 Thanks for staying with us, referencing an article on African women in medias, the insidious ways white versions of beauty are foisted on black women slip into the subconscious, thereby urging women to chase unattainable notions of beauty that veer off reality. The boom and boon enjoyed by the bleaching and hair relaxing cream industry in Africa is a testimony to this. The news compiled by the World Health Organization in 2011 revealed that 40% of African women bleach their skin. Indeed, beauty standards have changed throughout the centuries and while beauty is a function of consensus, to determine that something possesses beauty, it must align with socially accepted criteria for beauty. A large percentage of the standard of beauty in Nigeria today has changed because of Western influence and considering the volume of effects that goes into importing these beauty items, do you think the government should ban the importation of human hair, bleaching cream and other beauty products to cure Nigeria's chronic inferiority complex? Please let's hear what you have to say. Remember you can join the conversation, send us an SMS or WhatsApp to 018 038 4663, tweet us at Wayshow Africa 1 with the hashtag Wayshow. So ladies, this topic, I don't know if I should call it gaslighting, I don't know if I should call it lack of imagination, I don't know if somebody in here thinks the man is talking sense but clearly that person is not me. There's so many things wrong with this statement with the call to ban human hair, not from the perspective that it's, I mean he's coming at it from an FX perspective and I'm like, there's so many things we could count that we're spending FX on today that we all know collectively that we should not be spending FX on. We took a story, I think it was last week, about us not removing the subsidy and we were going to leave it for the next government to come and take the decision, something that we have clearly shown that we can't afford and we continue to spend on. And then here's this person who I just think is looking for headlines, comes and makes this completely ludicrous suggestion. Now, no doubts, all across the world, wherever there are melanin pigmented people, whether you're brown, you're black, we know that people and it's not unique to Nigeria, it's not unique to Africa, like I said, wherever we are, have this higher pigmentation, there is a cultural leaning towards being lighter. So people believe that being lighter is more aesthetically pleasing, it's more beautiful again. That is a personal preference. I mean, I have personally never understood why anybody would want to bleach. I think you're beautiful, whatever skin tone and shade that you are. But clearly there's a strong cultural message around this, around people wanting to bleach and we've seen over the years how people have gone to the extreme with bleaching. And you know, what I found most annoying about this is I think that currently we are at a time when more Nigerian women are appreciating their natural beauty. We've had a consistent, at least in the last, I'd like to say up to 10 years, we've had a move to natural beauty. We've had women, a lot more women with their natural hair, a lot more women, you know, just the fact that we appreciate, we value our beauty. We're not saying that we're not beautiful. And to think that a man can sit somewhere and say, you know what, what you want to do is take away my choice, right? So I should look, so it's not okay to look like the white construct, but I should look like your construct, which is that I should be natural. And again, there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, anybody that knows me knows that I am a fan of my natural hair. I'm not a fan of wigs. I wear them, but I struggle when I wear them. I like to do my own hair. But the fact is I have a choice. And then somebody wakes up and says, today's problem is the fact that we are spending FX, which by the way, I was trying to find out what was still on the list in which you can actually get funds from the government. I mean, trying to get funds today is easier to pass the camel through the eye of a needle than to actually get your hands on Forex. So to come and make this sort of claim in my mind, I'm thinking, do you know how many things we import? We import stock fish. I mean, there's just so many things that we're spending money on that if we really want to pick on the list, this one is so far down. I mean, this is not something that everybody can afford. It's a very small microcosm of people within the country that can actually afford this particular product. And somebody wakes up and says, you know what, this is the problem. But I think I've said enough. So I'm going to come to you, Jennifer. And what are your thoughts on this wonderful headline that we have seen today? So I've seen this topic. It is always recycled. It's like, it comes every year or maybe every quarter. People are always talking about human hair. I mean, I get that buying human hair, this is actually very expensive. And that's the part I don't like or appreciate because it's costing an arm and a leg. So you're probably spending between 200 to 500. And that's, they will still tell you, oh, that's just the manageable or the okay wigs. And then I've seen hairs that go for about 1 million. But those who can afford it can afford it. And when I see topics like it, it always comes from a place of mockery. It's never, you say, okay, I want you to appreciate your beauty. I want to appreciate your hair, your natural state and all of that. But the truth is, if we actually sit you down and fully understand your motive, it's not about empowerment. You just want to put people in a buttoot that suits your own narrative. Oh, because I like it this way, then you should conform to it. And these days, like you said, like 100% agree with everything that you said, because this is a lot more people are