•Cuts plastic surgery cost

By Elizabeth Adegbesan

The race to look sleek and shapely is on in Nigeria. In fact, every Nigerian lady wants to be a slay queen. Of course, that comes not only with a cost but also some pains. After all, the roses bear thorns.

Before now, the trend was for women who wanted to look shapely, to do plastic surgery or liposuction.

Liposuction is a major form of plastic surgery, which involves sucking of fat from other parts of a woman’s body to fill her buttocks. Women who could afford it, established class distinction and even the wives of leaders and notable men of the society competed to get the best of the services, which were mainly offered abroad.

Besides the travel costs, which involved millions of naira, the surgery bill, itself, is whopping. In 2019 the bill for liposuction ranged between N2 million and N8 million. 

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However, from 2010, Nigerian ladies who needed enhancements in some parts of their body could go under the knife successfully in Nigeria, as local investors established centres as equipped and competently managed as those abroad.

Yet, it could also cost between N250,000 and N1.5 million, depending on size and areas of fat transfer.

Eventually, COVID’19 and the economic downturn that came with it flattened everybody. Those who had the money couldn’t travel and never trusted the safety of doing it in Nigeria. Those who could risk doing it in Nigeria to reduce cost, were hampered by hard economic realities.“

Considering the cost and procedural pain, which involves local and general anaesthesia and, at least, two days pain, Economy & Lifestyle discovered that some ladies now prefer wearing buttock enhancer, known in local parlance as artificial bum bum, instead of undergoing cosmetic surgeries. Artificial butts come as skin-like pads which can be worn underneath any dress or trouser.

According to Miss Comfort Akpabio, an underwear seller, both single and married ladies, including those with bigger butts are buying and using butt enhancers which come in forms of pants and tights.

She noted that the prices of butt enhancers range from N4, 000 to N10, 000 depending on the quality.

She said: “Single ladies and married women patronise me. I also meet many women buying different types of fake butts in wholesale. At first, I thought they were resellers like me, but on inquiry I was made to know they are wives of the rich, who needed to change their fake butts like they change pants, depending on their outfits at a given time.

“Today, it has become as common as plastic surgery was in those days for the rich. I think the craze for it is not just the price which makes nonsense of surgery cost but also because it is easier to maintain than plastic surgery” she added

However, not every man appreciates the use of artificial butts by women. Akpabio explained that a friend of hers lost a potential suitor when the man realised that her shape was enhanced by fake butts.

According to Dorothy Akinyemi, a banker, the cost, procedure and side effects of Liposuction have also made women opt out of it despite Nigerian hospitals’ reducing the prices to increase patronage.

She said: “I have a friend who did Brazilian butt lift. She was a model. She used to take injections of over N40, 000 every six months to keep her body in shape. She was even tired of the routine and was lamenting about her condition. She said she wished she had not done that surgery. At a point she vowed not to take the injection again and was ready for the consequences. She said she doesn’t care what would happen to her body afterwards.

“Liposuction has side effects when it is done wrongly. Some buttocks can get rotten when infected.  That is why some women are going for artificial butts even though the price of surgery is being reduced to increase patronage. It is better we appreciate what God gave us and manage it that way,” she added.