“I lost the man I’m supposed to get married to due to my inability to grow hair.”– Tolulope Ogubodede

Tolulope Ogubodede is an Alopecia patient. She is also the creative director, textile designer, and founder of the “Heroic Alopecia Foundation”.

According to Tolulope while speaking to a BBC pidgin reporter, she stated that her hair loss started 15 years ago when she was still in the university.

She said the condition “Alopecia” affected her mental health to the extent that she cries a lot.

“I lost the man I’m supposed to get married to due to my inability to grow hair. My spouse then was the kind of man who tells his mother everything so I decided to inform his mother myself before she finds out from her son. She told me to keep my condition a secret so that people won’t get to know.”

“My spouse and his mother made gests of me anytime they see me. Few days to my introduction, my former spouse’s mother informed me that her son can’t marry me because of the fear of the unknown.”

According to Dr Shakirat Gold-Olufadi, consultant physician and Dermatologist – UCH Ibadan. She stated that there are no supernatural forces behind hair loss.

She explained that there are different types of Alopecia. If the hair follicle where hair is supposed to grow get damaged it’s called scaring Alopecia. If there is no visible damage still no hair growth, it’s called “non-scaring Alopecia”.

Tolulope, still speaking with BBC pidgin reporter stated that she doesn’t like wearing a wig but she does so to avoid people’s stares.

Tolulope explained that she has suffered from stigmatization.

“Some people said I’m a witch, some said I’m an Ogbanje that’s while I couldn’t grow any hair. The stigmatization was what motivated me to establish the Alopecian Foundation to create awareness about the condition and serve as moral support for those who suffer from the same ailment.”

 “Whenever I look at myself from the mirror, I say to myself, am beautiful, I’m bold, I’m me and not anybody else. I’m not my hair, with or without my hair I’m still me.”

The month of September as been selected as the period to celebrate those suffering from Alopecia while creating awareness on the condition.