The journey of a nascent entrepreneur continues...

So... I haven't updated you on my entrepreneurial journey so far, it has been full of ups and down  but all is well that ends well says the good book..

I can say for a fact that I have learned patience, resilience, determination and persistence in my one year of running this  bussiness. To other youths like me thinking of starting a bussiness just take the first bold step and put your all in it, be determined. Ps don't even consider quitting or giving up because I won't lie to you, it's going be tough but it will be worth it. I am not there yet but surely I will get there. I started with empty shelves 

But look where we at today

We are growing and expanding Everytime. I believe everyone who set his/her mind on a thing can achieve it no matter the circumstances... 

Dark-skinned; "To be or not to be"

Among the many fads in Nigeria today is the desire for instant transformation from "black" or "dark skinned" to "fair" or "light skinned" or yellow pawpaw as we say in pidgin happening and is alarming.

More than 70% of the female and about 50 % of male population are caught up in the "bleaching fad” and now we’re gradually all becoming whites.

 Nobody wants to be black; nobody wants to be dark skinned and everyone wants to get noticed and what better way than to 'bleach’ your skin yellow. Infact we call the dark skinned amongst us ("the blacks" as we are called by the rest of the world) blacky, tinted, Dudu Osun and other names because of their blackness. Everyone wants to be noticed and I can't blame anyone entirely.

 As El-Nathan a popular satirist says in his tweets, the term black beauty is not a positive term; it's negative because they don't expect you to be pretty so when you are, they marvel. So if a dark person manages to be pretty, she gets singled out for praise after all she’s too good to be true.

This fad was brought about by deep rooted issues such as discrimination, the preferential treatment and attention the lighted skinned individuals get and in some cases self-loathing. The white man's perception has long brainwashed us into thinking "white" is superior, finer & chic and we have embraced that thought so much so that we are willing to damage our skins with bleaching or toning creams and soaps as some of us like to call it.

 So, yes we can be self-righteous and insult those who bleach especially ladies but we all reinforce the stereotype that fair is better. This open endorsement is visible in the media, runway, classrooms, streets and offices. Even in schools, teachers hardly flog yellow kids because they hold them in high esteem and don’t want to scar their “precious skin” but for us blackies, we are flogged without a second thought cos e no go even show for our body.

In musical videos dark girls are either back up dancers or good for the booty shots while the light girls are the trophy and likewise in offices and organizations.

So suffice to say that those who bleach are victims of a racist, colorist society and world, where white is more appreciated and admired. Not everyone can own their skin and be proud of it, say fuck it and not move with the trend. I know a lot of girls who held their own for a while but now they have all joined the band wagon of yellow sisis. The society ends up cracking some of us and we join the trend to blend. As my sister will say "don't you know light skinned people are finer or once you bleach you become finer than before"?! So for many women bleaching is a survival tactic, society hates their blackness (except they win an Oscar) and so they blend in by self-mutilation. Truth be told once you arrive this earth a dark person there are available remedies already to fix you, yet there is none for to darken people except those who tan. When the creams, soaps and injections to cure you from your blackness fail, you are advised to marry a fair person to help your generation. As far memory can serve me, being black has always being viewed as an epidemic that must be cured. 

 In my shop and hundreds others in the country, 70% of the soaps and creams are "skin lightening" "super whitening" etc and these products fly off the shelf, no sooner than its stocked.

 Darkskin shaming in a country like Nigeria is on the increase and the men, media and ladies are all team "light skinned" Infact you get more toasters, friends and compliments when you are a yellow sisi. The men will claim they love dark skinned girls but will notice and be interested in one fair girl before the notice the 5 dark skinned girls that have been in front of them the whole time. 

 The subtle and overt discrimination blackies receive in our society is hurtful because to the rest of the world we are all blacks and yet we discriminate against those darker than us, while admiring and worshiping light skinned people.  Some people come into my shop and say for a beauty regiment person I should be more yellow and I have to go I am ok the way I am, that's not to say I don't indulge in toning soaps and creams once in a while to maintain my color though,lol.

We have to be confident in our looks, appreciate, embrace and love it. It's hard despite all sorts of hype over the colour "yellow" trending now but we need to try because if we continue at this rate, there won't be a single dark skinned person left in Nigeria again.

Embrace your blackness, uniqueness and flaunt it don't let nobody tell you otherwise.

THE REALITY OF NIGERIAN ELECTIONS....

Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s ushered us into the era of cable satellite, which opened a world of possibilities for people of my generation who were hitherto surfed between local channels and video cassettes.

We were introduced to America in a new way, here was this country where meritocracy seemed to be rewarded and by the time we were full grown pimpled teenagers we met William Jefferson Clinton a.k.a Bill Clinton. He brought the theater of American politics which to us, seemed hallow, sacred and pure. The brains and words mattered, people were asking pertinent questions, words like deficit, government shutdown and impeachment filtered into our vocabulary and by 1995, Tony Blair had come in and we were all there to watch it all.

