News

Men Fall Back To Shaving Stick As Cost Of Haircut Increases

Published

2 years ago

October 9, 2023

Having a haircut is an important task for Nigerian men. Another is trimming the hair, which comes after a few weeks of having such a haircut.

This tradition comes with lesser prices in the 90’s, as the cost of a haircut was as low as N200.

Most men even abandon the trimming ritual and embrace the full haircut weekly or bi-weekly.

In that era, average men were also able to get an electric hair clipper to cut their hair themselves.

However, the drastic deterioration of the economy, resulting from price increases, has affected most men, making them unable to afford such lifestyle.

Economy & Lifestyle discovered that some men now cut their hair with shaving sticks, especially those carrying a clean shave.

Mr. Ahmed Olasimbo, a mechanic, said he used to cut his hair at a barber’s shop. But discovered recently that the cost of having an hair cut that normally attracts N700, before the fuel subsidy removal, suddenly jumped to N2,000,

“I used to have an haircut three times in a month, because I don’t like looking unkempt.

“I used to spend a maximum of N2,100 a month to get it done.

“When the fuel subsidy removal problem started, the barbers had to increase their service cost by over N100 per cent.

“You must have at least N2,000 to have an haircut on the mainland, where shaving attracts N1,000.

“On the Island, you are charged N10,000 to N20,000 for an haircut.

“With the way things are now, how can I spend N6,000 to N20,000 to get an haircut in a month?

“How much do I earn? That is why I resorted to using shaving stick for a clean shave.

“Sometimes, I seek the services of those who cut hair with knives for a clean shave for just N200.

“In two weeks I will have another shave.

“Life is not a do or die affair. You cut your coat according to your cloth”

For Mr. Mayowa Adeshina, a fan repairer, he bought hair clippers twice in just three months this year which got spoilt. It was then he resolved to cut his hair with a shaving stick.

“Nigeria today, you don’t look at another’s clock to work because whether rich or poor we are all feeling the sting of the poor economy.

“Just this year, I bought two clippers. They developed faults. After repairing them many times I abandoned them and decided to cut my hair in a clean shave with a clipper.

“Most of the affordable clippers are of low quality and buying them is a waste of money.

“The cost of having a haircut in Surulere here is very expensive.

“How many repairs do I do in a day? I will spend almost N10,000 monthly to cut my hair.

“I have rent to pay and a family to feed. If you look at many middle class and low class married men today who could afford money for haircut in the 90’s, they can’t anymore.

“We use the shaving stick or the services of those who cut hair with a knife for a clean shave.”

Mrs. Shindara Makinde, a teacher, who has three boys lamented how she has been spending N9,000 to have their haircut in a month.

“I have three boys. I spent nothing less than N9,000 to have their hair cut, before now.

“As of January this year, the price of their hair cut in a month is N3,000.

“I was complaining bitterly when a colleague with two boy children told me about using a shaving stick to cut their hair.

“I tried it and it worked magic. I give them clean shaves twice a month and save my N9,000 every month.

“How much do we earn that we will be spending such an amount on a haircut alone.

“I have even become my husband’s hair stylist because I shave his hair and he loves it.”

A visit to some barbershops revealed that the cost of having a haircut has increased due to the rise in cost of fuel and electricity bills.

Mr. Agbo Jeremiah, a hairstylist on the mainland in Lagos, said he spends thrice the cost of fuel he was using before to carry out his business which made him and his colleague in the business increase their services price.

“There is no business that has not increased its cost of goods and services after the removal of fuel subsidy. The cost of electricity bills has doubled.

“Apart from these, the cost of servicing generators, maintenance bills, prices of clippers and blades has increased.

“Even in my area of business, my colleagues and I have increased our service fee which has resulted in low patronage as most parents now use shaving sticks or blades to give their kids a haircut (clean shave) while some adults are also using shaving sticks or blades to cut their hair.

“Kids aged 1- 15 haircut goes for N1,500 to N2,000. While the cost of hair cut for adults depending on the quantity of hair to cut goes for N2,000 and above.

“Most of the young men allow their hair to grow out before having a haircut once a month or twice in two to three months.

“Only the few, who are well to do, can spare such an amount to have a haircut twice in a month.”
VANGUARD

News

PHOTOS: Esama Of Benin Commissions BRC Ultramodern Lounge, Promises A Phase Lift

Published

4 minutes ago

June 29, 2025

Editor

The Esama of Benin Kingdom, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, has promised to give a phase lift to the Benin Recreation Club (BRC) in the next 12 months.

Chief Igbinedion made the promise in Benin on Saturday when he officially visited the BRC to commission a newly remodeled ultramodern ‘Chief Go.O. Igbinedion Bustop Lounge.’

The Esama, who expressed dissatisfaction on how he met the ancient recreation club, said: “This place needs a drastic improvement. I would, therefore, like the committee to see me, and I promise 12 months from now, this place will wear a new look.”

Chief Igbinedion, however, thanked current and past executives of the club for a job well done, and for sustaining the BRC, saying “many organisations or associations as this have gone into extinction but you have put in your best to keep this going.”

The octogenarian, who thanked the leadership and the board of trustees for the honour done on him through the naming of a lounge, also vowed not to neglect the leadership especially knowing well that he has been a founding member of the BRC.

In his remarks, Special Guest of Honour and Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Daniel Okungbowa, while describing the BRC as the best place to relax after a stressful day, urged members of the public who are yet to join the BRC to do so.

