- Nigerian chef Bawalicious has shared an illuminating exchange with his Chinese client who criticized Nigerians for valuing appearance over authenticity.
- The customer refused to have items repaired or purchased locally, saying he did not trust Nigerian products and exposing how many “brand new” goods in the country were actually refurbished or fake.
Nigerian chef Bawalicious shares a sobering encounter with his Chinese client, exposing Nigeria’s growing obsession with fake products and “show off” culture.
He said the customer refused to buy new clothes or have his iPhone 15 repaired in Nigeria, insisting he would only do so in China. When the chef called him stingy, the man laughed and asked about the price of his £35,000 Louis Vuitton T-shirt, revealing the same fake shirt cost just £5,000 in China.
The customer then showed him a video of how the refurbished iPhone was repackaged and sold as a new phone, saying Nigerians were “too focused on fake lives.” He also said many Nigerians travel to China to buy counterfeit goods and then sell them as genuine products at home.
Looking back on the conversation, the chef admitted that it opened his eyes to Nigeria’s counterfeiting crisis, from counterfeit mobile phones and designer clothes to adulterated cosmetics, alcohol and drugs, which he warned was leading to growing health problems such as kidney failure.
“The problem is not the price, it’s the counterfeiting, and people are paying the price with their health.” he wrote
