By Veronica Dariya
Some hairdressers and beauticians in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are currently ‘smiling to the banks’ as they enjoy high patronage due to the Yuletide.
A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who went round Bwari town on Thursday to speak with some of them reports that young girls and women of all ages were seen patronising their services.
The hairdressers all said they recorded huge sales due to high demand for their services since Dec. 20.
Mrs Halimat Abdulfatiu, a resident of Zango area of Bwari town, said she made close to N100, 000 from Dec. 24 to date.
Abdulfatiu who specialises in weaving commonly called “matting” said she was shocked to make the kind of profit she made this year, compared with previous years during the yuletide.
”Normally, when it’s Christmas, i make between N20, 000 and N 30, 000 from all the work of the season.
”Surprisingly, this year that everything has been tight for people and everyone is saying there’s no money, that is the year i received more patronage.
”One of the reasons i can say people patronised me is because of the hike in the prices of sophisticated hair extensions.
”One of my customers told me that she compared the price of the number of hair extensions she would buy for her three girls and how much she would pay for the service and discovered it was too expensive.
”She opted for my service at the end, because all she needed to buy was this local wool for plaiting and my service charge, which is just N700 to N1,500 per head, depending on the hairstyle.
”I made N20, 000 only on Dec. 22, N30, 000 the next day, by Christmas morning, i had above N80, 000 and up till now, the patronage continues.
”People came from Kubwa and Gwarimpa just to patronise me, especially for their children. I hope to take my time to rest tomorrow only if they would let me.”
Abdulfatiu, who expressed gratitude to God, also said she would save the money and assist her husband to pay their children’s school fees and other home needs in the new year.
Madam Ohunene Adam, who specialises in fixing artificial nails and artificial eye lashes for women, told NAN a similar story of huge profit.
According to her, women loved to look good for all occasions even when they had no money and the Yuletide was one of such.
She said that although most of her services were usually patronized at weekends because women had various parties to attend but the season attracted more patronage and more money for her.
” It is a hectic job. On normal days i open my shop around 7 a.m but since Dec. 23, I open by 5:30 a.m because some people want to be attended to on time due to the long queue.
”I attend to close to 20 people or more a day and make close to N30, 000 everyday from the service. I had to employ the help of my siblings to enable me meet the demand.
”It is a lucrative business and requires creativity and expertise or else but I will say God has been faithful”.
In a similar development, Mr Alvin Ndubisi, a dealer in children’s fairly used clothing in Dutse Market, told NAN that the surge for fairly used clothes commenced in the last week of November.
According to him, the high demand for the items has made him record high sales, also, making the business very lucrative every Christmas season.
”Infact, costumers plead with me to call them whenever i want to open new bale of clothes, so they can be the first to pick the very best.
”For most of my customers, it has become imperative for them to pick fairly used clothes for their children not only because they cannot afford the new clothes but because they find these ones unique and durable”.
He noted that although getting the bale was now quite expensive due to border closure and the high exchange rate. He admitted that the profit made this season was worthwhile, as he had doubled his initial business capital already.
