TRIBUNE
BY TOYIN FALOLA
Life is trade by barter! We use what we have to get what we want. Even our Daddy GOs, Oyedepo and Adeboye, collect money from us before they pray for us! This is the philosophical foundation of every activity and value of humans: exchange.
How much one can mobilise and achieve one’s aspirations, anxieties, and intentions depends on the values one can give for it. Many would trade items for money and money for items. Some would subject themselves to long and tiring periods of training and schooling just to add personal values worthy of forming services that would be exchanged for wants and needs.
But some trade their bodies, at least many humans, using what they have to get what they want. When one says that human needs are insatiable and businesses are often built around needs and opportunities, one should not forget to cast one’s mind towards the fact that human sexual urge is a need and also greedy, and as such, there should not be frowning of faces when ọmọges, snap their fingers for kudi, before their backs touch the bed. “Money for hand, back for ground!” They ‘service’ you in the manner your money can afford, with no credit, no emotions, just another day in the office.
Don’t pretend that you don’t know that services come in packages—of one, a fixed rate; of two, another rate; more than two, double the price. You cannot pay for the breasts and get other things! Even the pastor of your church is aware of this small fact.
Add tips for groaning; another tip for the massage. A flat back comes with a reduced fee! “Pay as you go” requires extra money since it does not come with a deductible pension. If you always buy on credit, you have to pay more, and should you default, be on your knees and make fake promises.
“You know me now, Mary; I am not like that. Oga Falola has not paid me for three months. He has been seriously ill, but I know he will not die.” Mary had no customer for the day: “Be quick, onigbese, the thong is not from Osodi bend down; it came from New York City. Original ni.”
Sorry, you are a man of God, just read along; I am talking to you too.
If they ask the successful “tech bro” what made him venture into his expertise and adjoining businesses, he probably would say, “hunger sat me down….” But different strokes for different folks and what motivates you to increase your leverage in life-bargaining may be different. You would probably condemn Ṣope, the always sad-looking girl who, after many attempts at getting jobs, landed a private high school teaching job that pays her 25,000 Naira monthly.
Her parents are waiting at home for oúnjeọmọ, her siblings are expecting her to do big sister duty, and she has transport, but kerosene is expensive, so she must fetch firewood. It even crossed her mind to be dating the Okoda man so that she would eliminate transportation costs. So, she buys a lot of Garri to help her kick-start her Garri marathon from the second week of the month because she has paid some debt with a substantial part of the ‘25k.
’ If she picks up the Olóṣó’sbusiness, “hunger sat her down too.” At least, no investment, reinvestment, or restocking of her vagina, and the labia majora and labia minora do not require recharge fees. A night or two at Allen Avenue or Toyin Street might make two times her salary as a teacher. In Sabinu’s voice, smart move. What are you angry about?No woman goes to Toyin Street and forgets to return home with her vagina.
You have been enjoying the story! But this is not to celebrate immorality but to open logical considerations that allow solutions not coated by emotions. Mere promiscuity could have been the driving force behind venturing into Olóṣó’sbusiness. But you can be promiscuous without being a prostitute, and promiscuity might not be what moves one to be anOlóṣó. My conclusion is derived from fieldwork, a collaborative social science project.
But before we judge promiscuity, one must know that many of them are victims of circumstances. A too-trusting pupil that her lesson teacher sexually harassed; the neighbours secretly having sex with teenage children when their parents are away at work; unfortunate relatives and big uncles taking advantage of their nieces; a girl subjected to rape or gang rape; and other instances leave huge psychological footprints that affect identity formations and as such could contribute to the propensity of being promiscuous.
She has seen sex magazines, watched movies meant for adults, and probably walked on her parents’ sexual affairs. Later-stage promiscuity in these cases is beyond choice but psychology. And when finances are down, monetising it may not be an issue. Hence, basing arguments against prostitution on morality and condemnations alone will not neutralise the urge of several people with psychological or strong financial motivations to be sex workers.
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