Uche Edochie, chief executive officer, Zee Virtual Media loves the business he does. Edochie runs an on-line adult toy shop. Demand for his products is high, but his busiest month is February. “We are very busy particularly in this month of February because of the high demand,” Edochie says. Although he was reluctant to say just how much he makes from selling the “toys,” he does admit that the majority of his clients are married people and senior citizens. “Most of our clients are married people so I would put their age between 25 and 45 years old. But senior citizens buy from us as well.” Edochie said.
Global statistics say the adult toy business is worth several millions of dollars. According to a Durex global sex survey, Australia has the highest vibrator use reported at 46 percent while India has the lowest at three per cent. Vibrators are used by almost half of the population in the United States.
Comfort Eshiet is a gender advocate. Eshiet says she is sure that “many people are buying and using adult toys.” Edochie says shops dealing in such products are thriving in high-brow areas like Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki in Lagos, as well as in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. But not many of such shops conduct their business openly in Nigeria. Some like Edochie's Virtual Media prefer on-line dealings. Edochie turned down all entreaties by The Business Eye for a face to face, interview, saying that he conducts his transactions strictly on-line.
Adult toys are accessories that help make sex more pleasurable. Often they are modelled after the male and female Instruments, and come in various shapes and sizes. Most common among these are vibrators, designed mainly for women. Vibrators look like the male organ but offer levels of sexual stimulation that cannot be provided by any human. That is why many see the vibrator as a great addition to sex play. Experts say a vibrator is the easiest way for a woman who has never had an orgasm to experience it.
These can be used in several ways: externally or internally, or sometimes both at the same time for penetration. Vibrators can be outlet-powered (electric vibrators) or battery-powered. Adam's Cock Dong, an example of a battery vibrator, is a powerful realistic 8 inches long vibrator that goes for N12,500 at Zee Virtual Media shop. Another very popular vibrator is the Silver Bullet, popular because of its relatively low cost: It goes for N2,500.
Explaining the difference between the two, Edochie says that while outlet-powered vibrators can last for years, the motors in the inexpensive battery vibrators are built to last for 10 hours of use, which probably translates into 20 uses of 30 minutes each. But, the lifespan actually depends largely on the user, Edochie explained.
But females are not the only ones that use intimacy gadgets. Men do too. Toys in this category include Lacy Sexy Sista Doll, an inflatable and vibrating life-size doll with love holes, which, for portability, can be inflated or deflated. Experts say it is convenient for travellers, so also is the Futurotic Travel Pussy, a five inch stretchy and realistic black masturbator. While the Sexy Sista Doll costs N12, 500, the Futurotic Travel Pussy costs N3,999.
The Love Machine is yet another female intimacy gadget. Dildos are designed to give more general satisfying feeling of fullness when gently moved in and out of the vagina. Many dildos come in a rainbow of colours and a variety of shapes, texture, and styles. Edochie explains that some dildos come with harnesses which could be strapped onto the pelvis, holding the Love Machine just over the pubic bone. Edochie says, men also use dildos to enhance their sexual performance. “This is a powerful fantasy for some men,” he says. The Eves Harness Strap-On-kit contains not one but two dildos and goes for N16,500.
But why do men and women use adult toys? Besides what he describes as the “factor of the increasingly permissive society,” Nicholas Ukandi, a Lagos-based psychologist, says people are being pushed into the practice by “tension and harsh realities of society.” 'It is easy to see that even married people hardly have time for their partners. A situation like the one in Lagos where people wake up very early to go to work and comes back very late each day does not provide ground for a healthy sex relationship. Any normal person working like this is bound to be tired, and given this condition, the husband or wife may resort to adult toys,” he said, adding that this is usually the case where the one concerned does not want to be involved in an extra marital affair.
Some of those who use adult toys do so for self-discovery, spicing up a long-term sexual relationship, helping experience orgasm, extra stimulation and sometimes, just for fun.
Obajimi Gbolahan, an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Nordica Fertility Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, explains that “there are a lot of psychological components to sexual ability which has to do with emotions and the environment.” “Medically, adult toys are legal,” he explains “but it is their illicit uses that make them abominable.”

*Hauwa*:

oh well maybe it will reduce the rate naija men run after everything in skirt. also the number of children too. new age i say. good raddiance to good rubbish

as long as they don't go abt borrowing it. i hate that 'can i' have this or that attitude of some nigerians. . . esp those in Uni.

i won't go after those toys personally, i will wait for the real thing 

**osisi:

Inflatable life size dolls with love holes?

I hope they wash it afterwards
ewwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sisi Jinx:

Couldn't agree more!!!!

If the traders wanna sell more sef they should create the talking dolls to say Head swelling things praising their prowess and another to say "Oga no sir. Please sir, don't do this sir. " . . . ya know for those ones who consider that kinda talk pre-intimacy.

Mr_Cork:

OK what has IGBO traders gots to do with Romance