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The Rise of Cosmetic Surgery in Nigeria

By Njideka Agbo
30 October 2018   |   12:26 pm
When 27-year-old Modupe Ozolua introduced her plastic surgery company, Body Enhancement in 2001, in Nigeria, she promised that her introduced business held the secret to a youthful appearance with offerings of plastic surgeries, facelift, Botox, tummy tuck, breast augmentation, laser liposuction among others. Despite the criticism from members of the public, her expensive service attracted…

When 27-year-old Modupe Ozolua introduced her plastic surgery company, Body Enhancement in 2001, in Nigeria, she promised that her introduced business held the secret to a youthful appearance with offerings of plastic surgeries, facelift, Botox, tummy tuck, breast augmentation, laser liposuction among others. Despite the criticism from members of the public, her expensive service attracted the bourgeoisie of the society. Among the bourgeoisie who embraced this new method is the self-confessed liposuction doer, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa.

This service gained momentum (to reaffirm their suspicions) when the former first lady of Nigeria, Stella Obasanjo reportedly died of a tummy tuck. Hinging on the reveal of her death, Nigerians decried this new method.

Modupe Ozolua

Again, in December 2017, the Nigerian social media space was abuzz with information that seemed alien to the conservative Nigerian culture. Linda Ikeji TV aired a trailer of Nigerian actress, Tonto Dikeh showing her enhancement procedure. From all indications, Tonto Dikeh was happy with the new enhancement and had even posted pictures of her new body.

While some of the divided Nigerians accused her of not appreciating her natural body, some praised her for telling the truth about her new physique and looking more appealing and a lot of people looked forward to the yet-to-be-seen video.

Stella Obasanjo. Photo: Flickr

An often-misused term, plastic surgery is often interchanged with is often applied to people who are trying to fix damaged body parts such as skin grafting while cosmetics surgery is for beautification purposes. While there are various reasons why people have adopted this service, in a country where the that comprises (mainly) conservatives, cosmetic surgery is becoming a fast-rising favourite.

There is a sudden decrease in the number of people seeking to have slim frames. (Rather, there is a surge in seeking wider hips, bigger bottoms and contoured breasts.) This is further propagated by the alleged praises of music powerhouse Beyonce of the Yoruba women of Nigeria’s frame and Kim Kardashian’s supposed surgery and Instagram users’ obsession for the new perfect body, it is not surprising how quick the world is changing their idea of how the perfect body type should be. With the varying and increasing preference of women with bigger endearments, research finds that people felt more confident after doing it thereby encouraging cosmetic companies to introduce non-surgical drugs and creams as substitutes.

Tonto Dikeh after her cosmetic surgery. Photo: Yabaleftonline

Yet, cases of ruptured silicon, deaths during surgery and disfigured bodies abound.

However, caution should be taken before undergoing surgery, there is a need to make sure that the doctor is a board-certified plastic surgeon.

More so, whatever you do, evaluate yourself on your level of self-love before making this life-altering decision.

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