Folashade Okoya (born 25 April 1977) is a Nigerian industrialist, businesswoman and fashion commentator. She is the Managing Director and CEO of the Eleganza Group, an industrial conglomerate founded by Chief Razaq Okoya.

Shade Okoya
CEO of Eleganza Group, Shade Okoya.
Personal Details
Name:	Folashade Nimota Okoya (née Adeleye)
Born:	25 April 1977 (age 49 years old)
Place of birth:	Lagos State
State of Origin:	Ogun State
Nationality:	Nigerian
Parents:	Alhaji Tajudeen Adeleye (father) Alhaja Nimota Adeleye (mother)
Alma mater:	Lagos State Polytechnic University of Lagos
Occupation:	Businesswoman
Spouse:	Chief Razaq Akanni Okoya (m. 1999)
Children:	4

Table of Contents

Early life

Folashade Nimota Okoya was born on 25 April 1977 to Alhaji Tajudeen Adeleye and Alhaja Nimota Adeleye in Lagos State. She hails from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

She is the sixth of seven children and was brought up by her strict grandmother around Ojuelegba in Surulere in Lagos.

Education

Shade attended Bernadette Nursery and Primary School and completed at Awori Comprehensive High School in 1991. She holds a National Diploma certificate in Banking and Finance from the Lagos State Polytechnic.

She obtained a BSc in Sociology from the University of Lagos in 2004. She received an honorary Doctor of Science in Business Management and Corporate Leadership from the Senate of European American University on 23 August 2014.

Career

Okoya works at the Eleganza Industrial City, a multibillion-naira business estate where household items are manufactured. She works as the managing director, producing world-class chairs, tables, coolers, diapers and pads, luggage, bottles, and soap.

She has held many positions, including managing director of Eleganza Fashion Products Limited and Eleganza Cruise and Travels Limited. She is also a member of the board of directors of Eleganza Group and RAO Investment Property Company Limited.

She sponsors the Folashade Okoya Kids Cup and a scholarship scheme to help 10 students benefit in higher institutions. She also organises a pilgrimage for Muslims to visit the holy land every year.

Awards

Okoya received the 2014 Business Executive of the Year award from the International Centre for Corporate Leadership for Africans and Blacks in Diaspora. She was honoured by the University of Ibadan Alumni Global Network on 21 July 2018.

Okoya received the Inspiring Executive Woman of the Year Award at the 70th Anniversary dinner reception at the Dorchester Hotel, Mayfair, London, in 2018.

Shade was honoured with the Distinguished Alumni Award for her excellence in business leadership and philanthropy by the University of Lagos Alumni Association on 17 October 2025.

She has been bestowed with many chieftaincy titles, such as the Bewaji of Lagos, Otun Aare lyalaje of Ajiranland, Yeye Oge of Epe Land, and Ajisewa of Oke Ona Egba. She is a patron of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) as of 13 June 2015.

In 2012, Okoya was named Style Personality of the Year by the Glams ‘n’ Essence. In 2016, she was named Woman of the Year by The Association of Media Women Rewarding Excellence. She was conferred with the Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Personal life

Shade married billionaire Chief Razaq Akanni Okoya in May 1999 at the age of 22, when he was 59 years old. She has four children, namely Olamide, Subomi, Oyinlola and Wahab.