There are very few Africans who have traversed the continent’s socio-cultural landscape for as long and with as much panache and penetration as Chief Opral Mason Benson OON. In Nigeria and Liberia in particular, she has been a steady and recurring cultural cardinal for over half a century, defining, reconceptualising, and re-creating subliminal and popular trends in cultural and cross-national dialogue and diplomacy, and in beauty and fashion.
As a beauty icon, she has been at the forefront of defining trends and customs for her contemporaries and younger generations. She has also explored beauty as an industry and a strong driver of business and has economically empowered thousands of young people in the process.
Which is why when she clocked 90 a few weeks ago, her family and friends left no stone unturned in their quest to celebrate her landmark age. Her granddaughter, Bimbo Cardoso, wife of Yemi Cardoso, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, threw her a colourful birthday party at the Jewel by Aida in Lekki area of Lagos. It was a musical show depicting her life and times. The celebrant adorned in a green and pink ensemble put together by Ade Bakare looked divine.
Originally from Liberia, her family were members of the aristocratic Americo-Liberian community. She had her first child in High School. The father was John Bilson, a young biology teacher in her school, who later became a doctor in Ghana. After the baby’s birth, she continued studies and was later awarded a scholarship to study at Morris Brown College. She returned to Liberia where she worked in the Department of Agriculture.
In 1961, she was a secretary during a conference of the Monrovia bloc of African states, in preparation for formation of Organisation of African Union, OAU. It was at the conference she met Otunba Theophilus Shobowale Benson, the then Minister of Communication. He saw her, sparks flew, romance was kindled. They got married, and the rest as they say, is history. She was 26. Opral worked as director of student affairs at university of Lagos. After leaving Unilag, she joined Johnson Products Nigeria’s board as chairman and established the Opral Benson Beauty Institute and Chic Afrique Enterprises in Lagos. She also served as a pioneer board member of the National Youth Service Corps and was member of the Nigerian Olympic Committee in 1982.
Although she studied Education and Communication in Atlanta University and Michigan University in the United States, it was however her love for all things beauty that propelled her to an iconic status. Opral built her beauty enterprise, brick by brick in those days. Her company Chic Afrique, headquartered in Yaba was involved in fashion, cosmetics and beauty supplies. Before beauty spas became a fad, she had set the pace, with special hair and body treatments which she offered to high society women. She organised and hosted classy fashion shows in the most avant garde way, in the old days.
Opral isn’t just a pretty face, she is a trend setter, one whose haute couture looks were copied by many society women. Long before the word fashionista entered our societal lexicon, Opral embodied it. She bestrode the Nigerian fashion and social world, like a colossus for several years. For this, she was installed as the Ìyá Oge of Lagos by the late Oba of Lagos, Oba Oyekan, the Meso of Ife land and a few other titles. She is also the Honorary Consul, Republic of Liberia.