Yet back home we were living under a dictatorship and it was no illusion that our nation was failing, that nothing seemed to matter, our senses were attuned for better and that better was not home.. Our erstwhile head of state read speeches that were caricatured and our political parties of the time were “Leprous”. Enter democracy, we dared dream, a dream which since been dashed against the rocks of religion, tribalism, nepotism and any other “ism” that tears us apart. As I write this, I am all too aware that half of my state (Adamawa), Borno and Yobe are under siege and elections are in less than a month’s time and I am none the wiser whom to vote for. Every conversation about nationhood in my generation was shaped by an ideal and belief that every routine aspect of us mattered, yet that belief daily gives way to the reality of our negativity as it began to etch through our belief, which was erroneously based on fundamentals different from our country’s. Fairness and truth was more by the union jack and star spangled banner than our dear green and white. This was the reality for most middle class children and others.

2015 and 7 years after Obama made us the 'we could, wherever we were', speech.And I am asking can we? Can we speak about the shrinking economy to the populace? Can we the electorate grasp the reality of the drop in oil prices? Does anyone care about the North-East and it's tendency to experience unprecedented levels of human disasters? These I expect should be the issues that will dominate the topic of discussions in the forth coming elections, alas NO!!!

The discussion for our nationhood is going to be dominated by religion, tribalism and any other thing that will divide us further, which has since brought our nation to its knees and belly. The reality of Nigerian politics is that the conversation between the enlightened and rural populace, are two different things, while the elites deal with the ideals, the rural populace deal with the reality of living in nation with non-existent infrastructure, failing public health system and other failures of the state. The elites seek ways to be like their contemporaries abroad, the rural populace know only the hands they've been dealt. Rarely do the elites vote either through apathy or cynicism, the rural populace make up the votes and decide the fate of every election or that is why the message they hear is always about fear mongering and what they stand to lose and gain in accordance with their creed and race (tribe within this context). When Fayose championed the cause of “Stomach Infrastructure” during his re-election bid, it was a massive rejection the conversation we should have as a country, it was rejection of development. The erstwhile Governor Fayemi had developed the state’s infrastructure and education along the lines of teacher and content development but this mattered little, all that seemed to matter was that they didn't get what was due them in form of food and cash gifts. This desire to please the populace at all cost, to offer them a bounty, is one of the reasons Nigerian elections have become expensive. In the distribution and allocation of resources Nigeria has always race, tribe and creed, a pseudo-ethnic balancing, captured aptly in the Federal Character Commission; add this to the need to reject competence for “one of our own” indices and what you have is the recipe for the Nigerian elections. Governor Fayemi put it better when he said “Intellect is not supposed to be popular in our country right now. If you are an intellectual, you are an elite and an elite is what should be thrown into the dustbin, not to be associated with”. We must also understand that the Nigerian elite is distinguishable from the Nigerian politician, who can also be an elite in identity, that though educated and enlightened, it counts for little to be able to speak and articulate a position well, he must be able to speak the language of the rural populace and his uncompromising stand in speaking that language has continued to cost us as a nation. I must state as a caveat that leadership is not a product of enlightenment but it counts for the development of institutions and structures of national development.

The reality of Nigerian elections is that the people who matter don’t know what matters and this indictment is for us all. Because while we claim to know vote, we haven’t learnt to speak with a voice that doesn't exclude others and while those we think don’t know, know that with their vote, they will continue to exclude those who though deserve office, will continuously linger in the wilderness of seeking. A further damning consequence of the structure of our nation is that the center is far away from the people and with its mirage of glaring wealth, the rural populace feel entitled to whatever they can get during the election period. The Nigerian electorate must learn not to live in fear of being destroyed by the fears expressed by the Nigerian politician, that in a democracy, power is given in custody and can be taken away because we decide who gets into power. That there is no distinguishing between the rural populace and the elites in voting for a better Nigeria because Nigeria belongs to us all and this is what I THINK!!!!!

Article by Nasom Ngaro

Happy new year

I cant believe i ignored you for this long. I have been caught up between bussiness, work and all. 2015 is just getting started and my plate is already full but that's the way i like. The fuller the better, no time for gossip. oh well, when its on the blog then its allowed. lool I want to wish you a great 2015 filled with all the good things you're heart desires. I cant say how happy i am that we all crossed over especially those of us in the north east with the Boko Haram saga and the whole politically activities going on. We have lost lives, properties and peace since all this started, but i am positive this year will be better and safer and much more peaceful. Be safe, vote wisely and use protection. God bless you all and welcome to 2015, it will be a great year for us all.