In Lagos, the most populous city in West Africa, nothing is a waste in the hands of those who can see value in it.
Despite inherent risks, particularly those that have to do with human safety and public health, when the opportunity to make cash or profit presents itself, the love of money is prioritised above all.
While the city generates an estimated 5.46 million tonnes of waste annually, some of these wastes often find their way back to the market.
Among these arrays of wastes that find their way back to market include used wigs which have been disposed of by residents across the state, investigations by PUNCH Healthwise revealed.
Our correspondent who visited three dumpsites in Lagos including Olusosun in Ojota, Dumping in Ikorodu and Solous in Igando, saw how the scavengers sorted the used wigs and repackaged them for onward transfer out of the dump.
It was gathered that while the market for secondhand wigs, particularly those picked from the dumps, is not thriving in Lagos, it is a booming venture in the far northern part of the country.
But despite the opportunities, senior health experts warned that the unseen health risks associated with the practice far outweigh whatever the economic value such endeavors would create.
Underhand trades
In the heart of Ikorodu’s dumpsite in Ewu-Elepe, popularly known as Dumping, where the air is thick with decay and the ground littered with waste, lies the booming market for different items picked from the facility.
The scavengers and businessmen nestled in the several makeshifts erected on the dumpsite have created an enterprise in what others have thrown away.
These include scraps of metal, tattered clothes, and broken appliances. But a rather unusual sight caught the attention of our correspondent – used wigs, tangled and matted, which were being sorted by a young man.
When approached by our correspondent, the man who refused to disclose his name, told our correspondent that the used wig market is booming in the north.
He explained that while the used wigs are underpriced in Lagos, they move well in the north and have commercial value.
“It is being packed for onward transportation to the north. We will send it to the north and it will be sold out in no distant time.
“Unlike in Lagos where it is underpriced and doesn’t move well, it is well loved in the north and that is why we prefer transporting to the north to sell,” he said.
When our correspondent asked what the wigs are used for in the north, he looked bewildered, wondering why I had to ask him such.
“Na woman dey use am nah. They buy and wear it,” he said in pidgin English.
Scavenged beauty
