Nigeria. In an interview with Sunday Sun the Anambra state
born lady said she was born without much hair on her body,
but gradually began sprouting them five years ago, at age 21.
In this Sun interview, Queen talks about the challenges of
living with such unique features and how she's dealt with it all
these years. Find her sad and heartwarming story below...
"My name is Queen Nonyerem Okafor. I am from
Anambra State. We are five children from our parents,
three girls and two boys. I inherited the hairs from my
mum and it runs in the family. Once you get to 21 to 23
years in our family, you start experiencing hair growth. I
am 26 years old now, when I was in secondary school,
much hairs were not on my body. It started when I
finished my secondary school. I am not granting you this
interview as if I need help or money, no! I want to tell my
story and what it means to be a hairy woman. All I need is
for an NGO to take up my case as a woman with
abnormal conditions and also to act in the movie
industry." Continue...
"The first time it started to grow on my body, I was ashamed,
but someone advised me that I shouldn't bother, that it is a
blessing not a curse. The person told me that I am unique,
besides, wherever I go, I would be recognised. She advised
me that I shouldn't be ashamed, rather that I should be proud
of myself. It was her that gave me strength and boosted my
self esteem. Some people think that I am a man. Some think I
fixed my breast to deceive people. Men especially find it
difficult to believe that I am a woman. It was when we
interact that most men are reassured that I am a woman. It has
made me to be very popular and recognised in public. It has
boosted my confidence to socialize. People want to identify
with me to know the stuff I am made of. Some want to find
out where this girl is coming from. People call and dash me
money because of my hairy nature, but I don't beg for
money."
"Before the advice came, I was asking God why all these
now? I was thinking of what to rub to clear the hair from my
skin. I rubbed tortoise faeces and a lot of things people
recommend for me to use, but it didn't remove them, rather it
caused more harm than good as I started growing bumps and
sores while the hair was still coming out. So, I stopped
rubbing those things. I suffered those lumps trying to stop the
growth," she narrated.
"When there is much heat, I feel terrible, it doesn't itch but it
really inconveniences me most times. That`s why I have to
wear or put on light cloths because sweat soaks my dress
when I go out. Once you see me, you know that heat is
dealing with me as a result of my hairy skin. I used to shave it
off but if I want to shave all, it will cause me lumps all over
my body. She said she had not taken the medical option
seriously. "I have not gone to hospital. I don't care anymore
because it is from within my blood and it is hereditary. I
don't need it because I can`t be using my money on
something that refuses to free me. A doctor had advised that
surgery can remove it, but not in Nigeria. Maybe outside the
country, but I am not interested."
"A man that is meant for me will come when the time comes.
It is not a problem. I will get married, after all, there are other
disabled people that are married despite their condition. When
I was 18 or 19 years old, I was supposed to have married, but
it was just that the man was a hot tempered person. He was
my suitor and we ended it there. He was seeing the hair
coming little by little. People are appreciating me and a lot of
people are still coming for my hand in marriage. I have been
seeing many men coming to ask me for relationship, even one
claimed he is from a European country that he came back to
Nigeria to look for a woman to marry. But most men just
want a fling, they don't want serious relationship. I was
doubting if he was real or not. I have admirers just like every
other girl. Most times, I have admires more than normal girls.
But most men are not sincere, my mother would say that love
is not by lip service. I have been hearing things like, I want to
marry you, but after sleeping with you, the man will end up
dumping you for another woman. My boyfriend likes me the
way I look and I have not been dumped because I am hairy.
Men don't break my heart. I don't trust men easily because I
wouldn't allow myself to have emotional breakdown. I can`t
wait for my heart to be broken. In my village, an old woman
has advised that she knows that I am not yet married, but I
should believe that my own person is coming. She said that
when my husband will come, I will find it difficult to believe
that the man is my own. She told me that is how her own
daughter looks. But now I have come to appreciate how I am
created," she said.
"I came to Lagos last year to see whether I can stay in Lagos
or not. Other times I have been coming and going. But the
truth is that I have been enjoying my stay in Lagos now
because something good is happening. Anytime I go out,
people will notice my presence and look at me. For instance,
the first time I went to Ladipo Market, people besieged me,
both traders and touts snapping me with their phones and
video. You would be shocked how they gathered and caused
chaotic situation that day, you would have written it as big
news, to the extent that I went to a shopping complex and
they started clapping for me, calling me Eze Nwanyi, which
means Queen. They were hailing me so much. It was the most
embarrassing day of my life. The traders and touts left what
they were doing to follow me around and saying all sorts of
things, if not for one man that offered to give us a lift, we
wouldn't have escaped those boys. There was a time I went to
Alaba International Market with a sister and traders were
peeping through the window to see my face and they were
saying, 'she is all hairs oh!' Someone has stepped down from
a bus because of me, a lady. Both of us were entering a bus at
Mile 2 and immediately she glanced at me she changed her
mind and immediately alighted from the bus despite that the
bus conductor was urging her to enter, that was the only time
someone refused to ride in the same bus with me."
"If I have the opportunity of becoming an actress, I can do
that but it is to get the right person to help me. I need
somebody to help me because I am perfect in everything I do.
I need someone to put me through but people tell me that for
some producers or directors, all they are after is to sleep with
you. I have not encountered that yet, but people have been
telling me to be careful. People get easily attracted to me.
"Why I pieced my nose was because it is fashionable, though
I know I look weird already, I don't give a hoot. It is my
body, I accept the fact that I am strange. A woman has
toasted me at Elegushi Beach while I was there with my
friends. On that day, she called me and gave me her
complimentary card and begged me to hop into her car, but I
refused. She insisted and begged to be my friend, but my
mind told me that she is a lesbian and she was inviting me to
Ajah. I turned her offer down because I know that most
lesbians are into cultism. Some women will see me and extol
my qualities, saying that they see women with hairs but that
my own is the highest. In fact, one said I am the queen of
hairy women. I met a guy at a supermarket and he was
obsessed about me, before you knew it, he started telling me
that he liked me, that I am beautiful and all that. Normal
toasting, I thought he was like every other man as usual, but
after the toasting, he went straight to the point, to tell me that
he would like to have sex with me through my anus,
promising to give me half a million naira. But I rejected it
immediately, God forbid! I can`t tamper with my anus. I
stopped seeing him and refused to pick his calls. I can`t do
that. Another man begged me to bear him a child that will
look like me, also promising to reward me handsomely. When
I am praying, I plea with God to help me overcome them.
Nobody can rape me because I am fearful, but men see me
and get sexually aroused because I look special because of the
hairy skin, but I have not been embarrassed or raped. Being
hairy gives me protection as people see me and get afraid of
me. Those guys who attack people see me and hail me. They
will not like to do anything bad to me."
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