The eagerly awaited GTCO Fashion Weekend has once again proven to be Africa’s foremost fashion event. This year’s showcase was a masterclass in elegance, ingenuity, and style, presenting the pinnacle of African fashion to a global audience.”

The event united distinguished designers, models, and fashion aficionados from all over the continent and beyond. The runway showcased breathtaking collections from leading designers such as Tolu Coker, Oríré, Gert-Johan Coetzee, Xu Zhi, Ituen Basi, and Romeo Hunte, among others.”

GTCO Fashion Weekend created an opportunity for up-and-coming designers to present their work alongside well-established brands. The event’s dedication to fostering new talent was showcased through the remarkable demonstrations of creativity and expertise.”

Renowned industry figures such as Sheika Daley, Patricia Bright, Lulu Kennedy, and Ted Gibson imparted their valuable knowledge and expertise.”

GTCO Fashion Weekend has firmly established itself as a key driver in the growth and evolution of African fashion. By offering designers a platform to display their creations, the event has significantly bridged the gap between African fashion and the international market.”

“As anticipation builds for next year’s event, it’s undeniable that GTCO Fashion Weekend has established itself as the benchmark for fashion extravaganzas in Africa.”

Rebecca Ruona Olotu, known as Ruona, has taken her passion for makeup artistry and transformed it into Kymarle Beauty, a mobile makeup studio that is revolutionising the beauty industry.

Ruona’s journey began in the halls of Nottingham Trent University in the UK, where she studied law. While she meticulously honed her legal skills, her heart was drawn to a different calling: the world of makeup.

What started as a pastime watching countless YouTube tutorials and experimenting on herself and friends soon blossomed into a serious pursuit.

By 2018, Ruona embraced her creative side, becoming a freelance makeup artist with a mission: to enhance natural beauty using minimal products.

The turning point in her career came when she attended a masterclass in Lagos led by the renowned celebrity makeup artist King Mali Magic. Inspired by Mali’s “Dewy Brown Girl Project,” Ruona began to advocate for the representation of women of color in the beauty realm, empowering them to celebrate their luminous skin.

Ruona conceptualised the Kymarle Beauty Mobile Studio a luxurious vanity housed inside a truck.

Launched on June 12, 2022, the innovative service brings a fully equipped beauty studio to clients’ doorsteps, making it perfect for weddings, music video shoots, Nollywood sets, and more.

Ruona’s multifaceted talents extend beyond beauty. After graduating in 2014, she stepped into the music scene with her debut EP and later formed the girl group Rcube with her sister and cousin, both notable performers in Nigeria.

Their vibrant performances at major events like “Industry Night” and “Felabration” solidified their presence in the music industry.

Ruona also pursued a legal career, becoming a qualified lawyer in 2018. She has contributed significantly to the Presidential Amnesty Program, focusing on empowering communities in the Niger Delta region.

Her creativity knows no bounds; in addition to her mobile makeup services, Ruona has ventured into special effects makeup for Halloween events and has provided free makeovers for charity, embodying her commitment to giving back to the community.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has said a former beauty queen, Oluwadamilola Aderinoye, has turned herself in at its Lagos command.

The agency accused the ex-beauty queen who was the Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture in 2015/2016 of hiding after she was declared wanted eight months ago.

A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, noted that Aderinoye was declared wanted after she escaped when operatives raided her apartment in Lekki on January 24, 2024.

Babafemi stated that 606 grammes of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, an electronic weighing scale, large quantities of drugs packing plastics, a black RAV 4 SUV marked Lagos KSF 872 GQ, and her picture frame, among others, were recovered from her apartment.

Babafemi said, “Wanted ex-beauty queen, Ms. Aderinoye Queen Christmas, also known as Ms. Queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye, has surrendered to the Lagos Command of the agency after about eight months in hiding.

“She was declared wanted by the agency in January after she escaped from her Lekki, Lagos residence when NDLEA operatives raided her apartment at the Oral 3state, Lekki, on Wednesday, January 24, following credible intelligence that she deals in illicit substances.

“The suspect was Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture 2015/2016 and the founder of Queen Christmas Foundation. Recovered from her home during the search witnessed by the estate officials include 606 gramm3s of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, an electronic weighing scale, large quantities of drugs packing plastics, a black RAV 4 SUV marked Lagos KSF 872 GQ, and her picture frame among others.

“The suspect, who claimed she had been hiding in Akure, Ondo State since January when she escaped arrest in Lekki Lagos however, surrendered to the agency on Wednesday, August 28.“

Babafemi said operatives of the agency intercepted a total of 31,124, 600 pills of tramadol 225mg and bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N17, 932, 200, 000.00 in street value at the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state and Tincan seaport in Lagos.

“The seizures were made following intelligence processed by the qgency on the movement of the shipments from their port of origin in India, leading to a demand for a 100 per cent joint examination of the watch-listed containers with the Nigerian Customs Service and other sister security agencies, “ he added.

According to him, the breakdown of the seizures showed that 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers at Tincan port in Lagos on August 29 and 30, 2024.

“Each of the two containers had 175,000 bottles of the opioid.
At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, NDLEA operatives equally intercepted a total of 447 cartons of tramadol 225mg containing 29 840,000 pills of the opioid as well as 380,000 bottles of codeine syrup from three containers on Thursday, August 29. The tramadol shipments came under different brand names such as Royal Tapetadol, Carisoprodol 225mg and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg,” the statement added.

The following day, Babafemi said another set of three containers watch-listed by NDLEA were subjected to joint examination.

He added that at the end of the exercise, a total of 3,030 cartons of codeine syrup containing 554,600 bottles of the opioid were recovered from them.

“This brings the total bottles of codeine seized at Onne, Rivers and Tincan in Lagos to 1,284,600 bottles worth N8,992,200,000.00 in street value while the combined seizure of tramadol stood at 29, 840,000 pills valued at N8,940,000,000.00”, he added.

Similarly, he noted that NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers State, on August 27 arrested a suspect, Eze Emekan Don, while attempting to board a Cronos airline flight to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, with 1,490 pills of tramadol concealed and packaged as cosmetics of different brands inside his luggage.

Also in Lagos, Babafemi said no less than 1,122 kilograms of cannabis were seized from a suspect, Mustapha Ibrahim when he was arrested on August 26 along Orchid Road, Ajah, Lagos, adding, “While 816kg of the same psychoactive substance belonging to a suspect at large was recovered from the same location the same day.”

In Niger State, he said NDLEA operatives on August 26 arrested a suspect, Friday Gabriel, along Minna-Suleja road while conveying 1,900 capsules of tramadol, 300 bottles of codeine syrup and 600 packets of exol-5 tablets.

“Similarly, operatives in Bauchi state on Saturday, 31st August, arrested two suspects: Garba Muhammed, 35, and Usman Yakubu Shehu, 31, along Bauchi-Gombe road while transporting 308 blocks of cannabis weighing 246.4kg, concealed in a false compartment of a J5 bus marked Edo state URM 38 ZY,” he stated.