Women Affairs Minister Barrister Uju Kennedy is a captivating figure, known for her controversial approach. Her bold stance is driven by a deep commitment to ensuring that women in Nigeria receive the respect and care they deserve, despite the prevailing dominance of the male population.
Madam Uju Kennedy is known for her combative style and unyielding stance on issues affecting women in Nigeria. On August 29th, at a meeting with the Nigeria Hotel Associations in Abuja, she issued a firm six-week ultimatum to hoteliers, demanding that they cease accepting underage girls as visitors or lodgers. Despite acknowledging the economic challenges faced by the hospitality sector, the Minister of Women Affairs made it clear that any presence of underage girls in hotels and other hospitality establishments will not be tolerated.
I didn’t hear the usual Uju brand of thunder bolt punitive consequences which may await any operator for breaking the ” policy,” neither did the hoteliers admit that they knew anything about underage clients, running through the wings of their outfits to enjoy themselves or be used as baits to lure pot belied men, particularly politicians who oil such teenage runs for selves or businesses partners.
Since, madam Uju Kennedy did not call out any particular hotel or operator but spoke generally to the association, I will not also reveal the locations or addresses of the hotels which are guilty as charged by the minister. The sad complexities of sex slave trade in the hotel, restaurants, lodges, and cafés across the country may differ in scope and operation. The truth is that most hotels in the country employ the services of teenage sex slave masters to shore up their occupancy rates and vibe out their business as the place to be . Night clubs and lodges are also not left out.
Some of these hotels, lodges and night clubs also serve as transit camps where these teenagers are sorted out like cows and goats according to age, potential, street sense, health and hygiene education, and ability to evade security agencies.
It is one dark side of Nigerian entertainment and hospitality ecosystem, a sordid economy worth billions naira and with capacity to destroy and waste the destiny of our unassuming young persons. Over the years, like every unchecked and unprofiled evil, it has transcended beyond the female child sex slaves to the teenage male folks highly sought after by old women and even men homosexuals.
From Ibadan to Enugu, calabar to Jos, Bauchi to sokoto, the teenage sex slave trade market is huge, and no state in the country is spared. To worsen the traffic, the advent of lodges and nightclubs across the country , particularly in lagos, Portharcourt, Abuja, Benin , Enugu, Owerri, Uyo, and Calabar have upped the demand for the teenage cash cows and Nigeria and Nigerians are not concerned.
One major under current and misgivings about tourism is its capacity to generate unassuming blue-eyed innocent sex slaves, particularly targeting the very vulnerable young persons, teenage girls in particular. In Gambia, old women from Europe flock to the waterfront lodges and hotels in the city to have a go at the fresh blood of the male kids for a fee.
I won’t concern myself of what happens in other African countries where tourism thrives. Unfortunately, their ranking as destinations is fueled by sex visas and passports, which their immigrations pretend never exists. It is an ROI for their free entry regulations, particularly for the rich white folks, male and female!
In Ibadan last year and at a very famous hotel, I witnessed boys and girls competing in what could be described as choreographed sex watersports movie all for a fee. Part of the participation ecosystem is a valid paid hotel room, sex pants revealing all, and receipts for paid entertainment by the pool side, which includes booze, cigar, and possibly drugs.
It was a huge traffic, and I was shocked beyond comprehension. I was scared and annoyed at the same time, and indeed tempted to have a go at those little kids, some who were lured by their friends or abandoned by parents who were too busy to check their kids and possibly those they hang out with.
In lagos, and in Surulere, evidently across the beaches in the city, hell is recreated every day and at weekends. From Thursday, all the hotels, and brothels, are fully booked in advance, and if you care, depending on your roguehishess and express desire for the wild, stripped dancers and home delivery massage services can be exclusively curated for you at home or any location of your choice and at huge fees.
The Nigerian tax collectors both at the federal and state levels can not factor the blood gains from this terrible economy. There are even credit offerings for the illicit trade, but only for profiled clients. The devil is here in Nigeria and disguises his operations through entertainment and tourism.
All those who rush to peep through and adopt eurocentric tourism and related activities masterplan may not factor and put in place, legislations and rules of engagement to clearly burst the impact of mass tourism. The sex rot is deep across the country.
Barrister Uju Kennedy is right and should be worried. She didn’t tell how much she knows, the levels of decay and the connections of drug cartels, transport unions, notorious hospitality investors, and operators in this unfortunate situation.
The truth is that government officials are also part of the junkyard ecosystem. There’s no reliable checks by state tourism authorities on activities of hotels and hospitality owners and operators, so long as these facilities pay liquor tax, water tax, signage tax, parking lot tax, consumption tax , borehole tax and other obnoxious levies. Nothing else matters. The lives of our children do not worth a dime !
The minister should be intentional and purposeful about arresting these dangerous monsters. All hands must be on deck, tell someone to tell another, the churches, mosques , women societies, the army, police, Dss, NIA, and every ministry and state governments.
Our young population is threatened. That’s the truth and until we begin to plan for their tomorrow, insist to have hotels and (hostels for kids and teenagers) and have a well trained police force that should be empowered to check quickly the rampaging demon of teenage sex slavery, we should better forget to sleep.
The cultural orientation agency and the ministries of orientation should wake up. fuel scarcity won’t kill us, but this unbridled business of teenage sex tourism will bring us to knees faster than poison and ethnicity. Our universities, colleges, and even primary schools are now virtable recruitment grounds, and like all things evil, the evolution and dynamism are shockingly unbelievable.
We are all guilty as charged, but can the Minister go beyond the ultimatum given to the hoteliers and hound out anyone associated with encouraging teenage sex tourism in Nigeria? Only time will tell.
