THE STRUGGLE; NATURAL HAIR WAHALA

   You know the natural hair spirit that is possessing black women nowadays? The whole ‘big chop’, ‘all natural’, ‘bantu knots’, ‘twist outs’ blablabla that everybody is talking about nah. Yeah. That spirit! My sister, I’ve got news for you; it’s a trick of the evil forces. It’s their own little way of deceiving us ladies into embarking on a journey of torture, pain, discomfort, irritation, regret and longing. You know presidential election is around the corner and everybody is talking about GEJ and Buhari, right? By the way, my roommates and I have even resolved to vote for Chris Okotie in this year’s election, whether he’s running or not. But I digress. People talk more about natural hair than they talk about the election now. Uh huh. You read that right. All the ballers are taking the big chop like a religion and rocking their God-given hair; being AFRICAN and PROUD!

   However, Omo, the evil forces are smart alecks o. They know that when we spend all our money buying hair oils and detanglers and all that hair stuff, we’d have nothing left to feed on. That’s how somebody will nah stop eating and have stomach ulcer. TUFIAKWA! Some of us think having African natural hair is a cool way of looking different and embracing our innate blackness. Well done! Is having a dark complexion not good enough for us? Do we have to go through all this torture? Hia!

And the natural hair bloggers… Oh! Don’t let me start with them. They go looking all beautiful and chicky on those blogs and YouTube videos (which sap data like no man’s business, by the way). Did I mention that most of them don’t stay in Nigeria? So, they probably get these things cheaper and don’t have to spend a whole 200 Naira to go to one mall or one big supermarket to get these hair stuffs they’re always blogging about. PROBABLY. You read their blogs and they plant the seed of hope in your heart. You then think…   ‘Maybe I can get there someday, ‘Maybe I would look like that if I had the right mix of oils and just more creams or just wash it that way I saw it on YouTube’… just maybe my hair would look like that. Fabu!  Or not sha. Your prayers probably would be answered and all your hard work would pay off.

I’m taking a deep sigh right now… All that being said, I’ll have you know that I’m a natural with beautiful African hair, all curly but still short though! It’s a constant struggle to comb the thing out when I loosen my twists. It takes real bravery to be a natural, my dear. With this outburst of mine, if you’re still convinced you’ll still be a naturalista, nothing can shake you. Go for it! You’ll become a celebrity in the twinkle of an eye. Every girl that knows what’s up (and some guys too) will walk up to you and gush… OMG! Is that your natural hair? I love your hair… blab la. However, if my rant scared you away from taking the leap, omo no try am o; you’d just get frustrated. Also, if you’re one of those relaxer, weave and/or attachment ladies, as far as you bought it, you own it, biko. Don’t let naturals make you feel any less. Be proud to be an African woman… with or without kinky hair. Obrigada. 

NUT