BY BENSON OKOBI-ALLANAH
ALTHOUGH people involved in self-service barbing also include customers who pay for haircut services, barbers who provide them, and business owners who manage barber shops, often taking on roles as preferred barbers themselves to meet the growing demands for grooming services to maintain their desired appearance, most men and women in Lagos, especially those that fall into the low-and medium income grade of civil service, artisan and others who live below poverty line struggling to meet up with the harsh economic challenges, engage in what is better described as ‘Do it Yourself’ type of barbing services.
It is when a man or woman, girl or boy, picks up shelving sticks, razor blades or clippers to engage in barbing themselves without employing the services of professional barber s, this self-barbing is given its actual or real meaning.
A recent trip to Lagos reveals more of a people who for some reasons, resorted to self-barbing without engaging the services of professional barbers most of whom say patronage of their services are at low ebb, not as bubbling as it used to.
‘I would have said it is at its lowest ebb but for some of us, who still retain our customers despite the near mass drift from engaging our services,’ Obiazi Daniel, an Oworosoki based barber from Agbor told Friday Treat in Lagos. ‘Thank God many of my customers still commend me on my services, appreciating the fact that I know my job. My colleagues and friends in this barbing business have been complaining of low patronage as some have lost their customers to this self-barbing. The market for us is readily available; people barb much now than before. But the question now remains how many of such customers patronize us. My friend and colleague at Ikpodo area of Ikeja, told me just recently that a good number of his customers have left him reason being that they have resorted to barbing themselves instead of coming to us. They complain that the cost of barbing has sky-rocked without recourse to barbing equipment and other materials we buy to maintain clean shelve that cost us a lot now, the hairdressing business is suffering as Nigerians cut down on hair.’
Chimaobim Azuka, a Deltan Lagosian who manages Cute Trim Salon, Okokomaiko, Lagos, and from Umunede in Ika North East local government area of Delta State, told Friday Treat that people are turning to self-barbing of hair in Lagos due to rising cost, which makes salon visits a luxury, and the increasing trend of short hairstyles and ‘skin cuts’. He says the affordability of barbing equipment, and the desire for convenience and control over one’s look are also significant drivers for individuals to cut their own hair, attributing the runaway from them professional barbers to rising cost of prices of hair products, salon services and other beauty treatments which all have significantly increased, making professional haircuts increasingly expensive and unaffordable.
Chioma Njugbuaju, from Nkwelle-Ezulaka in Oyi local government area of Anambra State, said since going to salons to have one’s hair dressed has become a no-go area for the low-income earners, she decided to buy a clipper she now uses to barb her hair.
‘I used to go to salons to have my hair dressed with prices that were then affordable. Since prices for different hair dos have all shoot-up, and cannot be afforded despite your haggling skill, I decided to go for my personal clipper which now I used to barb my hair and my siblings hair. Cost of going to salon to dress one’s hair in Lagos is becoming too expensive hence many people are resorting to personal services.
According to her, as soon as she realized she could no longer afford the expensive prices attached to dressing one’s hair, she decided to start backsliding in her patronage. ‘Today, a handful of my friends, both boys and girls, have started imitating me. Some of the boys go as far as buying just razor blade of N100 to barb their hair un-assisted may be just placing a mirror in their front and save some good amount of money they would have spent at the salon. The least of money some barbers take now in some places I have visited is N5, 000. Some barbers take twice that amount, and you see those who have the means going there almost two times a week just to keep their hair clean. For me, I cannot afford that, and fall back on my clipper anytime I am to barb my hair and that of my siblings.’
Bimbo Adekola from Ikole-Ekiti in Ekiti State, whose salon, Best Care Salon, lies next to Royal Serves Limited, says it is only in shelving hair with clippers and razor blades or shelving sticks people can resort to self-barbing service, says it will be difficult for those who wear expensive hair to do that because they will not get the desired result. ‘My customers are all intact; and I’m still getting more. Some of your mom’s customers, good number of female lecturers from LASU, have been introduced to me by your mom. It is here they come to dress their hair whenever they wish to, after eating in your mom’s restaurant. So, I’m not among those suffering from low patronage even if I do hear some of my professional colleagues explain of that.’ She told Friday Treat in a chat.
