Indigenous barbers exhibit dangerous practices which portend more harm than good to the health of their customers, writes GBENGA ADENIJI
seated on a long, wooden bench, he hummed a song and firmly held the head of an elderly male customer, who sat facing him on the same bench. With practised dexterity, he applied an antiseptic soap drenched in water on the man’s head after which he started to meticulously cut the hair. Intermittently, he used his left palm to wipe the wet strands of hair from the surface of the glittering knife he was using.
When he was sure he had finished cutting the hair, he brought out a used leather belt, cleaned the surface of the tool on the inner coating of the belt and returned his tools into a dirty, brown-coloured pouch. His tools were a shinning stone, a packet of blades and a flexible small knife.
Forty-two-year-old Ahmed Jali has done this for many years. With the customer expressing satisfaction after the haircut, the slim barber beamed with smiles and offered thanks as he received his N100 fee.
This is a typical working day of a wanzomi, who is known as a local barber in Hausa, otherwise called farifari in Yoruba. They are indigenous barbers who cut their customers hair by the roadside.
Jali, who stretched his legs in readiness for another customer as our correspondent spoke to him, said it is obligatory for him to sit on the same bench with his customer in order to have full concentration unlike modern barbers who stand throughout while working with electronic clippers.
Apart from the wanzomis, there are also some local manicurists who move from one place to the other with sharp objects to clean and cut their customers’ nails for a fee.
Barbers gain, customers groan
Mumbling poor Pidgin English, Jali told SUNDAY PUNCH that culture plays a key role in his services compared to that of his counterparts who use modern equipment to cut their customers’ hair.
Jali said he learnt the job from his father several years ago when he was in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. “When I came to Lagos 15 years ago, I decided to start the trade and it has been helping me to take care of my needs. I have several customers ranging from Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba to Togolese,” he said.
He noted that apart from shaving beards and cutting hair, he also treats beriberi and ankle sprain.
Asked why he cleaned the knife with a belt after use, he explained that he did so to rid the tool of any infection from the previous customer that could transmit to the next one. When told such method may not prevent infection of any kind, he said, “It does. I have been doing this for many years and none of my customers has complained of any infection after I cut their hair.”
Jali’s clients may not complain of any infection but Shafi Adubi, who said he started using the local barbers over 10 years ago, has a different story. He stated that he always noticed tiny lumps on his jaw each time he cut his hair.
Adubi said, “I was scared that I could have contracted a disease from the local barber when I noticed that the lumps refused to go. I applied some ointment my friend gave me and I was healed some weeks later.”
That experience did not stop him from patronising them as he said he enjoys using the local barbers because they are specialists in scrapping hair entirely from their customers’ heads and not for the meagre amount they charge.
“If one considers the amount they charge to cut hair, it is just N100 less than the fee of some of the modern barbers. I experience pain on my scalp whenever the modern-day barbers cut my hair. The pain could last for two weeks. When I could not bear it again, I started using the local barbers. Except for the fear that I sometimes nurse regarding the way they handle their tools, I like the way my hair is cut,” he explained.
Like Adubi, Olaoluwa Aduro is another customer of the indigenous barbers. He also had an unpleasant experience using them.
He told our correspondent that he noticed some time ago that part of his cheeks got swollen, adding that it took some months before he was healed.
Aduro, who works as a welder, stated, “I used to experience the same situation every time I have a haircut. It got to a point that I decided to allow my hair to grow more what I usually like before cutting it in order to allow the swollen part to heal.”
He noted that he likes using the barbers to cut his hair because he is not swayed by the contemporary tools which modern-day barbers use.
The dark-skinned Aduro added, “In the past, when a child is born, his or her first hair cut is done with a razor. But the influences of culture are eroding that. I have three of the barbers that I use and I only use the razor tool and not the knife which is common and dangerous.”
