Owning a Blackberry has become more or less a passbook to a new club of the trendy; while synthetic hair has taken a firm grip of the ladies world in Nigeria.
It’s no news that ladies could go a long way to acquire the latest trend in fashion, no matter how expensive, just to be attributed with class and appeal.
Speaking of trends and class, how can you forget the campus scene which is and has been a haven for fashion conscious minds. You could bet your life to discover new trends (horror flicks or intriguing) on campuses.
Each trend that sets in has an added sense of style and appeal it gives to the wearer.
This brings me to the latest trend that has been governing the campuses; ‘ Synthetic hairs (Brazilian, Peruvian, Malaysian, Indian hair etc.) and the Blackberry Smart-phone.
The buzz created by these two fashionable accessories has been unquenchable. These days, our ladies have become synonymous with two things; a PIN or an expensive synthetic hair or both.
The other day, I was taking pictures with a 8 mega-pixel camera phone (Nokia); a lady beside me who uses a Blackberry said; ”keep that phone, it’s not a blackberry ”. I just shook my head because it sounded funny, but then again I said to myself that there might just be something about the Canadian Smart-phone that has activated the blind spot of these ladies over every other Smart-phone.
Earlier this year there was an incident where a student of Benson Idahosa University, Benin, claimed that her Synthetic hair (Brazilian) which cost about N 75 000 was stolen from her room and after asking around with no positive results of getting back her weave, she resorted to diabolical means. You may ask, just for common hair ? No! Not just hair o, but “a Brazilian hair”.
But wait a minute, have our ladies ever wondered where some of these hairs come from? According to a research, some of these hairs which our ladies clamour for are from faraway Chennai in India. They are originally on Indian heads before being processed, washed, debugged and deloused. Once processed, they are then exported for use by ladies in other parts of the world including Nigeria.
Some are obtained from devotional Hindu ceremonies in which the faithful get rid of their hair as a sign of gratitude upon divine fulfillment of a wish (O_O). While others are obtained from an array of different synthetic fibers.
By the way, if you didn’t know, these processed hairs cost as much as N 30,000 to N150, 000 ( about $150- over $700) based on different grades and quality; while, the Blackberry smart-phones cost about N 25 000 to N 350 000 ( about $150- over $2 000). Well, for a third world nation where about 70 per cent of its total population lives below poverty line (roughly N 200 per day), it may not seem far-fetched to question its effects on social vices. ![]()
What statement do these accessories make? Or is it now a pass code for a new club?
Student’s of Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), Lagos, had this to say;
“I have both Brazilian hair and a BB; You wouldn’t expect me to be dwelling in the past when the world has moved on…It’s like creating a Hi5 account in this era”, said Kofo.
I“You wouldn’t want all the high class girls getting all the guys neither would you like to be looking cheap before a guy. You know guys appreciate expensive girls”, said Terry.
Some however said that they used their BB as a means of easy communication with friends and family as well as business activities. As for synthetic hair, they said that its durability was a huge convincing factor behind their purchase.
The guys also had their say;
“If my girl wants any of the mentioned accessories, I would get it for her if the money is there”, said Jide.
“Will the hair last forever, or does it come with long lasting air freshener???…Me I go just leave that kain girl wey no wan respect my pocket”, Nedu said.
“If she wants blackberry, pinkberry, Lebanese hair, Brazilian hair, American hair, even Cotonou hair, I will get it for her, but it’s a trade by barter. She willing gives and I willing buy”, said Sodiq.
While most ladies are still aspiring to get in the club, I discovered that most of the existing users (Blackberry) barely know much about its functions; and as for synthetic hair, its just a thing of social status.
However, there’s just one thing that is constant in life, which is CHANGE.
Before Isaac was Jacob; before Blackberry, was Nokia, and before
these synthetic hairs, our mothers looked pretty on their natural
hair, even with rubber threads ![]()
. What next?
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