Pros-titution; it is the oldest profession in the
world; from before Deliliah’s seductive ways with
Samson in Bible times, to what happened last
night in a dark corner at Ojuelegba bus stop in
Lagos.
Women, selling their bodies for money; some
pushed into this nefarious profession out of
poverty, some, out of sheer greed and some
others, simply for the love of s*x. In this piece,
Vanguard explores the lives students in our
tertiary institutions, who now appear more
remarkable in their runs for men and money
than their primary purpose of acquiring quality
education.
In her confession, a female student in Lagos
said: “My first night was with a man who had
just come from Malaysia and after a long night
of s*x, he gave me N10,000. Though I was
happy because, I was not used to getting that
kind of money at once, I was angry because,
the guy used me very rough in the night. He
had so much energy and he never allowed me
to sleep. He took me on more than five times
and I was very weak.”
Runs’ and ‘Aristoism’ in the ivory towers:
This is not a sad tale from a Nollywood movie, it
is true life story.
Things were tough for Elizabeth and her widowed
mother. But sending Elizabeth to the university
was top priority for her. Her mother would never
have guessed that disastrous blend of harsh
conditions, bad company and wrong choices
would lead Elizabeth into prostitution. Her
mother would not know that Elizabeth told our
reporters her story from a brothel.
Her bad company came in the person of a friend
she calls Stephanie. She said: “I met Stephanie
during our Matriculation ceremony in the school,
we were and still are in the same department.
But we did not really become close until we met
at the party where we got talking and exchanged
contacts. At first, I thought she was into
lesbianism because of the way she was asking me
about myself.
“Later she told me that, I did not deserve the
kind of poor life style I was living in school and
that I needed to upgrade myself. She introduced
me to some friends who would call me when
there was a party to attend. At one of the parties
we attended, they introduced me to some ‘big’
men.
“At first I did not understand what was
happening, until it was obvious that each girl had
been paired up to have s*x with an old man. I
was very reluctant about that and I angrily left
the party. The next day in school, she was so
angry with me and asked me why I behaved like
that. After much convictions and persuasions, I
succumbed to what she asked for…
After that first night, she never turned back from
the trade. “I became used to the whole thing, and
I was collecting more than N5,000 per night. I
had to give a cut to the person who brought me
deals, and send some money back home.”
She says if she finds a better source of income,
she will desist from runs. But this is her life for
now.
Across citadels of learning, cases such as
Elizabeth’s are very rampant.
Linda Okoye, an Aristo, at the Nigeria Institute of
Journalism in Lagos attempted to give more
insight into this. In an interview with Vanguard,
she said: “There is no difference because they can
both be classified as pros-titution. But what
differs between the two is that Runs pay more
than the normal pros-titution. From experience, I
would say that runs are the advanced or high
class pros-titution. Also, runs are a kind of
contract profession while road side pros-titution
is like daily s*x work whereby the person who
does it is being paid based on the time she
spends with her customer.
“For example, a normal pros-titute may collect N
2,000 for 15-20 minutes of s*x. But an Aristo can
be on call for twenty-four hours. Another thing
about the normal pros-titute is that they can
have s*x with their customers on the road sides
like beside banks and filling stations but runs
girls use the best hotels. They have class. They
work based on contracts and people who
normally patronize them are rich men like
company executives, politicians, businessmen
among others.
What these rich men do is to contact these girls
through an agent. These agents are like normal
students. If you go to any higher institution, you
will always find them there because they are the
ones that bring business to the girls in schools.
Sometimes you can get N250,000 or more to
spend in one or two weeks with a rich man. So
Runs girls are like high class pros-titutes. You
don’t see them around often. They only come
around if you have a job for them.”
A 200-level student of University of Benin,
Dorothy Akpenor (not real name) disclosed to
Vanguard that her former roommate was
involved in the runs business but she refused to
join her friend.
When asked what was it like living with such a
student, she said: “I was very uncomfortable with
it, and often would talk to her about giving it up.
There was a time she came back and told me she
was always emotionless during the actual inter-
course and felt guilty when some Naira notes
were given to her. But she felt better that she
was able to meet her financial obligations
especially about her studies.”
She stated further that she had advised her to
stop the ‘runs’ but all to no avail. “I did ask her
to stop. To me, her excuse was not tenable
because I know her family was not that poor.”
She said that her friend returns with an average
of N20,000 to N30,000. But that she would never
resort to it, adding that if she was in need of
money, she’d rather talk to her parents and
family members instead of embarking on s*x
work.
Dorothy further said that some of these girls even
do it with desperation, going as far as using
charms on their unsuspecting male patrons in
order to get huge amount of money from them.
Poverty, desperation or plain greed?
The question of poverty may not be the absolute
reason why many young female students take to
this lifestyle but it surely contributes in some
cases. However, findings show that it is usually
more pronounced in girls who transit from living
a normal school life, after a few Aristo runs, to
living big and thereafter a struggle to
maintaining the lifestyle to which they have
become familiar. A posh naive female student
with a taste for trendy clothes, shoes and
designer handbags would be vulnerable to such
act. She would go for the ‘less stress, more money
runs’ with some randy executives for a night to
maintain the lifestyle she chose for herself.
Nike, a 300 level student at UNILAG corroborated
the idea saying: “it is a lifestyle and not about
poverty as people say. Why can’t they do
something more dignifying than
flirting around? Why is it that when they get
some money that could set them up for a
business they still don’t stop their trade? Why are
they stuck in this immoral act? Some of them
make so much money that you will agree that it
has to do with morals otherwise they would quit
if it was all about poverty. You will see them
buying and wearing expensive clothes, shoes and
handbags. Is that poverty?” Nike queried.
On her part, Queen as she is fondly called, told
Vanguard that she is in the business simply for
the love of money and s*x. She targets men who
have just arrived the country from abroad
because they “have more cash to splash.” She
said: “I just love s*x; no condition pushed me
into that. I love the money too, so I go for what I
want.”
Sadly, University of Lagos, UNILAG, Akoka, is also
known to be the spot for campus pros-titution. Its
closeness to places like Yaba, Surulere, ensures a
constant flow of wealthy ‘customers’. Chidinma
Akpan (not real name) a female student who
spoke to Vanguard stays at the popular Moremi
Hostel, notorious for housing such girls.
She said: “Men come to female hostels in the
evenings to call on ladies. If the lady chooses to
answer them, they both go to have a nice time. If
she refuses, the men will move on to the next girl
till they find what they are looking for. Some
other times, it is more complex than that. Aristos
work with some errand boys in female hostels.
These boys show the rich men who come around
the pictures of different girls and the men pick
anyone they want. Just like picking a style of
clothing from a catalogue.
Felicia Jinadu, also a UNILAG student, lamented
on what her experience has been like with these
pleasure seeking men. “I have never been
tempted to engage in this act but I get
approached from time to time in the evenings,
may be its because of my stature. I have heard of
cases whereby some of our girls go with these
men and never return. Some of these girls engage
in it as a result of peer pressure. I heard
somebody bought a car worth N7m for a lady.
They engage in it because of what they can get.
Some of these girls come from good homes, but
are not satisfied with what they get from their
parents.”
Another student, Linda, told Vanguard: The
school runs have become some kind of profession
for some people. It’s just like hard drug whereby
if you don’t take it in a day you won’t be alright.
Written by Vanguard ‘s Laju Arenyeka, Anozie
Egole,
Iyabo Aina, Adeyeri Aderonke & Juliet Ebirim
