Society Gists

+Her Business Deals With LIRS, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, UBA, Shell, and Many Others

Should anyone mention the name, Marian Essien Omatsone, there is the likelihood that it will not ring a bell. But the personality of this 56-year-old towers above many known, self-acclaimed business entrepreneurs, who usually pollute the airspace with their vacuous and pseudo-achievements.

Omatsone is the current champion, the new money woman within the Nigerian society. That her wealth is stupendous is indubitable. This Itshekiri, Warri-born lady is a walking advertisement for financial literacy and independence. Her estimated net worth is said to be in the neighborhood of billions.

Yet Omatsone shuns the kleiglights like a plague and has opted to live a life devoid of attention. Her sense of modesty, coupled with her scant regard for showing off, had helped to shield her from public scrutiny.

One is wont to ask how this lady of style, class and elan came to assume the position of the current champion within the league to Nigerian female billionaires. Well, her meteoritic rise to prominence is quite inspiring. Less than a decade ago, she was just a struggling business woman, whose primary engagement was in importing and selling of female wares.

Omatsone veered into active business engagement when she opened her boutique, Nicole in 1995. The boutique, tucked at a strategic location in Anthony Village, Lagos was a haven of luxury for the rich and fashion-discerning women.

A stylish lady with a shoe fetish, Omatsone has an eclectic taste in shoes. She is a firm believer in the philosophy that when a woman starts to appropriate her femininity, she is going to have a moment when she tries to wear high heels because it is one of the symbols of power. Truly so, femininity, sexuality and power are all linked. It is about a woman’s control. In psychology, the heel is a phallic symbol. At the same time, the inside of the shoe is a representation of the women’s sexual organ.

This style ideology must have prompted Omatsone to make her next business move.

In 2015, she opened a thriving shoe store, Best Foot Forward, BFF, which is situated on No 13 Alhaji Kanike Close, Off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. BFF is regarded as the haven of exclusive and designer shoes. Notable among some of the designer labels she stocks are; Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin, Roberto Cavalli, Sergio Rossi, Giuseppi Zanotti, Valentino, Sophia Webster, Tom Ford, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, Steve Madden, Enzio Angiolini, Russel and Bromley, among many others.

Aside stocking and collecting these designer labels, Omatsone also has the franchises for some of them. She sources these labels from their origins, notably France, Italy, London and the United States. Also, Omatsone is quite chummy with world-class designers like Steve Madden, Robert Yeganah, Beverly Feldma (of Russell and Bromley), Enzio Angiolini and many others.

Not one to rest on her oars, Omatsone took a bolder step in her next business move by veering into furniture and interior business.

Although, she had founded Madison Jay, a furniture business in 2003, the company swung into full operation over ten years ago. The company has successfully positioned itself as a leading company in the furniture procurement industry. It offers construction and renovation services and it is a specialist in converting any type of building into efficient and effective office spaces and work environments. Its building department is made up of qualified, experienced and selected experts, able to guarantee a high quality of work.

Predictably, Omatsone’s Madison Jay has become the most preferred choice of most banking and corporate organisations. She ships in scores of containers on a regular basis, through which she deliver her services. Her clientele base includes Access Bank, Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Shell Nigeria, ARM Pensions, Lagos Business School (LBS), Kantar among others.

Somehow, anytime she observes her moment of meditation, Omatsone will no doubt send prayers of gratitude to God and a request to Him to shower more blessings on her two greatest benefactors – Herbert Wigwe, the Managing Director of Access Bank and Ayodele Subair, the executive chairman of the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS).

Also, Omatsone owes a debt of gratitude to her former best friend, Eno Olafisoye, who introduced her to the Lagos high society, through which she made some solid connections. And she will be eternally grateful to her close friend, Mo Abudu, the media mogul, for helping to upgrade her network of connections.

Although, Omatsone is married, little or nothing is known about her husband, who is described as a quiet man. Her marriage is blessed with four children – Nicole, Richard, Toritseju and Omomofe, and a grandson, Zion.

Omatsone holds a Bachelor of arts degree from the University of Benin. Even though she is described as a very hardworking, loyal and very altruistic, she is not most people’s cup of tea. However, her critics are always quick to concede that Marian Omatsone has come a long way; and she is an intelligent mind and a head of entrepreneurial ideas.