Getting a Manicure done by a Hausa guy in Lagos

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Do Nigerian men really do manicure? Do they go to manicure outlets or beauty salons to pay for the service? Well, I think most of them do it themselves at home, while some patronize local manicure outlets and few go for the expensive ones. Paying for a manicure service is more common among women than men.

Well, if you are living in a city like Lagos, having a manicure done on your hands either by yourself of someone else is almost a must as it helps you to look good. Nigerian women go for manicures and pedicures more than the men since they are more beauty conscious but hat doesn't mean that the men don't are about their nails too.

Well, on this particular day, I didn't really want to do them myself and so I just called on one Aboki that was passing the road and hawking his service. How they normally advertiser their manicure service in Lagos is by clanging their tools which are their locally made scissors and not the ones imported into Nigeria from Obodo oyibo.

Well, this Hausa/Fulani guy was young and seemed serious, spoke little English but understood why I called him. Before telling his to do my nails, I asked for the price and he said it was N20 for hands and if it were for hands and legs, it would be N30. I considered that it was pretty affordable and that's why I love this Hausa guys working hard in Lagos even with little education. They don't charge too much for their services and the fee would be much higher if it was an Igbo or Yoruba guy that was doing it. It's about the same thing if they were driving an Okada or selling provisions - Hausa/Fulani dudes in Lagos are not too money conscious and Nigeria needs people like them to survive.

I am not one of those who really like to patronize road side, waka-about or uneducated manicure providers most especially if they were from northern Nigeria because of their seeming poor hygiene and the fear of HIV and other related disease transmission which may easily be spread through their crude made in Nigeria tools. Well, I just decided to use them today with a backup plan that if I bleed, I would immediately use a hand sanitizer, iodine and even a Hydrogen peroxide solution to prevent infection.

I also had to tell the guy at first to take care and not to cut me because that is the worst thing I dread when using a publicly shared cutting tool like the one they use. Well, the guy was gentle and professional with his job and he made my nails looking good in as little as 5 minutes.

It's probably the cheapest and most affordable way to get a manicure service in Nigeria for a low cost of just N20 but I don't intend being a loyal customer yet as everyday no be Christmas.

The cut on my nails was looking ok but it still needed some finishing touches to look smoother and so I would need to make use of a nail file to complete the work.

Posted by Felix Okoli on Tuesday January 20, 2015 at 16:49:16: