Haircare institute trains 20,000 stylists yearly, reduces unemployment

Recare Limited says about 20,000 people are being trained through its training centre – Natures Gentle Touch Hair Institute – every year since 2007, to reduce the unemployment situation in the country. Natures Gentle Touch is a range of natural hair care brand owned by Recare Limited.

Speaking with BusinessDay in Lagos, Ukachi Obiuzor, the company’s spokesperson, says Recare is an active participant in creating jobs and reducing the high unemployment levels, especially among the youths and women in Africa.

Obiuzor says: “Since the establishment of Natures Gentle Touch Hair Institute in 2007, Recare has been training an average of 20,000 hair stylists every business year and has awarded scholarships to some of them to pursue free hair education and beauty training.”

The institute, said to be the first of its kind in Nigeria and reputed to be the largest hair institute in West Africa, is situated in Victoria Island, Lagos, and it is equipped with the state-of-the-art hairdressing and salon equipment.

The spokesperson adds that the institute boasts of equipment for “treating severely damaged hair and a modern lecture room for students complete with modern audio-visual facilities.”

According to her, “Nigeria is today grappling with high unemployment rate with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) saying the unemployment rate in the country is at 23.9 percent and growing at 16 percent annually. In order to stem this trend, there is the need for creative hands to be busy to contribute to the economy across the formal and informal sectors.”

She urges corporate bodies and wealthy individuals to see the need to sponsor the youths and women, to empower them to establish their businesses, and to start a career in the “lucrative and glamorous world of fashion, beauty, style and entertainment.”