During a recent weekend visit to Cotonou, the Republic of Benin, ADEMOLA OLONILUA discovers that girls in that country go wild whenever they ‘capture’ a young Nigerian male, who is ready to spend for them
In the entertainment world, it is often said that there could be no party like a Lagos party and to some extent, this statement has almost become an axiom. Lagos is probably one of the few places in the world where you can literally close down a street for a naming ceremony.
From the owambe parties, attended by both the young and old who make it a point of duty to adorn themselves in the latest styles of the African attire to club parties, where it seems ladies are having a silent competition on who wears the skimpiest clothes; party business is a serious business in this part of the globe.
It is probably for this reason that clubs will continue to sprout. From Fridays, ‘TGIF,’ Thank God It’s Friday, till Sunday night, Lagos is a city that never sleeps. It is no wonder the state rakes in at least N1bn monthly just fromowambe parties, this is according to the state’s Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ademorin Kuye.
Aside from organising parties, Lagos seems to be on a professional level when it comes to rocking parties, especially in the clubs. With the body hugging, skimpy and very revealing dresses young ladies wear to night clubs, it is no surprise that young men, most of the time, eagerly await the arrival of every weekend.
After visiting a number of clubs in Lagos, Saturday PUNCH discovered that although ladies wear revealing clothes, do seductive dances in the clubs with various men, most times, that is where it ends.
A cross-section of ladies told Saturday PUNCH that it is true they wear provocative clothes to clubs, but that does not depict who they really are. While some stated that they wear such clothes that make them look wild because it is how other ladies around the world dress to clubs, others say they do it to flaunt the sexy bodies that God gave them.
“I am sexy and I know it. On a normal day, I wear bum shorts out but not every time. I know I have a good body and I love to show off, that is why I love wearing short, body hugging clothes,” a lady identified simply as Princess said.
Some other ladies say they love to go out and unwind and finding themselves in a club setting, it is natural for them to dance with any guy that catches their fancy but that is where it ends. A young lady, who gave her name as Sade Olatunji, said she loves ‘dancing seductively’ with a guy but that is where it ends.
The young lady told Saturday PUNCH that only a few ladies would go to the club and leave with a strange man. She says most girls doing that are either prostitutes or aristos.
“Most times I go to the club to unwind. I love dancing, it is more fun when I dance with a guy. Most times I club I don’t even like to go with my boyfriend because he might be jealous when he sees me rocking another guy on the dance floor. But after the clubbing is over, our business is over,” she says.
A young man, Elvis, corroborated Olatunji’s claims. He says a young man’s nightmare when it comes to clubbing is to go out without his own companion as it will be difficult to find a mate in the club.
He says, “Party goers often say if you don’t bring your babe to the club you cannot leave with a babe. The best for you is to take your babe to the club because you might not hook up with a girl there. Money helps sometimes but even at that, you should come with your girl because the girl you meet in the club might be an olosho (street girl or prostitute.”
Ironically, the scenario is different in Cotonou, the Republic of Benin. During a recent visit to some clubs in the French speaking West African country, Saturday PUNCH discovered that it is preferable for the Nigerian guy to go clubbing in Cotonou without a girl because he is guaranteed of going home with a girl, except he is too drunk to find his way home.
The magic is simple and the name of the trick is money. For Cotonou girls, all you need to do is to spend some money in the club and they are all yours. The icing on the cake about partying in Cotonou is that Nigeria’s naira is three times the value of Benin cfa. With the exchange rate at Nigeria’s advantage, some Nigerians migrate to that country at weekends to party.
Victor Nwocha, a Nigerian Public Relations Officer of Posh Lounge, Cotonou, told Saturday PUNCH that even Nigerian celebrities come to Benin to relax.
He says, “It is very true that Nigerians like coming here to party at weekends a lot. The exchange rate favours us and it is not far from Lagos. Even artistes do come here to relax sometimes because they have nice beaches here. The last time Vector (music artiste) came here, he even sang about it and Olamide too. Wizkid has been here and Davido too.”
Nwocha says Nigerian men prefer dating Nigerian women, but if it is for a nice time, a Cotonou lady is the available option.
“Nigerian guys prefer to date Nigerian girls because we understand ourselves being from a similar background. However, the Cotonou girls are quite sexy. We fall in love with Nigerian girls and in lust with Benin girls. After sex, everything is over; it is always short-lived especially because of the difficulty in communication (language barrier).
“It is so easy to get a Contnou girl to have sex with you because they love Nigerians. They love our swag and money. We don’t date Cotonou girls, we just sleep with them. If you tell them that you are from Nigeria, that is enough swag on its own, they would have already fallen in love with you,” he says.
Efazi Agosu, also known as Folakemi, a Cotonou girl, told Saturday PUNCH that although she prefers going to clubs with her male friend, most of her friends, who don’t do the same, leave the clubs with strange men during or after the party. She says it is true that their girls go home with any guy that spends a lot of money in the club, but it is only on the promise that such person will stuff their wallets with enough currency notes after the show.
“I have a Nigerian boyfriend I am dating currently. We met at the club and it first started out as just sex, later we promised each other that we would not have sex with anyone except ourselves; so, we began dating. I hardly go to club without him but my friends go alone and leave with different men we know have money. It is easy to tell through the way he spends in the club. It is strictly for the money, sometimes sex too,” she says.
She says Benin Republic girls love Nigerian guys more even with the heavy presence of Lebanese and French nationals in their country. This, she says, is because Nigerian guys spend money on them and they have a contagious charisma, although most times the relationships are short-lived.
“Look at that table,” she says, pointing to a table occupied by two men and five girls. “Those men are Nigerians. Once they come around here, the girls fight over who will sit with them and later go home with them. They spend Nigerian naira and it is a big deal here,” Efazi adds.
Another Cotonou girl, Shefiu, says whenever she goes out for clubbing, she is just out to enjoy herself not minding whoever she goes with. She believes that because she is still young, this is the time to enjoy her life.
“I am still young, so this is the time to enjoy my life. I don’t sleep at home during weekends. Most weekends when I wake up, I don’t know where I am and sometimes who I am with. I go to the club, dance, drink a lot, if I see a cute guy I like, I dance with him. If I like him, I go home with him. Most times, I do it more for the money than the fun,” Shefiu says.
After all the razzmatazz, Saturday PUNCH visited a club to authenticate the findings. Some alcoholic drinks worth 3,000 CFA (one thousand naira) and some other non-alcoholic drinks were bought. On the dance floor were several young ladies making seductive and erotic dance moves. When our correspondent had enough of the dance, he went back to his table. A few minutes later, a young Cotonou lady came over to the table. Conversations were made over some bottles of drink. When she eventually realised that her companion was a Nigerian after the clubbing, she offered the young man an accommodation in her apartment and promised to show him round the town during the day. That is, perhaps, the least treat a Nigerian socialite could get from a Cotonou lady. The password seems to be the money and how creative you are in spending it. Once one is able to combine the two effectively, the wild, wild girls of Cotonou are at one’s beck and call.
[PUNCH]