Nana Peters enjoyed a pleasant childhood at Zonkwa, Kaduna State. She had a dream to one day become a medical doctor, it was a lofty ambition, her father encouraged her through secondary school but when she lost her father, it appeared that her dream died too.
Instead of pursuing her dream, she began to seek survival: “When my daddy died, I had to learn how to make hairdressing so that I can support my mother and my younger ones, we are 9 in my family, and we have 2 boys and 7 girls” Nana had little support but stayed determined.
Added to her small hairdressing salon, Nana provides nail making, eyelash fixing, and other related beauty services: “I started this small salon about 9 years ago, I saved to buy everything inside, I use to do daily contribution, anytime I collect the money in bulk I will use it to buy the equipment I need” she struggled to put the space in good shape: in the small beauty parlour, the ambiance is not as good looking but Nana compensate with her fineness and good service.
Things progressed until COVID-19: “To be very sincere, I cannot tell how I survived COVID-19, it was very tough for me, it was tough for my business; it was tough for my customers. I could not eat; we shared a bowl of garri –cassava flakes- with my neighbour.” When she could not bear the lockdown any longer she walked to her salon and opened the shop against the orders of the government: “No one patronized me that day; she cried, customers were even afraid to come out, making hair and looking good was not their problem, so I suffered so much” she hissed.
Nana appears disgruntled. She showed how displeasing it was to hear about COVID-19 palliatives which she claimed never reached her semi-rural community: “Many people came to my shop to collect information, they wrote down my name and my phone number, they promised to come back but I am yet to see them. I think the government is very unfair to poor people, especially young women like me struggling to do business, there is no single support, they only support their family members and people that are close to them, are we not part of Nigeria” she queries.
“I am still here, suffering the impact of COVID-19, I have not yet recovered, I plead with the government to help our small businesses, we are suffering” Nana slammed at what she describes as “government insensitivity” to small business women who are struggling and need sincere help; she urged for help.
