PAINFUL:
Inside last Moment of NIGERIA’S FIRST Super Model, YEMI FAWAZ in America…Her Battle, Pain with Colon Cancer at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital
* American Cardiologist, Nephrologist discovered pioneer Nigerian model suffered hole in Heart and Kidney
*Leads love international outreach to help less privilege
*Challenged Advertising industries in Nigeria for ‘having sex with models’, paying them peanuts
BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU in New York
SHE WAS THE PACESETER of the Nigerian fashion industry, as a model and major stakeholder. She fought for good pay-raise for Nigerian models, ensured fashion designers earned the respect they duly deserve, even in the world of arts. She created an international outreach love company that greatly assisted the less privileged. Her greatest fight was against Colon Cancer, which she battled till she breathed her last in an American hospital. YEMI FAWAZ was Nigeria’s first super model.
Fawaz died few days ago, precisely 20th February at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital at the age of 64. She had been battling colon cancer for a while, been that she had a hole in her heart and her kidney had begun to fail her since last year. American Cardiologist and Nephrologist who discovered this pioneer Nigerian model had hole in Heart and Kidney had been treating her awhile. She battled pain until she gave up.
For the records, Fawaz started her modeling career and became a supermodel in the late 70s. She established a modeling school and did a lot for the fashion industry in Nigeria. She left Nigeria in 1997 when things were not working out well for her and didn’t return until 2016. She is survived by her 33-year-old daughter, Magdalene Oluwatobi Fawaz.
During one of her reported last interviews in Nigeria, she said: “I was very surprised that the modeling industry has died down in Nigeria. When there is no love, where there is no support, when jealousy is more than achievement, things cannot work. I fought for years in this country. I fought so much with the advertising companies to the extent that I became their enemy. The advertising companies blacklisted my company for years. I suffered in silence. My models walked away from me because they were not getting jobs.”
On how she fought Nigerian Advertising moguls that were having sex with models, she said “All these happened because I was always telling them the way they were handling children was not good. A job that deserved at that time N15,000, you will give them N10,000. Upon that, they would still sleep with the models. It is the fault of the models. Everybody wants to be seen. But where are they today. God fought on my behalf. He knew I was fighting the battle for the sake of the up and coming ones.
“I believe a Nigerian model should be earning N10 million now. Nollywood has taken over. If I was still here, I would be the one managing them. Some Nollywood actresses and actors deserve millions from their adverts but some people will go through the back door and collect peanuts. This is what destroys the industry. They refused to listen to me. I used to tell them that show business is for a short time. I guess I was the highest paid model back then. I was earning N10,000 to appear at any function. N10,000 at that time would buy you a Mercedes Benz.”
#Additional reports by Encomium
