How my viral Ojude Oba moment sparked corporate pushback – Farooq Oreagba

The 2026 edition of Ojude Oba has ended, but memories of the viral moment that changed the festival’s trajectory cannot be erased.

A vibrant cultural festival, Ojude Oba, celebrated in Ijebu-Ode, is usually held on the third day after Eid al-Kabir (Ileya).

The festival features a massive showcase of fashion and the Ijebu heritage, attracting over a million visitors globally.

However, in 2024, Ojude Oba had a defining moment when a charismatic photo of Farooq Oreagba on horseback, smoking a cigar, went viral.

The single photograph took him mainstream, making him the reference point for the term, steeze’.

Two years later, Mr Farooq revealed that the viral moment almost cost him his position as the Chief Executive of a financial establishment.

In the latest episode of ‘MENtality with Ebuka’, Mr Farooq said that despite studying Civil Engineering, he has been a banker all his life.

Speaking on the topic, ‘Why Your Career Defines You’, Mr Farooq said that initially, he didn’t want people to think that he was leaving finance.

“Yes, I’m the CEO of a financial institution. I sit on the boards of financial companies, and then there I was, in a viral moment two years ago, when someone took a photograph of me doing what I’ve been doing for 16 to 17 years now, and it changed my life.

“But then, a friend of mine told me, your 9-5 provides for your survival. Your side hustle gives you freedom. And that was a defining moment for me. What was called my side hustle was just me being me. Yes, I ride horses, and I’m now in movies. I’m in fashion,” he said.

While he enjoyed the fame and all its trappings, he said that his newfound status almost cost him his standing in the world of finance.

Describing himself as probably the only CEO in mainstream corporate Nigeria to wear earrings and have tattoos, the finance expert said it has been a problem for him, even before he found fame.

“You know, to a certain extent, it’s cost me certain roles. Certain positions. And even in my corporate role, I sit down with boards, and they say to me, the image of a CEO in financial services, riding horses and flashing tattoos, is not what we want.

“Guys, what do you want? When you hired me, I had tattoos. When you hired me, I was smoking cigars. Is it just ‘bad belle’ or the fact that you don’t want me to have the freedom that this role brings to me? And that’s really what it is. Let’s call it a spade a spade. People will hate whether you do well,” he said.

Speaking further, the actor said that whether one does well or not, there will still be a group of people who hate.

“And I think what I’m learning to do is switch off the noise, and just do what suits me best,” Mr Farooq added.

Widely known as the ‘King of Steeze’, Mr Farooq is a prominent Nigerian financial executive and cancer survivor.

He currently serves as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NG Clearing Limited, a critical infrastructure provider in Nigeria’s financial market sector.

In a previous interview, he revealed that in 2014, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and carcinoma (bone marrow and skin cancer).

After a series of treatments, by 2015, the cancer went into remission.