Here comes Dakore the bride
It took sometime for Nollywood star, Dakore Egbuson, to confirm that she was indeed more than just a friend to Olumide Akande. Before “Olumide and I are dating” became her answer to inquisitive journalists, she had played down tales about any romantic dalliance with the son of multi-millionaire, Harry Akande.
Tomorrow, the pair will exchange marriage vows before God and men after over four years of open and close dating.
Besides being the son of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) chieftain, little was known about Olumide. Dakore, on the other hand, is a popular face at home and abroad.
The groom's father is a contestant in the ANPP convention taking place today.
The bride-to-be is one of the best in Nollywood and has acted in movies like Shattered Illusion, Annabel, Games Men play, Dangerous Sisters, More than Gold and Ultimate Risk.
The wedding won't be an all-comers affair as, without an invitation card, it would be impossible to get in. Almost everything about the wedding is strictly family affair. Some close friends and relatives did not know the venue as at the beginning of this week.
Dakore recently revealed how Olumide, who she said is a fashion buff, proposed to her. He had taken her to shop a day before on the pretext that a friend was throwing a party.
“I noticed he was excited,” she said and then teased him. On the day of the party, he suggested they should go eat at a restaurant before going to the party – this was in Chicago, U.S.A. The restaurant was “the finest we've ever been,” she confessed. She should have guessed his intentions but she assumed he was just been his 'sweet self'. Olumide had informed the restaurant of his intention and they assisted in making the event extra special.
After their meal, she ordered for desert, a waiter came with a trolley, and as she was on the verge of informing him that they ordered for just desert the waiter opened the cover of the trolley and a red box was revealed – then it dawned on her as Olumide got on his kneels. Just afterwards, congratulatory remarks poured in from every guest present at the restaurant, in true American style. She recalls they had talked about rings and she had particularly picked what he got her as her favourite. “After the restaurant, I was so excited to go for the party. But when we got there, I found out it was also a surprise party,” she recalled.
The big screen may, however, lose a good actress as she said in a recent interview that she might not be acting, as she would want to be family-oriented like her mom and acting might not permit that. She intends to stay in the creative business though.
When asked sometime last year about her mystery man, she said, “I can't tell you his name, I can't tell you what he does except, well I can say his is a very warm person, very supportive of my work, and I'm just happy we met. We met somewhere in Lagos. We just started seeing each other. He is Nigerian. That's what I'm going to say, but he is not from Bayelsa State. In three years, I would hopefully be at the top of my game professionally, you know, and in every aspect. Settled, happily married with children. I would like to have just three kids – boys and girls. I don't mind two boys and a girl, or girls and a boy, as far as I get both sexes.”
Dakore is an Ijaw from Bayelsa. She went from Corona Primary School in Gbagada, Lagos to Federal Government College Bauchi, and to A-Z International, Ajao Estate, Lagos. She has carried her musical, athletic, and acting skills along. Presently, she has a diploma in mass communication, majoring in PR and Advertising.
A consummate actress, singer, TV presenter, and an amateur photographer, Dakore is the first child of her family and has got four younger ones: three boys and a girl. She lives with her mum in Lagos, while her father resides in New York, U.S.A.
Like the sticker on her car, “everyday is a plus” for Dakore. The first thing she does every break of the day is pray. “I don't talk to anyone, but I talk to my creator because I believe for everyday you wake up you have to give thanks,” she said.
After giving thanks, she takes tea with mummy, “I have green tea; my mum drinks coffee. We chat, talk about what we are going to do that day and all that. But I won't say I have any typical day, because, sometimes, if I am on set, I just have to go off to work. But if some days like now when I am just chilling, I could just have a lazy day, and enjoy it. I try and catch up with friends, do other stuffs, and maybe check my emails.”
One of the highlights of her career was an endorsement with Amstel Malta, becoming the new face of the brand and “the responses have been overwhelming. I went to South Africa to shoot the TV ad and I worked with a world-class professional crew.” Telling how she got the endorsement deal, she revealed: “I was approached by Insight Communications. I guess they followed my work and they liked my personality. I met with the executives at Nigerian Breweries, and they liked me too, and the rest, they say, is history. That's a high point.”
She describes shooting the ad on 35mm in Johannesburg, as a “fantastic” experience seeing that on set, “there was a lot of wardrobe consultation, and attention to details. I have to take so many shots for just one scene. It was very difficult but it was fun. It challenged me. It pushed me, which is what I like – challenges. And then, I was treated like a star.”
The Bayelsan queen, like South-South fans fondly call her, recounts that her role as a Hollywood superstar in the ad is “aspirational” because “the dream of every actor is to end up in Hollywood.”
On the other hand, Olumide, the only son of billionaire mogul Harry Akande, was brought up from a rich background. In the early inception of their engagement, rumours were flying around suggesting that the Akande family would suggest Olumide dump the actress, who was said to be head over heels in love with him. According to a source, the fact that Dakore, as a showbiz personality would prompt attention at the Akande, a somewhat conservative household involved in blue-chip businesses, is responsible.
“You know the Akandes usually avoid undue attention, and the parents have consistently complained that marrying an actress would consistently put them in the limelight even when it is not necessary. Who knows they might be reacting to the stories of divorce the industry is filled with”, the source said.
“She is likely to quit the business to keep her man, because it is obvious that she is in love with him, and would do her best to keep the union,” the source added. But the couples disregarded the rumours in which Olumide explains; “I want to tell you categorically that the story that my parents are against my girlfriend, Dakore is not true. If the story did not come from my mum and dad, you should know it's not true. Their relationship is very cordial, solid. In fact, my parents love her. You see, Dakore is a private person, and then, my dad will not like seeing his name on the pages of newspapers. Even me too, I don't like seeing my name on the pages of newspapers.”
It would be recalled that Dakore, who has so many awards had in the past hinted that she values family life more than the glamour of her career.
A blogger commented: “You all know beautiful actress, Dakore Egbuson, has been in a sizzling romance with the only son of Nigerian billionaire, Harry Akande? Well, the news going round now is that the parents do not approve of the relationship because of Dakore's chosen career. But the actress has described as untrue the tale that the parents of her fiancé, Olumide Akande are not in support of the union and are doing everything possible to continue to disunite them, including threatening to disown their only son.”
In the December 2010 issue of Genevieve magazine Dakore grinned and wriggled her left fingers playfully, revealing her exquisite ring.
“We just connected intellectually and we have a lot in common, too,” Dakore says of the initial attraction. “He really loves music as I do; and he knows those little things that make me relaxed around him. We have each other's back, which is really great because that is usually the foundation of a good marriage.”
Among those expected on the bride train tomorrow is musician, Glo ambassador and Dakore's fellow dreadlock devotee, Ego Ogbaro.