appreciating their skin color, people are appreciating their hair. I mean, this is my hair. And so I love wigs. I love wigs. If I have so much money, and there's the new wig I'm seeing that looks very beautiful. I would buy it. Who doesn't want to have a different look? I worked for my money. I would buy it. There are people that are not comfortable with their natural hair and their natural look. And then that's fine. That's a different topic. That's totally okay. I know before my hair got to this point, my hair has always been really short. So I've always cut my hair wasn't growing properly. So I'll always wear wigs. I'll always do then when sawing was really the end thing before we transformed or transitioned into proper wigs. I would do so in back to back. Once I'm losing it, I'm doing another one. But later I was like, okay, maybe I should go natural and see if my hair will grow longer. But I found out that I couldn't style my hair properly. And it was taking me a longer time to style my hair to go out. So I was like, you know what, I'm just going to relax it. And whatever happens to the hair happens. But pending when it grows, I'm going to enjoy my wig. And even now that my natural hair is doing so well, I still love my wigs. I always want to wear my wigs because it's my money. It makes me look beautiful. My natural hair also makes me look beautiful. And then even when you talk about skin, a lot more people are actually going out these days without makeup. And that's because one of the reasons why people were even wearing makeup to start with was because a lot of people had bad skin. So now there has been a lot of education on how to take care of your skin, on how to have healthy skin and move from acne prone, or where you have a lot of pimples on your face to a smooth skin. And it's a journey. People go years, two years, three years to achieve all of these. And then you come out to just belittle it and just make it seem like it's a small feat. But then that's for you. So for those people who appreciate themselves, I don't think anyone should detect what you should wear on your head. If you want to wear a wig that costs you 2 million and you can afford it, please go right ahead and do it. And enjoy it and have fun while you're doing it. So Norma, I want to come to you because I think amongst the four of us here, the experts on this table around how people comport themselves, how they present themselves. And I just want to talk about, so yes, we must agree that the concept or the consensus around beauty is constantly evolving just like culture. So like Jennifer just said, at one point it was sew-ins, now it's wigs, we don't know what it will be tomorrow. But in the same guys, we're looking at people who have healthy skin goals, I mean, we're much more aware about how healthy hair should be and making sure that whatever you have underneath your wig or whatever is as healthy as the hair that you are putting on your head. So for you, do you agree with this concept that us having these options means that we have an inferiority complex? I totally agree with you, Uti, that the narrative is changing in the times that we're in. In fact, with the new generation, you don't even know what to expect. They're the ones taking ownership of everything. They don't have to, it's cleaner looks that people are going for now, more natural looks. And for you to come and make a blanket statement, I think Renault has continued to come up with ingenious ways to continue to be in the spotlight when it comes to social media. So while he might have some points about the fact that we spent a lot of money towards the purchase of these wigs and ores, I totally agree with Jennifer and even some comments that you made earlier that people still have a choice. And I don't think that this is something that is unique to Africa alone or to Nigeria. We have people in Asia who are trying to be lighter every single day. In fact, if you check history or if you check records, you find out that Asian women are spending more and more on being able to lighten their skin. So it's not unique to the African context. And I agree with Jennifer saying that you, because you want to teach them self image for all of that. But I don't think that the, the motives that Renault is coming with are actually genuine. Because if they were genuine, then you want, you would not be ordering the federal government to do one thing or the other. You would come from a place of suggestion that there's a problem. There's a problem in the country where people are paying more attention to this and that. And you think that it's drawing attention to the wrong things that we should learn to appreciate. So the focus should not have been on banning. The focus should have been on teaching people to appreciate themselves. Coming up with campaigns that continue to help people make informed decisions and not you imposing your ideology of what beauty is in the lives of citizens. They have a right to decide what beauty means to them. And beauty means different things to different people. But some people, they would love to have their natural hair. But like Jennifer, they have struggled with hair issues and they cannot have it. I tried to go natural several years ago. Unfortunately, it wasn't working for me. And then I had to relax my hair, but I don't do it. And lock one of the lucky ones that has the type of hair that when you relax, you can stay up to six months before you put in relaxer again. But it's not everyone that is fortunate to have such texture of hair. And then when you want to focus on that, are those really the only issues that we have to deal with in Nigeria? Who are the people that are purchasing these weeks? A lot of people who are purchasing the weeks are not that either middle income earners who would actually save to buy these weeks. I can imagine how many times or installments that Jenny had to do to be able