Shehu Usman is also a local barber who hails from Kano State. In his late 30s, he disclosed that he uses two types of tools to cut his customers’ hair. The first is a razor-encased tool while the other one is an adjustable small knife.
He stated, “We resume by 6am and close 6pm. This is for some of us who have a permanent place. At times, I make N1,000 or N2,000 daily depending on the patronage. When a customer comes here, he will choose between the blade and knife. We charge N150 for the razor tool and N100 for the knife tool.”
Our correspondent learnt that it is common practice among the local barbers to wipe the used surface of the knives on the inner layer of a used leather belt after use just like Jali did after cutting his client’s hair. They also dab a cotton wool onto methylated spirits to clean the knives and the heads of their customers after cutting their hair.
Close shave
Gbenga Adeniji
“In the case of the razor tool, we change the blade when another customer comes; we only use the inside part of a leather belt that is no longer useable to clean the flexible knife after using it,” he stated.
Usman also insisted that the belt removes any infection from the knife after use without being able to give any satisfactory explanation on how it does.
He said, “The leather belt is very good. We run the surface of the knife on the belt for some minutes as if we are sharpening it. During that process, it clears off whatever dirt it picks while cutting the hair or the infection from earlier use. Once we clean the knife on the leather belt, we can use it for another customer. It is not a special leather belt. We can use any belt once it is made of leather, there will be no problem.”
He further stated that they also cut the hair in their customers’ nostrils and ears with some pointed tools, which he said, require deftness to operate.
SUNDAY PUNCH that gathered those who patronise the local barbers range from the elderly, the educated to the young.
Another local barber, Bala Mohammed, who said he learnt the trade from his father, while growing up in the North, added that his customers often applaud him after cutting their hair.
According to him, he handles the tools with amazing matchless skills and that he cannot remember the day he mistakenly inflicted any cut on any of his clients.
“Since I came to Lagos, this is the job I have been doing. I dedicate my time to it because it is my source of livelihood. Sometimes, I can be called to cut the hair of people in a large household. Such a task cannot make me tired. If anything, I will be very happy. My father had a large place in my hometown in Sokoto State where many people came to learn how to cut hair,” said Mohammed as he showed our correspondent his barber identity card.
He further stated that his colleagues work in Agege, Ebute-Meta, Lagos Island and Oyingbo including other areas in Lagos State.
For Michael Akpan and Kale Ayoba, who refused entreaties to take their photographs, their love for the local barbers started when they were young. Akpan said he got to know about the local barbers as a school boy in his hometown in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
Akpan, who sells second hand clothes in Yaba area of Lagos State, said he cuts his hair every two weeks. The chubby Akpan stated, “It is not about the money that they charge. They are very meticulous when cutting hair. They give attention to their clients and ensure they give them value for their money. I am not saying the modern barbers do not do the same but when the local barbers cut hair or shave a person’s beard, the neatness is matchless.”
Akpan also refused to comment on the unsafe state of the tools used by the indigenous barbers, insisting that life is all about taking risks. He said, “Life itself is a risk, why should I be afraid of using the local barbers? If one is to consider the tools used by all barbers, I am not sure anybody will have a haircut. Both the local barbers and modern ones can infect their customers. “What is important is that one should be careful when having a haircut in order not to allow blood contact in whatever form.”
Ayoba, who is an indigene of Oyo State, also shared same position with Akpan. He told SUNDAY PUNCH that he used to accompany his father to have a haircut in the house of a local barber close to their abode when he was young. He added that his interest in the barbers grew when he noticed the way his father’s head shone after getting a clean cut.
Ayoba, who is a clerk in a private school in Ogolonto area in Ikorodu, Lagos, stated, “I prefer the knife tool to the razor one. It is one of their best tools because after cutting one’s hair, they can smartly use the pointed edge to remove the hair in one’s nostrils and ears. There was a time one of the barbers was cutting the hair in my left nose and the thin, sharp object he was using touched the skin in it, I was very afraid but the way he trimmed it surprised me. I think they are professionals in what they do.”
