Fuhr: Govt Must Ensure Standards, Sanitise Nigeria’s Multi-billion Naira Beauty Industry

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Owner and Franchisor of Beauty Therapy Institute (BTI), Sandy Fuhr, at the weekend urged the Nigerian government to sanitise and set minimal standards for Nigeria’s growing multi-billion naira beauty and wellness industry.

Speaking during an interview on the sidelines of the Abuja graduation ceremony of the institute’s students in highbrow Maitama, Fuhr, who was a panel speaker at the event opined that a good place to start should be the accreditation of schools that render courses in beauty and wellness.
Highlighting the danger of allowing unqualified persons handle cases of clients who need such services , Fuhr who boasts over 40 years in the beauty and aesthetics business, explained that the field goes beyond learning the regular make-up skills.

Some services provided by the organisation which has offices in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt include dermatology consultation, plastic surgery consultation, laser treatment, micro-needing, medical grade facials, hair transplant, keloid treatment, among others.
“The first place the government has to come in here is to the schools or colleges and they need to come in and accredit all the colleges that are teaching, whether they are teaching nails or make-up or they are teaching skin treatments.

“They need to come in and make sure that standards are proper in the schools. Because if it starts there, the industry is going to elevate and that’s the whole idea. We’re not going to grow an industry in a meaningful way if we don’t start with good education.
“So , that I think it is the first phase the government needs to help. They also need to help by sponsoring students, financing students with ‘learnerships’ or sponsorships  internships, so that the students can get their education.

“This is because it costs a lot of money to hold training like we do here. And the cost of the products, the space, the equipment that we have to have costs. costs a lot of money. it’s an immense amount of money, so we need to be very, aware of all of that,” she stated.
The South African beauty and wellness expert stressed that the issue of hygiene must be taken seriously in the country, maintaining that bleaching of the skin by Africans must also be discouraged.

With 20 colleges: 14 in South Africa, three in Nigeria, one in Kenya, Ghana and Namibia, respectively, Fuhr stated that the institute and its partners will continue to push for expansion and sustaining the high standards it set for itself.
She stated that the industry still needed to be deepened especially with the provision of data and statistics of its contribution to the economy and the number of persons it has taken out of the unemployment market.

Also speaking, Head of Operations, Skin 101 Centre, Abuja, Adanma Okoro, noted that whereas a handful of Nigerians would travel abroad for high level training in the past, the centre now offers top quality training locally.
Okoro said that BTI remains one of the key institutions in the country that offer high quality education with proper international certifications that are globally recognised.

She noted that the government could help Nigerians with student loans that people can access to make proper training accessible to give the citizenry more opportunities in the growing field.