to obtain a new style of wig or the other, if it's the human hair. So you can imagine a lot of people who plan themselves and say, okay, I'm going to be budgeting for this particular and then they get it. While some others have to ask for money here and there. So what are the people that are purchasing these weeks? If you check again, majority of the purchasers are even the men themselves purchasing it for the people that they want to look in a certain way. So what is he talking about? They are the same people who are championing this cause because it could not have gained the popularity that it had if somebody was not trying to impress someone in the first place. So I think that these are just misplaced policies that he's trying to do because there are more critical issues that we need to take into cognizance like you had mentioned earlier. And then I also don't want to take it away because it's very easy for us to focus on all the fact that human hair is expensive and this and that is happening and a lot of people are trying to change their image to be something else and to forget that there are benefits to different things. There are people who have genuine medical situations that weeks have actually helped. People that have alopecia and things like that. There are people who suffer from alopecia and these things have actually helped them to recreate or to help them to restore their sense of self-image. So even though he's trying to preach that oh that's because of lack of self-image it's not that's a blanket statement and I don't think that he did some level of research to come up with these accusations that he's come up with. So it's just cheap talk if you ask me and I need him to really tone a lot of these things down because it's getting very ridiculous. So I think we'll take a quick break and while we come back Isi will come to you. Please stay with us. If you've just tuned in it's our ladies night out and we're discussing the topic should the government ban the importation of human hair. Please let's hear what you have to say. Remember you can join the conversation send us an SMS or WhatsApp to 0818 038 4663. Treat us at Wayshare Africa One with the hashtag Wayshare. Of course today is Thursday so our phone lines are now open and you can call us on 0702 500 7749. I think I'm two days ahead in the week I said it's Thursday today is Tuesday but our phone lines are open and we really love you to join the conversation. So Isi part of the reason why Reno has made this comment he says it's due to the FX issues that the sale of hair the amount of money we're spending on the sale of hair could has negative impact on our foreign reserve our foreign exchange reserves. Now when we think about like I said earlier what we're spending our FX on as a nation right and how countries typically make money or earn FX you're either doing it by export you're doing it by direct foreign direct investment there's so many things that need to be done or can be done to improve our current situation in terms of FX and I mean it's it's an imaginative you know response ideas like this that really keep us where we are because people are not being creative about the ways in which we can earn money. What are your thoughts around his view that this is killing our FX reserves? First I would totally disagree with him I was totally disagree with him in the context that when I actually did my research I discovered that we in Africa basically we according to Euro Monitor we have about Africans have about seven billion annually coming in based on importation or exportations of this of wicks basically or human extensions so I totally disagree with him in this context however let's look at the I also looked at it from different perspectives which have to do with the fact that we I looked at the negatives or the columns of what importing human hair will do to our economy and I realized that nothing if anything it is actually boosting the economy based on the fact that we have entrepreneurs who are actually using this to make a daily income in our society daily especially in a situation where we do not have jobs so small business owners use this to make their living we have people who make wigs we have people who actually working in the small shops basically and they sit down and they use they take their time by the extensions and make wigs for people who need the wigs I looked at it again from another perspective which had to do with the economical perspective the physical perspective and the social perspective and I realized that economically the entrepreneurs need the boost for us to be able to bring in the money so there is no there is just nothing there is no problem with them bringing in or importing the human hair I looked at it again globally globally even foreigners the whites are also buying extensions for their hair so in every aspect we have individuals who are living abroad Nigerians in diaspora buying wigs from Nigeria because it's cheaper and taking it abroad for them to be able to afford it because they wouldn't be able to buy in the amount or the was it called the price that they're supposed to buy it over there due to exchange rates again so they would rather come back to Nigeria and buy here again we also have another fact that economically it boosts the the cosmetic industry basically we are saying that yes women are looking natural but again women are also trying to enhance their beauty and show that they are looking up to power wherever they you know they want to stand out so yes it does boost the economic industry in Nigeria as well abroad because we also have local products that are being made in Nigeria as well again I looked at it physically now let's look at it from the physical point of view women they want to look good according to a lady called Michaela who had an interview in CNN she said that black the women who are the black women love to look good especially