One man’s barber, another man’s nightmare
Garba Shehu is from Kebbi State. He disclosed that he stopped patronising the local barbers many years ago when he came to Lagos. He told SUNDAY PUNCH that modern trends forced him to change his barbers.
“I do not use local barbers any longer. Why should I anyway? The risky way they handle sharp objects when they cut hair scares me. I do not even allow the modern barbers I patronise for my haircut to use any clipper except mine. I like anything that can keep my mind at rest and will not be comfortable risking my life by allowing my hair to be cut with a razor or knife,” he said.
Shehu, who works in one of the parallel foreign exchange markets in Lagos, added that he often sees many of his colleagues getting a haircut from the local barbers. “I am sure that there are some people who contracted one disease or the other using the local barbers but they have not been able to trace the disease to it. You know the way people reason, even when they are aware something they indulge in is affecting them, they will not want to link that predicament to that thing,” Shehu added.
Femi Oladimeji is similar to Shehu in his preference for modern barbers. According to him, he hears many cases of infections and will not compromise his health for anything. Saying that he has never patronised the local barbers, Oladimeji added that he cannot go to them to have a haircut because of his belief that they are untidy.
He said, “I have heard cases where some persons have bumps on the back of their heads after getting a haircut. Many of these individuals patronise modern barbers who use classy tools. What will now be the fate of someone who patronises barbers with obsolete tools? I wish they know the dangers inherent in using sharp objects on the skin.”
What the experts say
Speaking on the practices, an infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Joseph Onigbinde, described the sterilising of knives with leather belts as a dangerous practice.
He added that rather than removing any infection from the tools, the users would only be adding more.
Onigbinde said, “What they are doing will only be causing more infection. Every surface they touch on the knives will be contaminated. Through such method, every viral disease can be contracted such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C. They cannot kill blood pathogens that way. There are many medical ways to sterilise tools but the best is heat sterilisation using autoclave machines. There are few viruses that can survive under such sterilising method. By this method, tools are washed and placed in the machines to attain the required level of temperature under which the virus cannot survive.”
According to him, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus cannot survive 56 degree temperature and that for the hepatitis viruses; one will need to have a higher temperature for the viruses not to survive.
Onigbinde, who is a member of Infectious Disease Society of America, also explained that methylated spirits is a kind of disinfectant which cannot tackle some organisms.
He added, “It is a lie when some people believe that they can remove infection from a tool used for cutting hair through methylated spirits. It is an evil practice.”
Besides, a consultant medical microbiologist and infectious diseases physician at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Dr. Fadeyi Abayomi, said there are proper ways of sterilising and disinfecting items.
According to him, a lay man should know that there is no way one can sterlise tools using a belt.
Abayomi stated, ‘‘Such practice is tantamount to using a contaminated tool to clean another dirty device. There is no way one can achieve any sterilisation. I do not think there is any sense in such a practice. And if it is a cultural thing, it is a bad culture.’’
On his part, a social worker and Director of Operations, Gabesawa women and children empowerment initiative, Mr. Afolabi Sam-Adeboye, identified the use of untreated objects, sharing of razor or sharp objects as one of the ways to contract infections.
He added that scienced has not proved that leather belts can be sterilisers for knives used for cutting hair.
Sam-Adeboye said, ‘‘The use of belts to sterlise knives used for cutting hair cannot be potent. It is a cultural belief which is not proven by science. It is not a proper method of sterilisation. If care is not taken, the customers of the local barbers will be infected with rashes and some other skin infections.’’
Also in a report titled, Answers to questions on HIV/AIDS, the Association for Reproductive and Family Health explained that anybody could be infected through sharing of used razors, scarification or circumcision knives, clippers, nose, tongue, ears and nose piercing needles, knives used during initiation to cultism and traditional ways of purging blood including other sharp objects.
source:PUNCH.
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