PUNCH
Despite Nigeria’s deeply conservative and religious fabric, where sex is often a hushed topic, the sex toy industry is booming — and dildos are flying off the shelves, reflecting a surprising surge in this unconventional market as more citizens boldly embrace erotic pleasures amid economic hardships, Victor Ayeni reports
Most days of the week, Niniola (surname withheld) is as busy as a bee, catering to the diverse clientele who frequent her adult entertainment store.
Her well-lit store features a spa parlour alongside a wide array of intimate products and sex toys, including lingerie, sexual enhancers, lubricants, vibrators, dildos, and BDSM kits.
The microbiology graduate from a state university in the South-West, ventured into the sex toy business in 2020, a year after completing her National Youth Service Corps.
The 28-year-old believes her store’s location on an estate in the Ogudu axis has been a core selling point for her pleasure-enhancing business as most of her clients preferred a high degree of anonymity.
Niniola admitted that she sells more of her products via social media platforms and messaging apps to meet the demand for professional discretion.
“My customers don’t have to come down here physically, this business has evolved beyond that,” she told Saturday PUNCH.
“They can contact us, tell us which of their products they want, we give them a catalogue to make their choices and they pay for the services including delivery and we get it across to them.
“From time to time, I get nice feedback. Some of those who patronise us are married, some are single, some divorced, some have spouses outside the country, some of our clients are women and some are men. Their maximum pleasure is our goal,” she said, smiling brightly.
On her X and Instagram accounts, Niniola regularly showcases a variety of sex toys available in her store.
She also includes her WhatsApp number, encouraging potential clients to reach out to her through private messages.
In a recent post, she announced the arrival of new dildos, assuring women that they would provide “long-lasting pleasure.”
When our correspondent inquired from her about the patronage of dildos and whether the economic situation has affected its demand, she giggled.
“I started this business in the middle of COVID-19 and I can tell you that we made a lot of sales during that period. You know, the lockdown and social distancing affected many relationships. Many lovers were stranded and people sought sexual fulfilment from our adult novelty products.
“Even now, I can’t say the economy has affected our business because we still make good sales. We even receive orders from outside Lagos. No matter the economic situation, people will always have enough to attain sexual satisfaction because it’s important,” Niniola added.
‘I’m helping my husband’s weakness’
When Mrs Bunmi Awoyemi (not real name) was first introduced to sex toys a few years ago, she felt a tinge of shame, reflecting the influence of her strict religious upbringing.
The mother of two explained that she arranged for the delivery to a location slightly away from her home, ensuring that no one in the neighbourhood would recognise her or guess the contents of the package she was picking up.
“My husband was the kind of man who downloaded even before the play began. Within a minute or two, it was over. He is a lovely man and a good husband but that’s just our only problem.
“I wasn’t satisfied and rather than cheat on my husband, I decided it was time to try out sex toys. I ordered a vibrator and a dildo and so far, I can say they have made up for my husband’s weakness,” Awoyemi told Saturday PUNCH.
Like Mrs Awoyemi, Saturday PUNCH gathered that many married women and ladies in relationships use sex toys such as dildos to satisfy themselves.
Single ladies who have been jilted by men or have not yet found a man to warm their beds also use artificial penises to pleasure themselves.
“It’s safer to use dildos than to sleep around and get infected with venereal diseases. I would rather pleasure myself with dildos than allow men to lie to me, cheat on me, and break my heart like they like to do,” a hairstylist who gave her name as Cynthia, told Saturday PUNCH.
Dildo varieties
Dildos are adult sex aids that are often used to attain sexual climax for women and also for men.
“While they are sometimes meant to feel like a penis, they don’t have to look like one. They come in different materials, shapes, and sizes. Some dildos are curved to stimulate the prostate or G-spot,” according to WebMD.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH revealed that there are different kinds of dildos based on their structure or designs.
Some dildos are made to look like a penis with testicles while some are made to be strapped on with a harness.
Some dildos are made with a suction base to adhere to a surface, others vibrate to stimulate the user while some, known as double-sided dildos, are designed for two partners to use at once.
The materials with which these dildos are made also vary. There are glass, silicon, rubber, plastic and wooden dildos, some of which are also sold by traditional herb vendors.
Phalluses as old as time
Far from being a novelty dreamed up by the Western mind, dildos have a rich history spanning centuries.
In 2005, German scientists uncovered what The Register described as “one of the world’s oldest sculpted phalluses, measuring 20cm and meticulously crafted from polished siltstone about 28,000 years ago.”
Egyptian paintings from 3,000 BCE also showed women wearing large phallic objects around their waists to pay tribute to Osiris, a major Egyptian god.
The ancient Greeks – the architects of Western civilisation – also made stuffed dildos out of leather, which men often gifted to their wives when they left to go to war.
During the Renaissance, elite members of society reportedly had dildos custom-made from materials like silver and ivory.
Later in the 17th century, English men who were fearful of how artificial phalluses could pose a threat to their sexual prowess passed some laws that prevented women from making them.
Following England’s steps, America banned the sale of rubber dilators, medical devices that help stretch the vagina, leading to the creation of an underground sex toy market.
It was during the sexual revolution in the 1960s that dildos were, once again, widely accepted as tools for pleasure and sexual liberation.
A booming business
In the conservative Nigerian society where an open discussion of sexual issues is often frowned upon, checks by our correspondent revealed that some vendors are heavily patronised and make millions of naira from sex gadgets.
Although frowned upon by Christianity and Islam, many patrons, both online and offline, frequently patronise adult entertainment stores to make up for what is missing in their bedrooms.