during the COVID they they want their hair to be nice neat and at all times so they wouldn't mind to go the extra mile some people have the opinion that the blacks did somewhere somewhere in between decided to you know change their identity that they do not want to they do not want to own who they are by not looking natural being black or as you know keeping them in there but again the women are actually stepping out of their comfort zone to enhance their look and this is also boosting their confidence whether we like it or not the other day we talked about BBL that's body enhancement and stuff like that again is all part of it so if we're looking at it from the perspective of women who want to fix their hair socially or physically they want to you know we have hasha conditions especially during the hammer time where women tend to cover their hair because the weather is hasha on their hair so they take those wigs to cover their hair you see I'm just going to interrupt you there we have a call we have Loma from Abia okay good evening Loma thanks for calling in don't voice your topic I'm trying to laugh I don't want to use the commercial violence call me out in the morning to inform so what? okay but I want us to publish something that is don't whom I hate because I don't whom I hate to want a girl who created everyone and takes the people but I want to tell you my eye I told my wife madame after one woman one day in a bus told his driver please driver where the driver is my hair has fallen off that it is how original I caught up it was weak that fall off from the bus so she now put it in a which way so from that day I waited you if it is all right I told my wife please I don't like weak at the person so she now decided to come home with me and make her home with it in another time which is so beautiful so look at your own hair very beautiful for these people that have money want to let them continue but I at the person I don't like I don't go back to money because there are people that it's reasonable for some people but I prefer I don't like him thank you very much thank you so much um low man for that perspective I mean when I was talking about the hair flying off on the bus I don't see how that is any different from a hat flying off somebody's head but um you know perspectives are everything and I liked a lot of what isi said before the the call came through looking at the economic aspect of it and how much of an economy it's driving it's driving the hair industry is driving the beauty industry is driving I mean the weddings I mean it's just a plethora of people who are earning income and she also touched on a very interesting thing um that I was hoping that we would talk about is the fact that the Nigerian entrepreneurs the small businesses that are truly driving the economy have created good enough products right that they are actually exporting so if you are and any of the social media platforms where these these um wigs are being sold you see people regularly chatting from the diaspora going I want to buy this do you ship internationally and that in itself is a source of a foreign exchange so thank you isi for raising that point because it's so valid because he goes on to talk about the impact right of people who have children who have lost parents and um uh the the impact of of the actual bleaching creams on our skins on our hair these are all valid things and I don't think that there's any woman that is unaware of it I think people who still choose to bleach their skin today they know all the risks but they still choose to take it what was interesting for me was I actually would like to ask him what car he drives perhaps he drives an innocent or he drives I think the other one that's made in Nigeria is a jac I think perhaps he drives one of those cars because the imported cars cost way more than the hair and they kill way more people so excuse me mr. Omokri I would just like to know what car he drives because at this point you can't come from here and I won't come for you the women of Nigeria do you know I actually talked about I actually talked about um about cars especially when um lawman was was speaking because I'm like you import cars and the ROI for cars compared to that of the human hair it's not the same thing now as far as I'm concerned having a car is a liability because as time goes in the next two three years the the value of that car depreciates you can't you can't sell that car for the same price that you bought it and secondly you have situations where you have to repair the car you're having issues with the car especially if you buy the car as maybe um second hand but one thing I've noticed about human hair is I have weeks that have lasted me for six years there are people who I think I met this lady at work and I saw her it looked so brand new I was like oh I like the bounce on your wig where did you get it from she said to be honest that the lady she bought it from has relocated abroad I'm like oh wow then when did you get it she told me she got it 10 years ago see if you see that wig it looks like she bought it last month and I was so shocked and she said oh that she actually has just two so she just alternates between both of them that she didn't see the need that since the lady left she doesn't trust any other person to give her very good hair or very good wig and then that's one pro I know for weeks yeah but I mean so that's a sustainability thing because back in the day when we used to do our hair with just the pure synthetic the braiding hair I think you you finish it are you throwing away and I don't believe these are you know biodegradable materials so even from an environmental perspective right we've even done a lot there because these hairs are you reusable you get good value here and you can get a lot of wear from it and when you think about it right 10 years where perhaps you bought it for 150,000 over 10 