By Jude Atupulazi
It is said that one of the world’s oldest trade is prostitution, which is to say it did not start today. When we were growing up, it was easier to identify those plying that trade. They were mostly older women and when we passed where they stayed we could see them sitting on stools outside their building, patiently waiting for customers.
Their business usually peaked in the late evenings, as most of their clients were careful not to be seen entering the building. They would usually walk slowly to allow those behind them or immediately in front of them to pass and then after casting furtive glances back and forth, would quickly enter the building. Those living in the vicinity of such buildings would know about this.
Those days, those involved in the business stayed in one place and could easily be identified and located. Even the way they looked told one that they could be in the business, as they usually looked dried up and what we describe today as ”somehow”. They were also usually women who did not marry and had to resort to the business to earn a living.
But fast forward to this era and you see that many things have changed. Although there are still places you can find the type just mentioned, those places are now few. The trade has been revolutionized to such an extent that the ”traders” can hardly be recognized.
They are much younger, often young enough to be the grandchildren of those women of yore. There are those who stay in particular places in the city where ”buyers” go to meet them. In fact, every city has such places. In Enugu, it is called ”Ama Good Evening”.
The names of these places often ring true of what happens there. Take for instance, Enugu’s Ama Good Evening. I remember once, during my studentship days, I passed there and was surprised how every girl I passed greeted me warmly and with smiles as if they knew me. I told myself that they must be very respectful women; yet I remained puzzled.
When I got to school and told my friends that some young women were greeting me profusely at a particular place, they asked me where. When I told them, some of them burst out laughing and told me I was at ”Ama Good Evening” and that those women were ashawo (prostitutes) looking for customers. Mark you, they were no more confined to a building but lolling about by the roadside. This was in the mid-80s. It was around Presidential Road.
In Awka, we have Abakaliki Street, now renamed Club Road. It is a hub of evening social life in Awka where ”things happen”. Music of all kinds is played in different joints and they are often loud enough to burst your eardrums.
All manner of delicacies are sold there too; from isi ewu to fish barbecue, to snails and to chicken pepper soup, etc. Live bands play in most of the joints too, just as there are many night clubs trying to outshine each other.
But amid the hustle and bustle of the place are young women looking for men. Some stand by the roadside and look at every man that passes; be it in a car or on foot. The way they look at you will compel you to wonder if there is anything; that is if you are unaware of who they are. Some other women sit at the joints slowly sipping drinks, while giving every sign that they are alone and available.
Away from these types are those you’ll never believe are also into the business. These include civil servants and other workers, including those doing their own private businesses. According to stories, they all have their price and anyone who meets it will be accepted.
Those in this last category, do not go to any special place to stand. They have contacts through friends. This is why, when ”big men” or ”big guys” are throwing parties, the contacts of these ladies invite them. These contacts can be hotel workers who have their numbers and will contact them if any ”client” needs such services.
The modern prostitution is called hook up or runs. It has come to be the norm and those involved feel no shame. To many, it has become just like any other legit business, a matter of demand and supply. But why has this phenomenon become the order of the day?
Hard economy and poor pay
Many who are into this business were forced by hardship to get involved. For some, if they were earning living wages, they would not have been into it. They are therefore involved because they have to survive and that is the only thing they can do without stealing.
Take for instance, a young woman who is a civil servant and who earns about N40, 000 monthly. This woman is expected to transport herself to work, pay her rent, buy food and clothing and take care of herself.
You discover that for such a woman, her salary runs out in two weeks and she resorts to borrowing. But how many people can one borrow from these days? Everybody seems to be mired in the same harsh realities of the times.
Take another scenario: a young woman earns N20, 000 monthly. Out of this money she will have to eat, buy provisions, take care of her parents or siblings and pay for her rent. You can see that it is impossible for her to do these things without stealing. These women are not magicians and can never be. Thus, the temptation to enter the bandwagon of hookuppers or runs girls becomes high.
Even those running their own businesses are affected by the bug. They face the same harsh realities. There is just no escaping it. Thus, any young woman who has no helper is vulnerable to be preyed upon and this is something we are all complicit in, as employers of labour. But then, no employer pays above what is generated and that is how bad things have become.
For those who are in the business because of circumstances beyond their control, you feel pity for them, given the risky nature of hookupping. Tales abound about how some young women got into the hands of ritual killers and got killed. A hookupper never knows the next person she will go out with, and if the person is evil, by the time she realizes, she is minus some body parts and is dead.
But there are others who are just lazy and are afraid of any legitimate work. They actually look forward to and relish what they do with strange men. Many of them actually make a lot of money and they flaunt it.
Their favourites are Yahoo Boys who don’t cringe at paying well for the women’s services. But then, the problem is that most of the problems faced by these women come from Yahoo Boys (whether Yahoo or Yahoo-Plus). These boys have no conscience and can do anything for money.
They have been known to dump women after a night out, with the women running mad. I have seen this happen in Awka twice. In the first instance, a young woman was dropped off one morning at Five Star Restaurant Junction by a man she spent the night with.
Once she came down she started removing her clothes and the man walked up to her and told her he warned her not to touch his stuff. People said she must have tried to steal something belonging to the man and activated his juju. Whatever that means.
At another time, I was having my car tyre repaired along the Everyday Supermarket road when suddenly I started seeing people running past me. On enquiry, I saw a young woman who was removing her clothes and chasing everybody.
I was told she was walking with a man who suddenly left her and she started misbehaving soon after. They said they had seen her and the young man much earlier walking hand in hand like lovers.
There was also this story of two Yahoo-Plus boys who lodged in a hotel. A young woman visited them but somehow the hotel people missed asking for their visitor when they checked out.
By the third day, while the cleaner was preparing the room for another guest, she noticed a foul smell and eventually traced it to the bed. She thought maybe a rat had died but on lifting the big bed, she got the shock of her life. Lying still under it was a girl who was very, very dead.
So, this hook up business is not without its risks but these women have no option than to persist in it and hope they won’t run into bad people. It is much the same way as young men who know the brutal fate that awaits criminals when they are caught but still go ahead to steal, kidnap and kill for ritual.
But then, there are no excuses for crime, especially on the part of men. There are many menial jobs they can undertake to survive. But for women, it is not that easy, and for as long as they continue earning less than living wages, they will be pushed into hookupping in order to survive. That’s just the way it is and it is just very bad.
The way out? Our economy must improve so that workers will earn better wages and be less inclined to crime.
