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Farooq Oreagba, the managing director of NG Clearing Limited, has captured the hearts of many at the 2024 Ojude Oba festival.
Ojude Oba — meaning the king’s forecourt — is an important cultural and historical event for the Yoruba people, particularly the Ijebu community in Ogun state. It is celebrated every third day after the annual Eid-el-Kabir festival.
The festival is a vibrant display of Yoruba heritage featuring parades, traditional attire, and cultural performances.
Oreagba was the cynosure of all eyes during this year’s festival, with several Nigerians on social media lavishing him with encomium for his fashion taste and “steeze”.
In now-viral footage, the businessman is seen making a grand entrance at the festival on horseback amid enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
Clad in green and lemon Aso-Oke Agbada regalia, matching cap, red coral beads, and a gold crossbody chain, Oreagba rode his horse majestically and with aplomb. He also wore luxurious sunglasses and an Apple wristwatch to accentuate his ostentatiously displayed tattoos and tobacco pipe.
Even the horse strutted through the grounds with a delicate gait as Oreagba “ate and left no crumbs” at the festival.
WHO IS OREAGBA?
Oreagba was born in July 1966 in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun. He attended Ijebu-Ode Grammar School and is an alumnus of King’s College Lagos.
He earned a degree at Edward Greenes College, Oxford in London, and secured a Bachelor of Engineering, Combined Engineering Studies from Coventry University (from 1985 to 1989).
Oreagba has assumed several roles in the finance industry for over thirty years.
Most recently, he was a member of the Derivatives Product Advisory Committee of the Nigerian Stock Exchange before taking on his current position in 2023.
OREAGBA BEAT CANCER
In February 2014, Oreagba was diagnosed with bone marrow and skin cancer, forcing him to step aside from his career temporarily.
“My experience during my illness has changed my outlook on life a little bit. Some of the things that tick me no longer really matter. I found other things that get me up in the morning,” he said while speaking of his diagnosis.
The 58-year-old, however, overcame the cancer after battling the disease for almost two years. Since then, he started counseling and supporting cancer patients in several communities.
Interestingly, Oreagba got his tattoos after the age of 50. His tattoos appear to be a testament to his survival and a second chance at life.