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Opinions of Saturday, 27 June 2020

Columnist: Edzorna Francis Mensah

Edzorna Mensah's take on JJ Rawlings new look

Former President JJ Rawlings Former President JJ Rawlings

One of the most celebrated former Presidents in West Africa and Former Head of State of The Republic of Ghana, has done it again by reminding Ghanaians of Gold Coast afro-textured hair.

His Excellency, Jerry John Rawlings popularly called JJ aka Papa J for short, has surprisingly taken Ghanaians back to good old days where allowing one's hair to grow as the culture, in those days of civilization as the way they lived.

Afro hair those days was super and it brought the natural beauty out of our ladies for public attention and for possible marriage.

Before, independent the beautiful ladies in town were those with the Afro hair, the usual red lipstick and with the pure white teeth showing between the lips.

Gone are the days, combing your hair, was God necessity to practice over and over, and my father, Mr. Emmanuel Atsu-Zi Mensah of blessed memory was deeply in love with this hair, and I see my dear Dad in Rawlings today.

People had different sizes of combs depending on their hairstyle and the growth stage.

I'm sure our father and the first President of the fourth Republic of Ghana, Papa J is now using what we call in Ewe Language 'Atsi-yida', in order to comb his nice looking and whitish hair without frowning his face.

Having plenty and well-combed hair make you real before, your Creator and serve as a protective cover over the body if not the head alone.

Many Africa countries like Ghana are noted for scorching sun and you could imagine what the direct sun array will do to people with absolute down-cut, what we called 'sakora' (no hair at all).

In fact, going back to our root to pick some important things and infuse them into our contemporary ways of life will not only redefine our cherish identify but shall create huge market for global tourism.

Papa J's new look in recent times has attracted thousands of positive comments on social media and I can't be left behind or allow this joyful moment to go without my contribution.

According to Wikipedia, "afro-textured hair, or kinky hair is the natural hair texture of certain populations in Africa, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and the African diaspora.

Despite its name, this hair texture is also found in some parts of Oceania and Southeast Asia.

Each strand of this hair type grows in a tiny, angle-like helix shape.

The overall effect is such that, compared to straight, wavy or curly hair, kinky hair appears denser".