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By Christy Anyanwu
As far as fashion modelling is concerned in Africa, the name of Joan Okorodudu (nee Elumelu) will always ring a bell and open doors. She is the CEO of International Consortium Nigeria Limited, which owns Isis Models. She is the founder of the longstanding Nigeria’s Next Supermodel and Africa’s Next Supermodel.
She has groomed generations of models who have held their own in the fashion and beauty world. In recent times, some of the Isis models have been scouted from Kakuma refugee camp in South Sudan.
Her last show with this set of models was held in 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda.
In this interview with Saturday Sun, the 65-year-old ex-beauty queen spoke about her passion for fishing out future top models from remote zones, challenges in the creative industry and how her husband, Air Vice Marshal Terry Okorodudu (retd.), has been a driving force in her achievements.
What are the challenges of being a model scout?
Most companies in Africa do not realise that modelling has become big business. For example, I have models who have built houses in Nigeria or bought flats; a lot of African models are changing the lives of their family members for good.
The other challenges, I really don’t care. We are in an industry where you can say what you want to say. I have changed lives. We are the biggest modelling agency out of the continent of Africa. We have the highest number of African working models, from New York Fashion Week to London Fashion Week (they started only yesterday). In one of the shows, we had four models. So, for me, I am changing lives in spite of these challenges, and I wish the government would establish a creative industry that would give a lot of work to young men and women. A lot of corporate bodies should know that, if they invest in the creative industry, unemployment would reduce.
There were so many barriers in the Nigerian press. At one point, I couldn’t get press. There was a blackout on me, except for a few journalists who still wrote on us. Thank God for social media that helped us out, like Instagram; now, people can see the true picture of things.
What advice do you have for young people who want to become top models?
My advice is: humility. Models jump from one agent to the other and it’s so crazy. Sometimes, they go looking for what is not looking for them. Loyalty is the key, and focus. If you’re rejected today, that does not mean you are going to be rejected tomorrow. Models need to continually change their appearance, but before you change your appearance, you must tell your agent. You have to work on yourself. Most importantly, pride goes before a fall.
How fulfilling is life as a model scout?
I have been so happy because what I promised in 2007 at Nigeria’s Next Supermodel is what I have been able to do. I gave away 11 brand new cars in Nigeria to winners of Nigeria’s Next Supermodel, and we started giving money. This time, we have graduated to Africa’s Next Supermodel. Last year, the top four at Africa’s Next Supermodel did so well. Show me the model search that has put in four models at the same time and they are doing very well. So, it’s been a success story. Isis Models are a global name now, very global. I am very happy for myself, for what we have been able to achieve. I have been able to take models out of the Kakuma camp and they are global models today. We have models, young men and women, out of Nigeria, South Sudan, Rwanda. I have the largest reach across the continent of Africa.
This interview is incomplete without the mention of Mr. ifeanyi Oputa of Studio 24, who donated 10 cars to ISIS models and for Nigeria’s Next Super Model.
He’s been our partner , he is also our partner for Africa’s Next Super Model.
How do you decipher that a model would go far when you pick them from their comfort zone?
In this industry, you need to have good eyes. I have some scouts, and as soon as we have a model or my scouts call me, we do a video. For instance, myself and Matteo, the CEO of Select Global, went to the Kakuma refugee camp from Nairobi. We flew down there before we took a cab to Kakuma refugee camp. We were able to see brand new faces. When you see a model that can make it, you know. There are two types of models. There are morning models, the ones who will last forever, and there are models that, after two or three seasons, are gone. Basically, when I see models that are going to last long, we take time to train them. Sometimes, we take models straight from refugee camps to Europe and they are top models. Out of the continent of Africa, from Isis Models, we have the highest covers for Vogue and Elle magazines. If you go to my office in Lagos, you will see the covers on the wall. They are also in my office in Johannesburg. We have been in Johannesburg since 2008 and we are still there. It is the staying power. I always tell people, the worst thing you can do to yourself is to ‘package’ yourself. Packaging doesn’t work; you have to put in the work.
It is obvious you are not planning to retire soon; what keeps you going?
