Many would pay good money to have such beautiful eyes.
Throughout history, the notion of what is perceived as beautiful and adorable has gone changing. In the beginning, for example, there were cultures that appreciated and showed a greater attraction for people with thicker body shapes. In others, facial composition tended to be valued in different ways, with other kinds of noses, lips and cosmetic arrangements preferred over those that predominate today, at least in Western culture where, as many of us know, eye color plays an important role. The lighter these are, the rarer they are, and therefore, the more attractive they’re perceived to be.
However, light eyes aren’t welcomed across all cultures. This is the case with an African woman named Risikat, who along with her daughters, has attracted attention because of her beautiful blue eyes. Her eye color is generally associated with people of Caucasian origin (lighter skin) and only in exceptional occasions are they seen in individuals from the African continent, as in her case. Unfortunately, she’s faced social stigma for having blue eyes.
Her own husband, Abdulwaisu Omo Dada, began to treat her differently when he learned that his daughters had inherited the same iris. This Nigerian woman told Punch Newspaper that she was born with those eyes and passed them on to her children. She added that no one in her family had ever had that “problem” and that she was the first to be born with it. Furthermore, she also commented that her eyes are perfectly healthy and that she’s never had to go to the hospital due to discomfort in them, her daughters being just as healthy.
After her first baby was born, the relationship between her and her husband changed, and they drifted apart. When the second daughter was born, he abandoned her. This incident adds to her history of discrimination, as her parents were forced to take her to the doctor because of her condition and school authorities repeatedly asked Risikat for tests to prove that she really belonged to her family, who didn’t have her same eye color.
Currently, she lives with her parents. Her only wish is to raise healthy daughters. Her first born, who’s five years old, had a twin, who passed away after not receiving proper medical care. Her case has gained greater attention due to a university student named Alabi Rukayat Oyindamola, whose intentions are to raise awareness about the problems faced by people like Risikat because of this rare genetic condition. It’s believed, according to a study conducted by the University of Copenhagen, that this kind of blue eyes in African people originated on the northeast coast of the Black Sea.