restaurant menu. There is Sunday rice when everybody is around, stew that has been allowed to simmer properly, soup made exactly the way

you grew up eating it and those slightly random meals assembled from whatever is left in the fridge that somehow turn out brilliantly. Cooking for yourself also means control. You know how much pepper you like, how soft the meat should be, whether you want your plantain properly brown rather than politely golden and, importantly, exactly what went into the pot. There is comfort in that familiarity. Then again, cooking comes with chopping, blending, frying, cleaning and the inevitable discovery that the one ingredient you really need finished yesterday. Which is why Lagos restaurants remain tempting. The city has become increasingly serious about dining. There are restaurants, cafés, lounges, hotel dining rooms, supper clubs and smaller chef-led spaces catering to almost every mood. Eating out is no longer reserved for birthdays and anniversaries. It is where we have meetings, dates, brunch with friends, family lunches and the occasional Tuesday dinner simply because nobody feels like going home yet. And sometimes, being served is worth the money. After a long day, there is genuine pleasure in sitting down, ordering what you want and knowing that the plates will eventually disappear without your involvement. The problem, of course, is the bill. A good dinner out in Lagos can require some financial preparation. Once drinks, VAT, service charges and everything else have joined the table, that innocent meal for two can suddenly look like a minor investment. This is usually the point when you begin mentally walking through the supermarket aisles, calculating how much food the same money would have bought.

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BY FUNKE-BABS KUFEJI BY FUNKE-BABS KUFEJI BYFUNKE-BABS FUNKE-BABSKUFEJI KUFEJI BY BY FUNKE-BABS KUFEJI BY FUNKE-BABS KUFEJI

And nothing hurts quite like an expensive meal that was merely okay. If the food is excellent, the service thoughtful and the atmosphere worth leaving home for, you can make peace with the bill. But paying heavily and leaving hungry, irritated or wondering what exactly the service charge was servicing can make your own kitchen look extremely attractive. Perhaps that explains why entertaining at home has become appealing again. Instead of trying to secure a large restaurant table, people are inviting friends over, ordering trays from favourite vendors, bringing in caterers or private chefs, or simply cooking themselves. There is something wonderfully intimate about it. You choose the food, music and guest list. Nobody is hovering because they need the table back. You can open your own wine, serve ridiculous portions and stay talking until somebody remembers they have work in the morning. It also suits our natural instinct for hospitality. A Nigerian host rarely believes you have eaten enough the first time. There will be another spoonful. Someone will ask why your plate is empty. And if the evening has gone particularly well, there may be a takeaway pack pressed into your hands before you leave.

Of course, technology has introduced another contender: delivery. Now you can have restaurant food without the restaurant. On a rainy evening or after two hours in traffic, this can feel like one of civilisation’s better ideas. Until the fries arrive limp, the food is lukewarm and you realise delivery and additional charges have somehow added the price of another meal to your order. So perhaps there is no winner. Some food simply tastes better at home. Some restaurants are worth dressing up and crossing Lagos for. Sometimes the occasion deserves a beautiful table and excellent service; sometimes what you really need is hot food, an oversized T-shirt and your own sofa. And sometimes, despite all our talk about ambience, convenience, experience and value for money, the final decision is much less sophisticated. What is in the fridge? How bad is traffic? And, most importantly, who is washing the pots? Spice, Smoke and Story is a food column by Funke Babs-Kufeji, telling her love story for cooking and food in Nigeria, while exploring everything from restaurant reviews and recipes to fine dining, hosting, and the culture that shapes how we eat. @bafunkebabskufeji funkebabskufeji@thisdaylive.com

