Why some Africans have natural blue eyes and blonde hair

If you visit Nigeria’s Kwara State or subregions of Melanesia, you’ll see black people with blonde hair and blue eyes. Why?

You'll recall that a woman in Ilorin, Risikat Azeez and her daughters went viral for their blue eyes. Her husband left her because her eyes were considered sinister, but is it?

Risikat has blue eyes [bbc] Pulse Nigeria

Blonde hair is an unusual characteristic in populations outside of Europe, but you can see it among Africans and Melanesians from some islands. Here's why:

Mutation

Their distinct traits are the result of a little mutation known as the OCA2 gene. Melanin is a unique chemical that gives skin, hair, and eyes their colour.

According to a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Hans Eiberg, everyone used to have brown eyes, but as humans evolved, the OCA2 gene underwent a strange genetic mutation that caused the chromosome to turn off, reducing melanin production in the iris.

Waardenburg Syndrome

Blue eyes can be caused by Waardenburg syndrome, a genetic deficiency that changes hair, skin, or eye pigmentation and can be passed down through family genetics, resulting in hearing loss in one ear.

Inherited genes from early man

A new study discovered that current Melanesians inherited favourable genetic variations from humans’ ancient, extinct ancestors, called the Neanderthal and Denisovan. These genes are not found in other human populations and may have had an important role in the adaptation of early modern human populations.

So, next time you see an African with blue eyes, now you know the reasons.