In the opulent neighbourhoods of Lagos, seven housewives leading luxurious lifestyles showcase their attempts at balancing their social lives with their personal lives as we get to see their most vulnerable moments and moments where they just let loose and show us the Eko way. Chioma Ikokwu, co-founder of Good Hair Limited and a cast of RHOLagos, believes that’s all the representation women based in Lagos, Nigeria, need.
She revealed this during an exclusive interview with 234star as she discussed how The Real Housewives of Lagos show is beyond an entertainment and drama-riddled show. For Chioma, RHOLagos is a representation of how women in Lagos, Nigeria live, and every aspect of the show shows the strength of every cast.
“We are solid women. All the episodes where everything is going well and we’re educating people and showing you our lives and viewers are learning – Mariam talks about surrogacy, I’m going into the business of fashion, Laura has something – people don’t care for those things. They don’t want to know the straightforward educational things that we’re putting out there,” she said,
Chioma worries that aspects of their lives that showcase drama are only what is being paid attention to as opposed to the representation that the cast is giving in regards to work-life balance, family balance and how well these women are navigating their relationships with each other.
“Viewers need to look beyond the drama and see us for who we really are. See what we bring to the table as individuals and as a collective. It’s not easy for women. How many people have more than three girls they’re close to in their friendship circle? You have several women coming together all the time, wining and dining, drinking, laughing, educating themselves, you know, it’s not easy,” she added.
For her, aside from the fact that she gets to show style, she believes that RHOLagos can be a representation of the amazing qualities riddled in Nigerian women as the housewives serve as representatives considering that they all come from different backgrounds, classes and have different upbringings.
“I just want people to know that in Nigeria, we have women, we have strong women, quality women, educated women, kind, generous women. We have women with all these great amazing qualities that have so much to bring to the table. Nobody on that show is afraid. There’s not a single person on The Real Housewives of Lagos who is a weak woman.
“Everybody there is strong. We’re strong in person and character, and I wish that people will see the good points of every one of us and take away the positivity we put forward, the friendship, the love, the community, the communion, and look past the drama.”
With every episode that airs on RHOLagos season 2, we get to see a different side of the women we’ve known and loved on our screens in the first season. Chioma learns from past seasons and drops her queen of lateness crown. Laura becomes more accommodating of the housewives and their excesses. Toyin Lawani, Mariam Timmer and Iyabo Ojo show us a more vulnerable side to them as they share their family life and struggles with us. Faith Morey and Tania Omotayo bring a fresh dynamic to the show. Every episode attests to their growth, and Chioma hopes that viewers take note of that as opposed to focusing on only the drama.
“Drama is normal, but it’s not the only thing that we showcase. Even culture, I know we’ve shown Yoruba culture many times – we’re in Lagos, and naturally, that’s the focal point – but we’ve shown the Yoruba culture in a way that I’m sure a lot of people haven’t even seen before, people in Nigeria let alone foreigners. So I feel that these are the things we should be applauded for and recognised for as opposed to just the drama that we bring,” she told 234star.
Follow the lives of these seven opulent women on Showmax as they take us through their journey one episode at a time.