years think how much you've saved in different hairstyles in different things where you're now saving money I mean we could go on and on about the pluses of us being able to use wigs the bit I think I'll probably just come back to Noma quickly on this because she talked about alopecia the fact that actually doing our natural hair places tension on our hairlines yeah so I mean take me for example I do everything I can not to place tension on my hairline but I was born with this udc hairline I have a widow speaker that comes all the way down here and I've never had hair you know even as a child I used to have my mother used to cut my hair used to have low cut I still didn't have hair in front so I've always been very aware of protecting my hairline but the fact that you're constantly putting tension doing these weaving styles and things that he's suggesting right also puts tension on your hair so I think Noma just come to you to hear your thoughts around the impact of natural hairstyles that they can have on their hair if it's not properly handled absolutely uti I think it's something that we need to pay attention to I remember back in the days when we were in Kaduna that we used to go to a place where our hair would be made and sometimes after those experiences I feel for days that I can't even sleep because of how much tension on my hair or my scalp per se so it's uh I think like I said earlier that it's not something that Reino himself may have thought through completely he just thought it was a bright idea to throw it out there maybe for his own reasons to continue to bring traction to himself or whatever or for whatever reason but I think that if these are still personal choices that people have to make people have individual scalp challenges some people have tough hair very sensitive scalp some people have normal scalp but they don't have a healthy hair so it's not something that you want to decide for each person each person know their hair and I like the fact that Issey had mentioned that through the advice of her hairstylist she came up with the best possible solution which is what she has on her hair I've got a hairstylist too who has also advised me on the different things that I need to do there's a time my head started falling off when I was asking him or what's going on and he says oh the shampoo that I'm using I should not use the shampoo that comes with a relaxer because it's a neutralizing shampoo I didn't have that knowledge because I wasn't an expert in that regard but with his advice I stopped using you know after you wash that initial wash then you just use your normal shampoos and that helps my hair to come back to its healthy form so I think the choices are still left to the people this is not something that's a challenge or a challenge or unique to Nigeria or Africa alone this is a global issue people have issues and challenges with the hair and I'm constantly making decisions in that regard no amount of ban or no amount of a stop can stop people from actually making decisions for the hair if you put a ban they're going to find a way around it I think it's something that we need to be more intentional with our focus okay how can we use this to channel in the right direction or if we feel that this is affecting people's self-esteem then why not we come up with campaigns that continue to remind people of to choose very very intelligently their own make their own choices for what beauty means to them these are how companies come up with different campaigns if they want to sell a narrative or something yes I know that the western influence has been there over the years but I want to say like it's Uti had mentioned that people are proudly the new generation they are probably taking ownership of the choices that they are making in terms of sustainability they are the ones asking questions if you give them creams and hair textures they're asking you what's the process you know they're asking questions that normally you would not have asked people now so people are becoming more conscious of their choices and they are making it more decisively so I just believe that this is something that it's not for the government to decide for the citizens it's something that the citizens themselves will decide how they want to carry themselves what their their vision of self-image is yeah I think you absolutely spot on Noma everybody needs to define for themselves what their beauty means to them where their confidence is centered where their self-esteem I mean we expect and we hope that people have a healthy view of themselves and they know that they're beautiful in whatever skin you know skin color skin tone whatever type of hair that they have we hope that you know people believe in themselves and that these things are just done from an aesthetic perspective I want to look different I have choices I have options and just to give us some variety in our life because of course variety is the spice of life thank you ladies I've thoroughly enjoyed this conversation I mean it's given me such a boost of energy that I needed I really enjoyed having the conversation with you all so thank you Noma thank you Issy thank you to Jennifer in studio and thank you to our viewers we hope you enjoyed the conversation before we go do ensure you follow us on instagram at wayshowafrica you can interact with us further drop a comment and most importantly follow all our social media engagements remember to like share comment and invite your friends and family to watch us and follow us if you missed today's quote again here it is European standards of beauty are something that plague the entire world the idea that darker skin is not beautiful that light skin is the key to success and love Africa is certainly no exception and that's by Lepita in Yongo we look forward to seeing you again tomorrow at 8 p.m as we bring another great conversation to your screen have a good evening