High Chief Kayode Oloyade, is the Chief Executive Officer of Bronze Lounge Bar and Grill, Ibadan, Oyo State. He is a man of insights, highly educated, widely-travelled, open-minded and God-fearing. He holds a respectable Chieftain title in Nigeria. Furthermore, he operates in the Hospitality Industry with experience in the business running into decades, and he understands the art of Entertainment and how to blend work and relaxation to enhance increased productivity. He has branches on two different continents. In this Interview Report, he opened up on the various issues connected with his line of industry and the operational activities in Nigeria. Let’s read, enjoy and learn more:
You are welcome to Interviewer’s magazine sir, can you briefly tell us about yourself and your family background?
I am High Chief Kayode Ayokunle Oloyade. I am from a family of 18. My father’s name is Mr. Michael Okunloye Abiodun Oloyade. We were raised in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, though we are not from Ibadan. I had all my basic education primary, secondary and higher institution in Ibadan.
What is your experience in terms of patronage in these times of economic meltdown in Nigeria?
I opened an outlet in the United Kingdom in 2002, but sub-leased it around 2015/2016 due to some financial pressure. I then decided to have a secondary earning and came to Nigeria in 2017. I bought a property at Oluyole Estate around Town Planning area in Ibadan. Initially, the business enjoyed great patronage, but due to some reasons, which included renovation works and Covid-19, we closed for some time and later commenced full business. These drained us to a great extent.
Many factors have contributed to reduction in the level of patronage. With regard to our line of business, I carried out a deep analysis of Ibadan – our area of operation in Nigeria. I realised that there are different categories of people. These are the younger and older; and also the residual income earners and another set of people known as Yahoo Boys.
The older ones have exhausted their energy, and interest in eating out has become a thing of the past, while the younger ones don’t really embrace eating out. They view it from a different perspective. Also, the residual income earners are not buoyant enough to spend on themselves at that level. On the other hand, the Yahoo boys, whom I can’t personally identify, seem to be good spenders, but the law of the land does not support their going around in established places, and don’t want things like that.
Another important observation from my experience, is people’s attitude and mind-set towards achievers, or people who are working towards achieving in one way or another, in this part of the world. The jealousy is there. They talk bad about such people; and they generally don’t seem to like people doing well. Call it crab mentality or whatever. but it’s very bad.
Finally, I realized that, entertainment business in Nigeria generally, and Oyo State, is not a strictly regulated industry, and this usually creates chaotic situations. All the operators are licensed and wants to operate profitably, applying any means. This creates unhealthy competition. For example, in our area of operation, from Felele junction, Pythagoras to my side here, which is about two and a half kilometres, there are 27 different outlets. We all are expected to jostle for the few customers, and it has become a survival of the fittest.
This is quite different from the United Kingdom, where there are strict regulations guiding the operational activities in the industry.
How would you handle a situation where a VIP customer is dissatisfied with a service?
With my level of exposure and experience of 27 years, I realised that dissatisfaction is one of the key subjects. Both VIP and regular customers are meant to be treated well to their satisfaction. But in fairness, VIP customers should expect and indeed, enjoy certain treatments and services. And if such expectation is not met, there should be some level of intervention from either the Manager or the Chief Executive if he is around, to appeal to the situation by providing an alternative,
For example, recently, some people came to patronize us. They can be described as VIP customers, because they came in to celebrate a birthday programme. But in the long run, they were not satisfied. There was delay in serving their food, due to some peculiar issues. I intervened by offering them access to a free meal/drink/some of our services whenever they felt like coming around to our Lounge; and I gave them a token to further compensate them.
What can you say about fake alcoholic drinks that some clubs and companies operating in the hospitality industry, in Nigeria are selling to their customers?
I am really surprised to find out that there are fake alcoholic drinks. Though we do not have such here, because we buy from the well-established places like Shoprite. But I have seen such fake alcoholic drinks when they were exposed on social media. Even if an organisation mistakenly buys such, they are supposed to stop selling immediately they discover.
This does not portray the country as being progressive, because I find it difficult to see any reason for such. Is it to poison and kill people? I believe all those vicious activities will soon be weeded out from this society, and the country will start enjoying the rapid and healthy development.
Nightlife in most cities in Nigeria has almost become a thing of the past. As a Lounge and bar owner/operator, do you usually have a full house? If yes, what approaches do you employ to convince your customers to come despite the insecurity in the land?
I grew up to understand Night life, and I still participate up to date. In the society, a number of things deter people from participating in the nightlife because all sorts of shady things happen majorly at nights.
We are concerned about our customer’s security and well-being, because even if we convince them to come out in the night and enjoy themselves, can we ensure their security back home? Therefore, we have been concentrating more on the people living around our environment, because we know they will not need to cover serious distance before they get back to their homes. Some of them also come for relaxation during special events.
Bars and Night Clubs are known for some erratic behaviours of customers due to the use of alcohol, and the presence of ‘free women’. Can you discuss a time when you had to make a quick decision to solve a problem in your Lounge and Bar?
As a Lounge, we do not have closing time per se. Different people behave erratically all over the world. Some white people have angrily thrown flowers at me in my London bar, just because I told them we had closed. Drunkenness, breaking windows, etc happens everywhere, including the West.
However, such behaviours can be easily curtailed in this country because of our good culture. People caution themselves and friends not to misbehave anywhere, or cause a fracas by talking irrationally to the waiter. This is because they know they would still need to go back there, and they don’t want to be regarded as nuisance. Therefore, calming down such situations would not be difficult.
As much as possible, it’s good to follow the good side of the law and not move at
unholy hours. Our patrons come around 4pm or 6pm, eat, enjoy their food or pepper soup and drink, then go back home before 9pm.
However, please take note that there are manifestations of erratic behaviours in different areas, not just at bars or Lounges.
Lounges seem to thrive more on weekends. What strategies do you employ to increase revenue during off-peak days?
Generally, as operators of Lounge and bar, our business activities are not limited to weekends. We sell correct and delicious food, and people come around to calm themselves, eat, enjoy, dance – all under clear lights, where everybody see themselves. And they all go home in relaxed moods.