Earlier in his welcome speech, president of the BRC, Courage Osamuyi said the lounge was named after Chief Igbinedion in recognition of his great support for the club and his contribution to humanity.

Justice Daniel Okungbowa, Chief Judge of Edo State

The BRC president, who declared that the presence of the Esama in the BRC signifies a new dawn, said “what we are having today is just the beginning. As he has stepped into this place, greater things will start to happen.”

Osamuyi, while noting that the Esama “has been a founding member of the club over the years,” thanked Chief Igbinedion for his good work and for honouring them with his presence.

Osamuyi Courage, President of The BRC

News

Peter Obi Condemns Tinubu’s Saint Lucia Trip

Published

3 hours ago

June 28, 2025

Editor

Labour Party leader and former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s planned trip to Saint Lucia, describing it as poorly timed and lacking in sensitivity, especially amid Nigeria’s deepening economic and security challenges.

Tinubu is expected to leave Nigeria on Saturday for Saint Lucia and is also scheduled to attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Brazil.

In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Obi expressed dismay over the president’s travel, questioning the state of governance in the country.

Obi argued that Tinubu’s trip highlights a pattern of misplaced priorities by the administration, particularly at a time when citizens are grappling with widespread hunger and insecurity.

“What I have seen and witnessed in the last two years has left me in shock about poor governance delivery and apparent channelling of energy into politics and satisfaction of the elites, while the masses in our midst are languishing in want,” Obi stated.

He lamented the toll of rising insecurity across Nigeria, pointing out the country’s deteriorating safety situation.

“In the past two years, Nigeria has lost more people to all sorts of criminality than a country that is officially at war.

“Without any twilight, Nigeria ranks among the most insecure places in the world. Nigerians are hungrier, and most people do not know where their next meal will come from,” he wrote.

Obi said he was stunned when he learned of the President’s travel plans, especially following what he described as a recent holiday in Lagos.

“With such a gory picture of one’s country, you can imagine my bewilderment when I saw a news release from the Presidency announcing that President Bola Tinubu is departing Nigeria today for a visit to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean,” he said.

Quoting Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister, Philip J. Pierre, Obi noted that the visit comprises both official and personal segments.

“According to the Prime Minister’s announcement, ‘two of these days, June 30 and July 1, will be dedicated to an official visit, with the remainder of the trip set aside as a personal vacation,” he said.

Obi noted that he initially found the report hard to believe.

“I told the person who drew my attention to the Caribbean story that it cannot be true and that the President is just coming back from a holiday in Lagos.

“I didn’t want to believe that anybody in the position of authority, more so the President… would contemplate a leisure trip at this time,” Obi said.

He condemned Tinubu’s failure to visit disaster-stricken areas like Minna in Niger State, where over 200 people reportedly died and hundreds remain missing due to flooding.

“This is a President going for leisure when he couldn’t visit Minna, Niger State where over two hundred lives were lost and over 700 persons still missing in a flood natural disaster,” he said.

Obi also took issue with Tinubu’s recent trip to Benue State, claiming it was politically motivated rather than compassionate.

“The other state in crisis where over two hundred lives were murdered, the President yielded to public pressure and visited Makurdi… for what turned out to be a political jamboree than condolence as public holiday was declared and children made to line up to receive the President who couldn’t even reach the village, the scene of the brutal attack,” he said.

Drawing comparisons between Nigeria and Saint Lucia, Obi questioned the logic of prioritising a visit to the Caribbean nation over addressing pressing domestic issues.

“Makurdi is 937.4 Km², which is over 59% bigger than St Lucia, which is 617 km², and Minna is 6789 square kilometres, which is ten times bigger than St Lucia. St Lucia, with a population of 180,000, is less than half of Makurdi’s 489,839 and Minna, with 532,000 is almost three times the population of St Lucia,” the former Anambra governor said.

He concluded his post by stressing the urgent need for leadership that is grounded in empathy and focused on addressing the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.

He said, “I don’t think the situation in this country today calls for leisure for anybody in a position of authority, more so the President, on whose desk the buck stops.

“This regime has repeatedly shown its insensitivity and lack of passion for the populace…”

Obi added, “This very obvious indifference of the federal government to the suffering of the Nigerian poor should urgently be reversed.

“One had expected the President to be asking God for extra hours in a day for the challenges, but what we see is a concentration of efforts in the 2027 election and on satisfying the wealthy while the mass poor continues to multiply in number.”

News

World Bank Lists Nigeria Among 39 Nations Facing Rising Poverty, Hunger

Published

3 hours ago

June 28, 2025

Editor

The World Bank has listed Nigeria among 39 countries where poverty and hunger are deepening as a result of conflict and instability.

In a report released on Friday, the bank said the economies, a mix of low- and middle-income countries, span all global regions. Among them are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe.

The report, which assesses the economic impact of conflict and fragility in the post-COVID-19 era, revealed that 21 of the 39 countries are experiencing active conflict.

According to the findings, extreme poverty is rising more rapidly in these countries, taking a severe toll on economic development, worsening hunger, and derailing progress toward key development goals.

Since 2020, the report noted, the average per capita GDP of these economies has declined by 1.8 per cent annually, in contrast to a 2.9 per cent growth rate recorded in other developing countries.

The report partly reads: “This year, 421 million people are struggling on less than $3 a day in economies afflicted by conflict or instability—more than in the rest of the world combined.

“That number is projected to rise to 435 million, or nearly 60% of the world’s extreme poor, by 2030.”