Accolades, encomiums as entertainment guru cum politician, Shina Peller turns 45

Honourable Shina Abiola Peller, popularly referred to as the king of nightlife, owing to his exploits as an astute entertainment businessman who changed the face of night clubbing in Lagos, turned 45 today and all roads will lead to Oyo State where a massive celebration is being planned in his honour.  A philanthropist and industrialist also, he was born in Lagos State, Nigeria on the 14th of May 1976. His parents hail from Oyo State and his father is the well-known Professor Moshood Abiola Peller, a popular magician in Nigeria when he was alive.

Shina Peller is a chemical Engineering graduate of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology. He also has a Master’s degree in Business Management from the same university. Although he is well-known as the owner of the Quilox night club brand, he is also the group chairman and CEO of the diversified conglomerate, Aquilla group of companies.

He revealed that his entrepreneurial journey started after finishing his Master’s degree, when he decided to start his own company – Aquila Building and Projects Limited. Today, he sits atop the Aquila Group which covers Aquila Records, Aquila Building and Projects Limited, Aquila Oil and Gas, Aquila Smart Homes Limited, and Aquila Global Resources Limited.

Before venturing into politics where his now represents the Iseyin, Itesiwaju, Iwajowa, Kajola Federal constituency, Shina Peller was a major personality in the clubbing and entertainment industry in Africa. His Quilox restaurant and night club in Lagos remains a hot spot in Nigeria for party goers, and it has a wonderful architectural design.

While many may have expected that he follows in his father’s footsteps and upholds his legacy in magic, he explained, in an interview, why unlike his siblings, he did not perform magic as a profession. He said, “Magic requires a lot of time and resources. I’m an entrepreneur, and I personally believe I do not have the time that it requires to actually do magic full time. I’m a magician myself, and every child of my father does magic.”

Speaking on his love for entertainment, he said, “Aquila Records was established to develop talented Nigerians and Africans and help them become superstars. Club Quilox was established with the goal of revolutionising nightlife in Nigeria, hence, the name, which means redefinition. My financial advisers thought I was overexposing myself in a business that has a notoriously short life span. However, Nigeria was one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa, and I knew Lagos, as the commercial capital of Nigeria, had great potential. I saw a gap in the nightlife industry that needed to be filled. Quilox has been around for five years now.”

Quilox has contributed significantly to the development of the country, and it has raised the bar within the nightlife industry. Every club now looks at Quilox as the benchmark. Also in terms of tourism, people come to Nigeria from all over the world now just to visit Quilox and this is contributing positively to Nigeria’s image. Quilox even had a feature on CNN on the prestigious ‘Parts Unknown’ show with the late Anthony Bourdain. We are an employer of labour, we pay our taxes Peller explains, we are contributing a lot really. The government needs to look into nightlife and the contribution it makes to diversify the economy especially on the back of a tourism master plan. It is unsustainable for us to have such a strong focus on oil; we need to diversify to take the country to the next level. Entertainment and tourism should be major areas of the government’s economic vision moving forward. I see great potential in the entertainment industry. There are many more collaborations between American artistes and other international artistes from Nigeria, and that underscores the value they can bring and have brought. There is much potential that could be tapped into.”

Speaking on why he joined politics despite his success in business and entertainment, he said, “The time for armchair politics is over, and I decided to get more involved in policy-making and law. I joined politics as a technocrat, which has helped me to help shape economic and business policies in the most effective ways. I have been involved in many philanthropic activities and I am excited to represent a new set of ideals.

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