Chioma Ikokwu: I sell some of my clothes to fund charity | The Guardian Nigeria News

Chioma Ikokwu, popularly known as Chioma Goodhair, is one of the casts on the Real Housewives of Lagos show. The lawyer, entrepreneur and executive coach, is the co-founder and CEO of Good Hair Ltd and Brass and Copper Restaurant & Lounge. She is also the founder of The Good Way Foundation, an organisation that focuses on healthcare for indigents in communities. She holds a degree in Law from the University of Birmingham, a degree in International Environmental Law and International Commercial Arbitration at the University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies). With passion for charity, she recently reached out to women in Ikotun community in Lagos where breast and cancer screenings were administered. In this interview with IJEOMA THOMAS-ODIA, she speaks about her drive and commitment to charity.

What resonated your passion for charity?
I am a lawyer first of all, but I just have a passion for charity. I have a passion for seeing people do better and become better. Having lived most of my life in England and returning to Nigeria, I’ve just seen how people live, and the fact that the government doesn’t really do anything about it. It touches my heart; it touches my soul. It’s not even something I can help. I sleep, I think about it. I always think of what I can do to help.

How are you funding your charity projects?
There’s not a lot of funding at the moment. We haven’t gotten any funding, any grants, and hardly any donations. For now, it’s self-funded. In fact, I had to start selling some of my clothes to be able to help fund the foundation. About 50 per cent of the proceeds I get from selling my clothes, I bring it towards funding this. We launched “Chioma’s Closet” last week, and it’s the funds that we got from that launch that we used to sponsor 200 women for cervical and breast cancer, and diabetes screening. We also have a lot of medication that we purchased. So, in case they find any UTIs, or any infections, we give them the medicine that they need. Some of these women, even if they find out that they have these issues, they’re not going to do anything about it because they can’t afford it. They have to sell their market, they have to put money towards feeding their children, and they have school fees to pay. So many people will pay their children’s school fees every term, so it’s very expensive for them.

Why did you choose health to reach out to indigents even when you don’t have a background in health?
For me, health is key. The funny thing is that the foundation actually started off health interest. My partner at the time had sickle cell. Though we were in England, and I didn’t really know anything about sickle cell, just following him to the hospital and seeing how he would suffer, sometimes, he would say he preferred dying to going through the pain. It’s a sickness that doesn’t really have a cure, there are some things that have come out but it doesn’t have cure yet. It is something that you get from birth. You are not even in control of getting it; basically two AS genotype partners coming together. It is something that is so painful and punitive.

Would you be infusing this into your Real Housewives show?
This is a part of my life. We’ve come here to put the community in focus. We’ve seen some of the women, interacted with them, and it sparked a lot of interest. I won’t say that it sparked a lot of funding, but it sparked interest from people all over the world, just wanting to know more of what we do and how we do it, which is the goal. To bring awareness to communities like this, to be able to get funding and to help them.

You wouldn’t say it sparked a lot of funding, what about your fellow housewives?
Last season, I had a charity yard sale. We auctioned part of my outfits, and every single person that was there purchased an outfit. That yard sale is what created the borehole in this community. Now they have water because people funded that particular project.

How much would you say that the Real Housewives have put you on the spotlight?
It’s put me on the spotlight because it definitely brings a lot more visibility to the things that I do. You use that opportunity to amplify the good that you’re doing. So yeah, it’s definitely brought visibility. Has it brought money? Not necessarily, but visibility, yes.

Being an entrepreneur, you started really early, how did it start?
Entrepreneurship started by chance for me. I didn’t really plan to be an entrepreneur, or start a business. I’m a lawyer. I was studying law at the University of Birmingham in England. I used to like hair, like fancy hair. I always go around with my hair looking nice. I used to buy hair very expensive from these women. At the time, because it was so rare, human hair used to cost a lot. As an Igbo girl, I was like I couldn’t be paying a thousand pounds every time I wanted to do my hair. I went to do my own research and saw where they were getting it from and found out that you could get this hair from India. I traveled to India, found suppliers, spoke to my business partner, she was interested in starting a business. She said yes, and that’s how the business started. I started making money when I was like 17 or 18.

When did you hit your first one million?
The first month; it’s a very lucrative business.

You have a good sense of fashion, how did it start?
It’s just natural for me. Fashion is my life. Fashion is me and I’m fashion; I have a lot of aunties. Fashion is just something that I’ve always loved and enjoyed. My grandmother is very fashionable. Growing up, I saw fashion, and for me it’s just a way of life. I don’t plan too much towards it, I don’t think about it, I just wake up and I’m fashionable.

Most of your outfits give you a transformation. How do you birth these ideas?
It just comes to me naturally. I sit with my designers, they have their plan and I have my own plan. By the time I finish telling them, and they’re done designing and creating, it becomes a masterpiece. It’s always my input with their production capacity.

What’s your favourite fashion accessory?
For me, hair is important. My hair always has to look nice, but my outfit also has to be good. I always smell amazing. My perfume has to be strong and on point. You have to smell me from a mile away. I love bags as well.

Do you prefer international or local designers?
I do a very good mix. I mix international and local designers. But I’m very big on local because I feel Nigerian designers have a lot of potential.

What’s your favourite local dish?
I really like Amala. I discovered it in 2020 and I fell in love.

What advice do you have for young ladies who are looking up to you?
I would say that the sky is your starting point, if you can think it, dream it, you can achieve it. There’s nothing that you can put your mind to, or your heart to that you won’t achieve. As long as you’re of a sound body and mind, you can do anything you put your mind to.