Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa

A Legend of Lifestyle

For a trained lawyer like Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa, to push back ‘the bar and the bench’ means pitching new tents with famed luxury brands and creating a blueprint for male fashion and style appreciation. This unapologetic globetrotter, in a virtual encounter with Yinka Olatunbosun, peels off some layers of history to reveal the persona with the name that certainly chimes.

Before he was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2004, Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa enjoyed a decent upbringing that prepared him for life, leadership and the courage to make hard choices. Every summer was a dream and thankfully, it came with the perk of his birthday celebration.

“Growing up was genuinely fun,” he began, excitedly. “Every summer we travelled to new destinations. There was a warmth and intentionality to how my parents raised us that I carry with me to this day. But beyond the experiences, it was the values instilled early that shaped everything. My parents taught me the importance of hard work and the importance of keeping the family name which is something that I’ve always lived by.”

Abubakar who hails from Bauchi state is the son of a career diplomat and a businesswoman of Yoruba origin who was a former Miss Nigeria. He had his early primary education in Blackpool, England before returning to Nigeria to spend a year at St. Jude’s Private School. For his parents, it was crucial for him to adapt to the Nigerian schooling system before proceeding to the Nigerian Military School after which he attended the Prestigious Ahmadu Bello University and obtained a degree in Law.

Looking back at his years in the military school, his name didn’t get him preferential treatment. Instead, the school shaped his character and reinforced values he still lives by.

“The Nigerian Military School (NMS) was the making of me,” he recounted. “It was demanding and unrelenting. It stripped away everything superficial and built something solid underneath. The discipline I carry today, the way I approach work, the way I hold myself in a room, that school is responsible for a great deal of it.

“As for my name, it was like any other at NMS. That is the beauty of that institution. You could be the son of a former president, a minister, a governor and none of it earned you special treatment. We were all equal under that uniform. If anything, it taught me early that a name is only as powerful as the character behind it.”

Adding to this background, he proceeded to work with Libra Law under the mentorship of Mrs Hairat Balogun, the former Attorney General of Lagos State and Mr. Afolabi Balogun before leaving practice to establish MODE MEN Magazine in 2006. After building the brand for 20 years, he grew into a household, establishing himself as a luxury brand consultant working with brands like Tom Ford, Fendi, Armani and Givenchy in Nigeria for various launches.

But did he ever miss the legal practice and the edge-of-the-seat feeling that litigation sometimes brings? He paused and said: “The law gave me structure and rigour and I am grateful for that foundation. But there was a desire that practice could not satisfy. Nigerian men had no magazine that truly spoke to them, their ambition, their style, their complexity. Not a pale imitation of something Western, but something authentically ours. So, I made a decision. In 2006, I walked towards the thing that would not leave me alone. MODEMEN was the result.”

Despite digital intrusion, his magazine survives. He moved away from focusing on periodic publishing to continuous engagement. He explained that distribution is still a challenge for print magazines.

“While funding and advertising are also challenges facing print, I strongly believe that with lifestyle publications, there will always be a market.”

With role models such as General Buba Marwa, Barack Obama, Chief Chukwuemeka Chikelu, Ralph Lauren, and Tom Ford, his taste was built around a variety of principles including integrity, discipline, and grace under pressure.

“What Ralph Lauren and Tom Ford did transcends fashion. Ralph took a vision of effortless elegance and turned it into one of the most recognisable brands on the planet. Tom walked into Gucci when it was on its knees and made it the most talked-about house in the world.”

Circling back to his Nigerian heritage, Abubakar recalled his favourite edition of his magazine without revealing too much about his identity.

“The ‘FOUNDING FATHERS’ edition which celebrated Nigeria at 50 featured the grandson of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikwe’s son and Sardauna’s grandson. It was an epic edition.”

Despite being an icon of his own rights, Abubakar doesn’t believe in being fashionably late.

“Punctuality reflects respect. Presence is defined by value, not timing. I went to school in England at an early age and also went to the Nigerian Military School. You must be at an appointment 10 to 15 minutes ahead.”

As a frequent traveller, he has some essentials he wouldn’t travel without. Apart from books, journals for notes, medication and vitamins, Abubakar shows his affable side with other travel must-haves.

“My headphones,” he said, mentioning a specific brand “the moment they go on, the world outside ceases to exist. And a well-cut blazer and a caftan, just in case an occasion comes up.”

Abubakar’s personal style is refined and understated. He always loves it clean, well-tailored, and effortless. Though a bit of a conservative, he holds on to the mantra: ‘dress as you want to be addressed.’ While his sense of style is admirable, it was noteworthy to talk about how markedly different it is from today’s casual attitude to dressing especially with the Gen-Zs.

“Working from home is part of it, but I think it goes deeper than that. This generation grew up being told to challenge every convention and dressing down became a form of self-expression, even rebellion. Social media accelerated it further; streetwear and casual aesthetics dominate the algorithm, so that is what young people see celebrated daily.

“But I will say this, being casual is not the problem. Carelessness is. There is a difference between a young man who wears a well-fitted agbada to a wedding and one who shows up in a wrinkled shirt because he simply did not try. What we are losing is intentionality. The understanding that how you present yourself signals how seriously you take the room you are walking into. That is what MODE MEN has always tried to teach, not that you must wear a suit, but that you must be deliberate.”

The conversation lingered a little on the palpable global cultural shift towards Nigerian traditional wear, especially in inter-racial weddings. Abubakar argued that Afrobeats played a pivotal role in this phenomenon.

“Afrobeats opened the door. When Nigerian music conquered global stages, it brought Nigerian aesthetics with it; the colours, the fabrics, the ceremony. Suddenly, the world wanted to know what we wear, how we celebrate, and what we look like when we are fully ourselves. Inter-racial couples began choosing Nigerian traditional attire not out of novelty but out of genuine reverence for the richness of the culture.”

It’s gratifying for him to see a growing confidence in homegrown African brands, as they coexist with global labels.

“The economic opportunity here is enormous and largely untapped,” he argued. “We are talking about a global market hungry for authentic Nigerian craftsmanship; aso-oke weavers in Iseyin, adire artisans in Abeokuta, master tailors in Lagos and Abuja who can construct a grand boubou that rivals anything on a Paris runway. What we need is structure: intellectual property protection for our textile traditions, government investment in our fashion industry as a cultural export, the diaspora alone represents a multi-billion naira market waiting to be properly served.”

For Abubakar, each day is unique. But typically, his schedule is a mix of editorial planning, meetings, and strategy. Some days, it’s a photoshoot followed by a gala.

But generally, he believes in simplicity alongside authenticity.

“Simplicity always works. Know what suits you, invest in quality, and avoid chasing trends. With lifestyle publications generally, my philosophy is ‘do unto others as you want done unto you’. And as I’ve gotten older (and a little wiser), I’ve learnt that ‘we are all different, learn to tolerate others; Each person is influenced by their upbringing and circumstances.”

The burden of explaining his name is perhaps Abubakar’s lifelong task. By working hard to earn his own name and gaining access to places that still exist only in people’s dreams, he has proven himself not as a silhouette in Nigeria’s history, but a game changer in the lifestyle orbit.

“It is something I acknowledge with respect, given the historical significance of the name. However, I see it more as a reminder of responsibility than identity. Ultimately, every individual must define their own path. For me, it has always been about building something meaningful and contributing in my own way.”