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BY FUNKE-BABS KUFEJI

here is a particular kind of pressure that comes with being a single woman in Nigeria. It doesn’t always arrive as a direct question. Sometimes it is the knowing look from an auntie at a wedding. Sometimes it is the friend who suddenly appoints herself your relationship consultant. And sometimes it is the seemingly innocent, “So, are you seeing anyone?” asked with the seriousness of a medical diagnosis. The assumption is usually the same: if you are single, you must be looking. Looking for a man, looking for love, looking for someone to marry, looking for the person who will finally make your life complete. I’ve had enough of that conversation. Being single is not a problem I need to solve. It is simply the reality of my life at this moment and, honestly, there are days when I quite like it. This isn’t an argument against marriage. I would like to meet someone I genuinely want to build a life with. I believe in love and companionship. But wanting those things and being desperate to acquire them are very different. Somewhere along the line, we turned marriage into one of the great markers of female achievement. Get a good job, do well for yourself, marry, have children. Preferably in that order and preferably before anyone starts becoming concerned. Once you are single for what people consider a little too long, everybody has a theory. Are you too picky? Are you dating? Have you prayed about it? Are you putting yourself out there? Perhaps you work too much. Maybe you intimidate men. Maybe you should go out more. Or less. Smile more. Give that perfectly unsuitable man another chance because, apparently, “nobody is perfect.” What we don’t ask often enough is whether the woman herself is happy. Being single in Nigeria can sometimes feel like being publicly unemployed from the business of romance. Everybody seems to have an opinion about your status, and somehow your relationship history becomes available for family meetings, church conversations and dinner-table analysis. I have learnt, however, that the difficult part isn’t always being single. It is resisting the temptation to measure your life against everybody else’s timeline. There are weddings every weekend. Engagement photographs appear on Instagram with alarming regularity. Friends are buying homes with their partners, having children and celebrating anniversaries. Meanwhile, you might be at home trying to decide whether dinner is worth cooking for one. It can occasionally feel as though everybody else has received instructions for adulthood that somehow missed your inbox.

But marriage isn’t a race, and neither is life. I have watched people rush into relationships because they were terrified of being left behind. I have also watched people remain in unhappy ones because starting again seemed more frightening than staying. Being partnered is not the same thing as being fulfilled, just as being single is not proof that something has gone wrong. There is also a freedom in this season of my life that I have learnt not to dismiss simply because society considers it temporary. My time is largely my own. I can make plans spontaneously, travel, spend a Saturday doing absolutely nothing, throw myself into work, have dinner with friends or change my mind without having to consult another person. Of course, a good relationship brings its own joys, and compromise is part of sharing a life with someone. I look forward to that with the right person. What I no longer believe is that companionship is worth having at any cost. I would rather have my own company than be with someone and still feel alone. And yes, sometimes being single is difficult. There are evenings when you want your person to call. There are weddings where arriving alone feels more noticeable than it should. There are moments when something wonderful happens, and you wish there were one particular person you could tell before everyone else. I won’t romanticise that away. But loneliness and singleness are not interchangeable. You can be lonely inside a marriage and deeply loved outside one. Friendship matters. Family matters. Faith, community, meaningful work and the ordinary routines that make a life feel like yours all matter too. Romantic love can be a beautiful part of life, but it cannot be asked to carry the entire weight of it. Perhaps the better lesson for women is not simply how to find a partner, but how to build a life worth bringing someone into. Have your people. Make your own money. Find things that excite you. Travel if you can. Learn to enjoy your own company. Know what you want and, perhaps more importantly, what you are no longer prepared to tolerate. Then love, when it comes, doesn’t have to rescue you from your life. It gets to join you in it. I don’t want to marry because the questions have become uncomfortable. I don’t want to choose someone because another birthday has arrived or because everyone else appears to have moved ahead. And I certainly don’t want to wake up years into a marriage and realise I traded my peace for the appearance of having arrived. I want the real thing. Until then, my life is not in a waiting room. There is no missing piece I am frantically searching for, no deadline I am racing towards and no apology required because there is no ring on my finger. If love comes, it will find me already living.

BEING SINGLE IS NOT A PROBLEM TO SOLVE

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THE BEST TRIPS AREN’T ALWAYS THE MOST EXPENSIVE

spend the entire holiday irritated because one person wants to sleep until 2 pm and another has prepared a colour-coded itinerary beginning at 6 am.

