School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) Seminar Series of the American University of Nigeria (AUN) on October 17, 2023, in the e-Library Auditorium featured an interesting topic titled "Skin Lightening: A National Health Emergency," presented by Dr. Olutayo Folashade Martins.
The SAS seminar series attracted the most participants since it began for the Fall session. Participants include faculty, staff, students, and medical professionals from Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital, Yola (MAUTHY), College of Nursing and Midwifery, Yola, and online participants who linked up via Google Meet from some northern states.
In her abstract, Dr. Folashade defined skin bleaching, or skin lightening, as "the deliberate lightening of an individual skin tone without medical supervision."
She bemoaned the fact that both Nigerian women and men fall for the advertising stratagems and deceptions of these multibillion-dollar cosmetics industries without considering the long-term adverse effects of the products on vital organs such as the kidney, heart, and skin, which are frequently damaged by cancer due to the presence of cancer-causing ingredients such as mercury, which is one of the major components or additives of cosmetics.
She claimed that Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is the most lucrative market for the cosmetics industry, as "77% of Nigerian women bleach their skin". She attributed this epidemic to the era of colonialism and its aftermath when most colonized people developed inferiority complexes based on how colonizers perceived and labeled colored skin as "inferior."
However, Dr. Folashade said that following the 1980s ‘Black is Beautiful’ Campaigns in the U.S. and the recent blockbuster movie ‘Black Panther,' many Africans are beginning to take pride in their dark skin, and some African countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Rwanda, South Africa have banned all skin toning creams. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) recently declared skin bleaching a national emergency case.
Dr. Folashade advocated for educating the ignorant public on the dangers of using bleaching products. She also called on the media and filmmakers to feature more dark skin casts to showcase the beauty of dark skin, as always done with light-skinned people.
Reported by John Abah