The times are hard! •Commercial sex workers, club owners lament as expatriates shun night life in Garden City

Because the number of white men the girls popularly called ‘Aristo’, has continued to shrink, the commercial sex workers they used to patronise have resorted to fetish means to play out one another in a stiff competition for the few that are left

Until recently, it was a common sight to see white men milling around in every corner of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. The situation could hardly be different because the city was and still is the hub of oil and gas business in Nigeria. Thus, it attracted many white men who came to work in the industry and its subsidiaries. Some of the white men were also tourists.

They loved to catch fun in the city. To make the fun complete, they had to hook some young Nigerian girls, who were also willing partners because the white men had a lot of money and material things to throw around. To secure their own share of the white men’s largesse, many of the young girls deliberately positioned themselves on the paths to the night clubs or around the big hotels in the city where they would be easily noticed. They were also dressed in all manner of skimpy and seductive dresses just to get the attention of the expatriate workers.

Sometimes, the plan to just get a casual affair turned into a long relationship. Reports have it that some of these commercial sex workers went to the extreme to sustain their relationships with the white men they “captured.” And in some of such instances, the relationship even metamorphosed into marriage.

This was the scenario until the agitation for resource control in the Niger Delta began. The agitation was mishandled and it was hijacked by criminals who started kidnapping white men and other expatriate workers in the city for a ransom.

For fear of falling victim to kidnappers, the white men fled from the oil rich city, a development that spoilt business for commercial sex workers and other ladies that were patronised by the foreigners.

Mr Chudi Eke-Ejelam, the Managing Editor of Evening Waves, a Port Harcourt-based newspaper, said: “Before the advent of militancy, white men were everywhere around the city, almost constituting themselves into social nuisance. The girls, most of whom were as young as 14 years, moved about everywhere with them.

“The white men took advantage of the fact that the Nigerian society hardly cared that their underage girls were being abused. Even in some cases, the families where the girls came from were in competition to present their daughters.”This gave rise to a “pimps’ paradise” where shop owners allowed their shops to serve as meeting points for the girls and the white men that patronised them.”

Eke-Ejelam admitted that militancy has reduced the number of expatriates residing in Port Harcourt and discouraged a lot of them from coming to the state for tourism. “Because the number of white men the girls popularly called ‘Aristo’ has continued to shrink, the commercial sex workers they used to patronise have resorted to fetish means to play out one another in a stiff competition for the few that are left.”

He added that the gains the commercial sex workers made from the white men ranged from exotic cars and houses to business outfits and steady cash flow. Sometimes, the relationship results in marriage, while the unlucky ones among the ladies are abandoned with pregnancies.

A Night Club owner, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, admitted that the activities of militants and kidnappers in the city had ruined business for night club owners and commercial sex workers. He recalled that before the advent of militancy and kidnapping, white men roamed freely with their girls and even accompanied them to shops and markets. The affected girls, he said, knew the kind of lifestyle the white men wanted, hence they wore skimpy dresses and maintained slim figures.

“Kidnapping has not only ruined business for commercial sex workers in the city, it has also killed night club business, because it is at night clubs that most of these girls wait for their men,” he said.

He also noted that as a result of low patronage from white men, some night clubs, including Chi Chi Discotheque, Uncle Sam and Charlie, all on Aba Road, have folded up. The GoodFelas night club, he also said, was forced out of business after three white men were kidnapped from there in the hit of militancy. “The owner of the night club has tried to re-brand the place but patronage has not picked up, while the commercial sex workers who used to throng the place have turned elsewhere,” he said.

Two commercial sex workers our correspondent spoke with at Cool Breeze Hotel on Azikiwe Street in Mile 2 area lamented that militancy had forced them to lodge at the place. They recalled with regrets that when white men were in town, money was flowing into their hands. “Sometimes, they did not carry us to give them ‘show’. It was just for us to keep them company; to smoke, drink and dance with them. When you want to go, they will give you big money,” one of them said.

Asked why they did not consider getting married to the expatriates, they explained that they were not lucky to meet those who wanted a permanent relationship. “It was only those who wanted to do and go that saw us. We tried and tried but our luck did not shine,” they said.

They also said that they were not comfortable with some of the Nigerian men who now patronise them because they mishandle them. “That is why we cannot follow any man out of this place. They can use you for anything or fail to pay for the show.”

It was also gathered that many commercial sex workers who used to camp at “Monkey Village” in Bonny, have moved out because of the activities of militants. At the height of militancy, some of the girls who were going from Port Harcourt to Bonny through the sea, fell victim to kidnapping, rape and robbery. As a result of this, those who survived the onslaught have gone underground.