Decide What Deserves Your Money

Budget travel does not mean suffering. If you love beautiful hotels, spend more on your room and cut back elsewhere. If food is your thing, choose simpler accommodation and keep your money for restaurants. If you are going somewhere for the beaches, perhaps you don’t need to pay for an expensive resort when there is a perfectly good hotel nearby. Choose one or two things to splurge on rather than making every part of the trip premium.

Make Free Part of the Itinerary

TAYO AINA

A good holiday doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Sometimes all you really need is a change of scenery, good food, somewhere comfortable to sleep and enough money left over to actually enjoy yourself. And there are plenty of places you can visit without turning the trip into a major financial project. The secret is knowing where to go, when to go, and what is actually worth spending on.

Start With Africa

We often start thinking of London, Dubai or Paris when the holiday conversation comes up, when there are great trips much closer to home. Ghana is an easy example. Accra gives you restaurants, nightlife, galleries, markets and beaches, while a few days around Cape Coast or another coastal town can completely change the pace of the trip. Rwanda is another option for people who want something quieter. Kigali has good restaurants, cafés, art and beautiful scenery, and you don’t need an exhausting itinerary to enjoy it. Food, art, nightlife, beaches, vineyards, shopping, mountains — pick what interests you rather than trying to squeeze the entire country

into seven days. Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and Tanzania are also worth looking at. The point is to stop treating Africa as though every holiday here has to involve an expensive safari or luxury resort.

Travel When Everybody Else Isn’t

Timing can save you serious money. Christmas, Easter, school holidays and major festivals usually come with higher flight and hotel prices. Travelling just before or after peak season can mean cheaper rooms, cheaper flights and fewer crowds. It also helps to be flexible. Instead of deciding, “I must go to Dubai from the 15th to the 20th,” search different dates and destinations

and see where the better deal takes you. Sign up for airline alerts, compare fares and, if your dates are flexible, check a few days either side. Sometimes Tuesday is considerably kinder to your bank account than Friday.

YUSUFARI DESERT

Split the Bill

There is a reason group trips remain popular: some expenses become much easier when divided. A beautiful apartment or villa that feels expensive for two people may be perfectly reasonable between four or six. Airport transfers and car hire can also work out better when shared. But choose your travel companions carefully. Saving money on accommodation is pointless if you

KANO

IKOGOSI WARM SPRING RESORT

Some of the best things you do on holiday cost very little. Walk around interesting neighbourhoods. Visit markets. Find public beaches. Check for free museum days, parks, galleries and cultural spaces. Take public transport where it is safe and practical. Eat at small local restaurants instead of making every meal a reservation at somewhere fashionable. And leave some empty space in your itinerary. You don’t have to book an activity for every morning, afternoon and evening to prove you had a good holiday.

Don’t Spend Money Performing the Holiday This one deserves its own rule. You do not need seven new outfits for a four-day trip. You don’t have to visit every viral restaurant. You don’t need to order the most expensive thing on the menu because the table needs to look good in pictures. Repeat an outfit. Have breakfast at the café downstairs. Spend an afternoon by the pool. Wander around. Find somewhere unexpectedly good and go back the next day.

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Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436 GET THE LIGHTING RIGHT & INVEST IN ONE GOOD BIG RUG

Start With the Walls

CHOOSE FURNITURE CAREFULLY COPY

Tired walls can drag down an entire room. If your landlord allows it, a fresh coat of warm white, cream or soft greige can make the space feel brighter almost immediately. If painting isn’t an option, work around what you have. Large artwork, mirrors or removable wallpaper can distract from less-than-perfect walls. One substantial piece of art will often look more polished than a collection of small, unrelated frames. Few things expose a rental faster than one harsh white bulb hanging from the ceiling. Introduce warmer lighting at different levels: a floor lamp beside the sofa, a table lamp on a console, bedside lamps or even rechargeable lamps in darker corners. You don’t need designer lighting; you want to avoid relying on one overhead light to do everything.