It is the passion. If you do not have passion, you will not succeed in what you are doing. I will be 65 years old on October 28, the day of my show (Africa’s Next Supermodel) in Nairobi, Kenya. I will be 65 years old but my brain, my energy, my audacity, my tenacity are still like those of a 20-year-old. I thank God I have been able to succeed. To stay on top is hard work.
There are people who would tell you that I take care of them every month in Nigeria. They are not in the modelling industry. I take care of people everywhere on the continent of Africa. These are people that I know that used to have money and now they don’t have any. I now have an account for corporate social responsibility. I do my bit for my friends and so many other people. Things are rough for so many people. People who used to have so much money are now broke. But I thank God for making it possible for me to succeed against all odds. Nobody would have thought I would succeed.
What lesson have you learnt about life?
There are some people, it doesn’t matter if you lay down your life for them, they would still run you down and say all sorts of things about you. But keep doing good, keep going. Life has taught me that what you see is not what you get. Social media has brought a lot of nonentities to limelight. You might be trying to follow the Joneses but there’s nothing there.
My biggest pride is the man I married. My best friend of 41 years. In February, we will be 41 years married. We go round the world together. He didn’t come with me to Kenya because he’s with the grandchildren, having fun. God has given me the most beautiful grandkids in the world. And then my son’s wife, she’s my life, she is like everything. When I look at her, I just thank God for the day she met my son. I have got the most loyal workers from Nigeria here with me in Nairobi. It was rough. Without God, my son and the man I married, I don’t know where I would have been.
Most women say living with military men is tough, but you have been married for over 40 years. What manner of man is your husband?
My husband is my prince. He’s from Itsekiri. He’s a pilot, retired air vice marshal. He’s a decent human being, a great man. It’s not everybody that would tell you their husband is decent. He is a man of God. He prays for me all the time. Anytime things are wrong for me, I say, God, you gave me a good husband. I’m happy, and we have four grandchildren.
My husband flew in the air force. He was there for 35 years. He never changed. We got married after the fourth month of our meeting. The day we met, he was already talking about marriage. We travelled the world together. When I was in Lagos and he was in Abuja, whenever he got a machine, he would buy two and one came to Lagos. However, one problem I have in my marriage is that my husband is finicky. Slippers have to be in one place, the kitchen has to be sparkling clean. We never stayed in different bedrooms. We have slept together in the same room since the beginning of our marriage. I could gist with my husband from morning till night. He calls me Mama J. I know that the man loves me. There’s a video I posted recently on his birthday saying, You are the love of my life. He is my best friend.
I always tell young ladies, If you want to get married, what you see is what you get. No man can pretend for a long time. My husband would always take me out. There’s no place they don’t know us together. When we were younger, we partied hard and we rocked the night together. My husband would always send me love texts. I have never had it the other way. Still, he drives me crazy, don’t let me sugar-coat it.
But there’s this belief that military men are tough with their wives…
Don’t get it wrong, military men are crazy about their wives. That thing that people say about military men is not true. The majority of military men are crazy about their wives. That’s my generation. I don’t know about this generation. In my generation, military men were crazy about their wives. Look at the likes of Maryam Babangida. Don’t let people fool you about military men. I lived on the Air Force Base, the officers’ quarters (just before Ikoyi), and I know that the military men of my generation are crazy about their wives and most of them married the most beautiful women in Nigeria. When people think military men are hard, no, no, they are not; they are the ones crazy about their wives. That idea is totally wrong.
When did you meet your husband, was it before or after you became a beauty queen?
No, I met him at the airport. I remember, I was going to do my Youth Service in Kaduna and my daddy gave me money to stay in Hamdalla Hotel, until Monday, to return to the camp. I met him at the airport. He actually came to pick up his elder brother who was a Nigeria Airways pilot, Captain Okorodudu, who used to fly the airbus at that time. It was after that that I went to contest as Miss Nigeria. I remember Auntie Julie Coker was the compere.
My mother-in-law told me, You and my pikin marry from heaven come. I have been so lucky. I remember when Pope John Paul II came to Nigeria. I was the first person he blessed. He gave me a chaplet when he landed at the airport at Kaduna Air Force Base.
