Abuja – Some young men in the Federal Capital Territory on Friday said they were growing long and fuller beards due to encouragement from their female partners.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), that it made them to look trendy and more attractive.
The trend that originally started among southern American men has crept into various countries including Nigeria, making men without beards to look out of style.
The popularity of the beard, however, became fashionable after the 2015 Twitter challenge tagged “BeardGang.”
It required young men growing beards and posting pictures of it to show how fast their beards grew and how good they looked with it.
The trend is so popular that it has been given an annual movement month now known as “No Shave November.”
Michael Pinston, a software programmer, said he initially joined the beard gang movement to change his looks.
“I have always been a clean-shaven guy but people always said I looked younger than my age.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t always take it as a complement.
“I decided to make myself look older or should I say, my age, so I started to groom my beards and it just stuck with me.”
Prosper Jibril, an entrepreneur in Abuja, said he had to join the movement because he saw it as a business opportunity.
“I noticed that there was a gradual decline of clean-shaven faces in Nigeria so I decided to deal in hair grooming products.
“In order to sell those products, I had to look the part,” he said.
Udom Udofia, a hair dresser, said he started to grow his beard because his girlfriend encouraged him to.
“I am a hair dresser so I have to look fashionable and trendy but I didn’t like the beard thing initially because I thought it was going to be uncomfortable with the heat.
“My girlfriend came home one day and said I should start growing my beards because she felt I would look sexier and so I did.”
Tolu Taiwo, tailor, said he liked how the beards looked on most men and decided to grow his for the fun of it.
“I see the full beards as a cool look and I like how men who take good care of it appear mature.
“The look on many men make me feel left out so I decided to grow mine for the fun of it”, Taiwo said.
Udeme Bassi, a blogger, told NAN that he was happy to join the movement because he felt men were being left out in the hair grooming industry.
“We always see women spending money on their hair and looking beautiful with it.
“Hair modifies ones looks and it’s nice that men now have a hair trend to modify their own looks without being judged.” (NAN)