Has Natural Hair in Nigeria gone from Trendy to Staple?

The natural hair culture in Nigeria has made strides in leaps and bounds in the past six years. The development in this aspect is quite mindblowing considering the fact that in just six years, a lot has happened.

Before then

• Natural hair was mainly worn by ladies of some religious sect
• There were no known salons that catered specifically to natural hair
• There were no known communities/meetups that were educating women about how to wear their hair naturally
• You could count natural hair blogs on one palm, and still have fingers left to feed
• There was zero scientific knowledge about hair in Nigeria, and no known trichologists
• There was no Nigerian brand manufacturing hair products specifically for natural hair
• And so on, and so forth

From the above, we can see how far we have come in the natural hair world in Nigeria. There was a time when people argued that the whole natural hair movement was a fad – another fashion trend that would soon die out when women got tired of it, an opinion which I have never agreed with. This is because I felt something I had never felt before when I started growing my hair out naturally. It was a kind of freedom I couldn’t explain, and I knew nothing in the world would ever let me go of it.

With all the knowledge and enlightenment out there, it seems natural hair is no longer a trend. It has become normal for a lot of Nigerian women to have natural hair. Countless women have natural hair under their weaves and wigs. I personally believe the relaxer industry has taken a major downward hit in the country but due to lack of data that is our bane in this country, we cannot adequately analyse this opinion.

The natural hair growth in Nigeria has been supported by strong communities springing up everywhere, especially online. No one can cry “lack of information” again if they are facing difficulties maintaining their hair.

These points above, and more is why I believe natural is fast swinging from the trendy see to the staple saw. Consider the following points

• There are now several hair meetups that people no longer see as a big deal if they miss
• We no longer do a double take when we see another natural hair sister at the shopping mall
• There are several natural hair salons everywhere, and most of them are filled up 75% of the time
• There is healthy competition among Nigerian natural hair brands, and their market is still growing
• Foreign natural hair brands are flooding the Nigerian market every day, and are even opening natural hair styling schools.
• People now wear their natural hair to work more than before because even the bosses that were complaining have gone natural.
• Mothers are no longer relaxing their female toddler’s hair, unlike before, because of better enlightenment
• Many Nigerian celebritues now gracefully wear their natural hair on the red carpet, and no longer hide under weaves
• And so on, and so forth

From the above points, it takes only a simple eye to see that thing has come to stay, and is not going anywhere soon, if ever.

What do you think? Do you think natural hair is still a trend in Nigeria, or otherwise?