Make Your Curtains Work Harder

Give the Bedroom and Bathroom Some Attention

Curtains have a surprisingly big effect on how finished a room feels. Choose full-length curtains where possible and hang them slightly higher and wider than the window to create the illusion of height and larger windows. Cream, oatmeal and other soft neutrals are easy to live with. And please steam them. Expensive-looking fabric covered in creases defeats the purpose.

SMART, AFFORDABLE UPGRADES

TO MAKE TO YOUR RENTED SPACE MAKE YOUR BEDROOM FEEL LIKE A RETREAT

Renting often means inheriting someone else’s choices tiles you would never have picked, kitchen cabinets that have seen better days, awkward lighting and walls you’re not allowed to touch. But none of that has to stop the space from feeling like yours. With a little creativity, the right furniture and a few strategic upgrades, even a basic rental can feel stylish, warm and considerably more expensive than it actually is. The trick is knowing where to spend and what to leave alone. You don’t need to renovate the entire house—or annoy your landlord trying. You simply need to make the things you can change look intentional.

Buy a Properly Sized Rug One large rug will do more for your living room than three extra decorative objects. Choose one big enough to sit beneath or at least touch the main furniture rather than floating awkwardly in the middle of the floor. It makes the room feel warmer and more pulled together and, importantly for renters, can disguise flooring you don’t particularly like.

Choose Furniture Carefully

You don’t need a matching sofa, chairs, coffee table and TV unit. In fact, too much matching can make a home feel like a furniture showroom. Look instead for pieces with good proportions that work together. Spend more on the things you use every day, particularly your sofa and bed, and save on side tables, stools and smaller accessories. Most importantly, resist the urge to fill every available corner. Space is part of the design too.

By Funke Babs-Kufeji

Upgrade the Small Things

MAKE YOUR CURTAINS WORK HARDER

DON’T IGNORE THE BATHROOM

UPGRADE THE SMALL THINGS

Bring in Some Personality

Art, photography, ceramics, woven pieces, books and locally made accessories stop a home from looking as though everything arrived in one delivery. Don’t choose pieces simply because they match the sofa. Buy things you actually like. Your home should reveal something about the person living there. The same rule applies when styling surfaces. A coffee table doesn’t need twelve decorative objects. Try a couple of books, a tray and a vase. Give beautiful things enough room to be noticed.

Get the Lighting Right

MAKE IT SMELL GOOD

hand soap and lotion. Matching hangers can even make an ordinary wardrobe feel neater. None of these changes is dramatic, but together they remove a lot of the visual clutter that makes a home feel temporary.

This is where a basic rental starts to feel considered. With your landlord’s permission, swap dated cabinet handles for something more modern and keep the originals to put back when you leave. Replace tired lampshades, upgrade your cushions and use attractive dispensers for

These are two of the easiest spaces to improve without making any permanent changes. In the bedroom, good bedding, a throw, warm bedside lighting and uncluttered surfaces can change the mood completely. For the bathroom, invest in good towels, a proper bath mat, attractive storage and matching soap and lotion dispensers. Add a plant if there is enough natural light. Small details can make even a very ordinary bathroom feel far more polished.

Hide the Ugly Stuff

Cables, plastic bags, delivery packaging, random storage boxes and too many little objects can undo all your good work. Use baskets, boxes and simple cable organisers to keep everyday clutter under control. Not everything you own deserves to be on display.

Make It Smell Good

Open the windows, keep the house clean, and add fragrance with candles, diffusers, or room sprays. Fresh flowers and greenery help too. Just don’t overdo it. The goal is for someone to walk in and think your home smells lovely, not immediately identify the air freshener.

Spend on What You Can Take with You

This is probably the smartest rule for renters. Put your money into furniture, rugs, curtains, lamps, mirrors, artwork, bedding and accessories that can move with you. Be cautious about spending heavily on someone else’s tiles, kitchen or permanent fittings.

挀椀最愀䴀漀氀䜀 ⸀ 猀攀氀搀渀甀䈀愀琀䐀愀琀愀 Sunday, September 6, 2026 Vol. 22, No. 11436

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