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I would prefer to define prostitution as: putting something to wrong use. With that, let me assure the readers that I am not an authority on this subject. The little I know about this subject, comes from what I gleaned from the write ups[all published on the www. Gamji.com/ website] of Tonye, Hilary or Hillary and the hilarious Danlami with his[her] he, she, assumptions. Before I go any further, I would like to tell Danlami to take this as an advice not as a warning. Please, don’t go asking people if they are Edo women.

Prostitution is the oldest profession known to man. The fact that it has been able to survive till today makes it a lucrative proposition or at worst a stop gap measure in the battle for survival. It is easy to pontificate: ‘It only takes a little effort to make a good living in Nigeria’ as the wife of the president an Edo woman[?] said recently in Italy and the husband waded in: ‘It took cowardice and greed to leave for a position of quick profit abroad’. This was reported in the Associated Press of September 19, 2000. There is a saying where I come from, that when it rains it pours on everybody’s roof., and that the damaged canoe found on the beach belongs to somebody. It is a given fact that prostitution has been with us since time. Why have we refused to ask ourselves the reason for the sudden increase in the volume of our children [3000 alone in Italy and still counting] embarking on this time sensitive and dangerous endeavor. A little effort might get you somewhere in Nigeria today if you are related to the first lady, and I thought coup plotters who shoot up their unarmed colleagues and take over the treasury where the ones described as cowardly and greedy, but times change.

I remember when I was young, in the days when Zik was the God of wisdom., M.I. meant power., Awo was the man with a plan, and the Sardauna, the epitome of one north one destiny. Going to school was the route to salvation, and if you dare fall in love with football, they were lots of never do well uncles around for your parents to point out to you, why playing football was a dead end idea. Today, a footballer is building a hospital for the whole community and I am driving a cab in New York. Vagaries of life. How many Nigerians above the age of fifty today who are worth more than a million dollars, had parents who were millionaires? How many of them could account for their wealth acquired within just a generation?

This ‘putting something to wrong use’ is not a case of north or south, it is not a case of the actions of the late Head of State who is still affecting petroleum product distribution years after his death. It is not something we use in laughing at one another, and sadly, it is not one of the tools we should use to whip up emotional hysteria so as to fall back on retroactive lawmaking. ‘Deported prostitutes to face heavy penalty,’ http://www.cometnews.com.ng for what? It is right to feel concerned about the fate of these misguided young people no matter how smart the girls themselves think they are. ‘The deportees whose ages ranged between 16 and 21 roared in laughter at the mention of the loan’. School of hard knocks you might say, but unfortunately, I also see the humor in the government promising prostitutes a soft loan. I could just see it, a male superior police officer with his ‘baton’ at attention at the sight of all these young deported beauties offering them something for nothing. People who have imbibed the philosophy of ‘money for hand back for ground’ would find this sort of offer very funny. Well, at least they obtained Nigerian passports without paying for it.

There are certain questions that need to be raised before we get carried away. Was there a law in Nigeria that banned Nigerians [both men and women] in soliciting or engaging in prostitution outside the country? If no, on what grounds are these girls being held? Is there a law banning or barring Nigerians from engaging or aiding and abetting prostitution in Nigeria? Is it being enforced? It is wrong to whip up mass hysteria to try and bury a problem. Remember, Gowon would have been dead by now, if we had found him after the Dimka coup. The Edo State government has just enacted a law against prostitution. Lucky man, try enforcing it. What makes a mother threaten to walk the street naked to defend her daughter? Why would a culturally and spiritually solid people threaten such an abomination? In Zamfara, the governor sponsored prostitutes to the Hajj, thinking probably that they lack spiritual direction. In Sokoto, the BBC News of September 15, 2000, claimed the governor of the state has handed out the equivalent of $40,000.00 each [?] to a hundred lucky prostitutes. Threats, legal sanctions, bribery would not work.

Our society has changed before our very eyes and if we don’t change and adapt to it, we would continue to have problems These are trying times, and in as much as work is not being created to give hope to the young, we are in trouble. There is no society that thrives without a middle class and Nigeria is no exception. Without efforts to shore up the middle class, Nigeria is doomed. I remember a musician who formed part of the third marine commando war effort, St. Augustine was his name [no religious pun intended] he produced a record titled: ‘Ashawo no be work na management’. After all said and done, that is what it is, and I pray society would recognize that.

Orok Edem

Calabar Development Association