In secondary schools across Nigeria, boys are routinely forced to cut their hair to an almost bald, uniform length — often on the spot, by teachers or prefects, with no warning and no say in the matter. Hair that grows naturally, exactly as God made it, is treated as a problem to be corrected rather than a personal characteristic to be respected.
This isn’t about basic hygiene or neatness. Most boys already keep their hair short and clean. This is about forcing every boy into the exact same look, stripping away any trace of individuality, and punishing those who don’t comply with short hair. 
Nobody is asking schools to drop grooming standards. Neat, clean, well-kept hair is a reasonable expectation. But there is a real difference between asking a student to keep his hair tidy and forcing him into baldness or low cuts while disregarding his person, his preferences, and in many cases, his faith and identity. Many people enjoy keeping high hair which helps their confidence in many cases. While we understand crazy dyes or dreads or hair that is extremely large may turn the school to a zoo, but completely restricting those who want to keep a higher hair than others is completely unfair and most times uncalled for.
A lot of developed countries and schooling systems worldwide allow the freedom of hair and have laws that prohibit the discrimination of natural hair.
In the USA, Public schools operate under grooming codes, but natural hair discrimination is increasingly restricted. Several US states have already prohibited discrimination based on protective hairstyles and textures like braids, locks, afros, curls, and twists — this is known as the CROWN Act, adopted state by state. California became the first state to ban discrimination against natural hair. Even the UK, who Nigerians “claim” to follow after have stopped restricting haircuts as The Equality and Human Rights Commission announced guidance saying pupils should not be stopped from wearing their hair in natural Afro styles at school — covering afros, braids, cornrows, plaits, locks, and head coverings. A High Court ruling found that a school’s “short back and sides” policy for boys was indirectly discriminatory on racial grounds after an 11-year-old was refused entry over cornrows. One student, Ruby Williams, was awarded an £8,500 out-of-court settlement after being repeatedly sent home for her natural afro.  

No one wants a zoo, we just want our hair.

Let us stop forcefully limiting hairstyles and length into a small window and start allowing individuality and freedom. Everybody isn’t meant to be the same, let’s make a different in Nigeria.