Thursday, December 23, 2010
[size=14pt]Jumbo pay, attraction for ladies
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Agency Reporter


When Pat (not real name) set out for Abuja in 2007, she had just one thing on her mind-to get ajob and possibly hook one of the Abuja big boys who she had heard so much about. Her friends who lived in the Federal Capital City Territory had regaled her with tales of big boys whose pockets seemed bottomless. So, after working in a research company in Lagos for 18 months with almost nothing to show for it, she had packed her clothes into one bag and boarded a luxury bus to Abuja.


[img]http://odili.net/news/source/2010/dec/23/punch/images/pix201012230113087[1].jpg[/img]
FCT gate






She didn't get a job, but after two weeks; she was lucky to have been invited to an "exclusive" party organised by an Abuja "happening babe." That what all she needed. The right guy noticed her and she moved into the "Senior girls" league.

Today, she lives in a very comfortable flat in Gwarimpa and has two cars to her name. The lucky man in the life of the lucky lady is said to be a lawmaker from the Niger Delta, with sources noting that the relationship is now that of a husband and wife.

Really, apart from the tall buildings, beautifully tarred roads and fancy cars, the promise of a better life attracts many to Nigeria's capital city, Abuja.

Money and power, which, for some time, have been a near exclusive preserve of the male gender in a patriarchal society like ours, attract women like bees to honey.

Since the transfer of the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja in the early 1990's, men (and some say women) of power and influence have found a home in the nation's capital.

The fairer sex, as women are often referred to, are aplenty on the streets of the federal capital.

Engage many girls on the street, and you will find out that beneath the calmness and finesse is an unmistaken desire to "make it, no matter what."

Since the Nigerian economy sadly revolves around government business, those who find themselves in or around the corridors of power control access to the vast resources therein.

Back in the days when the military held sway, the ladies made it big. Stories abound about women owning choice property in Asokoro, Maitama, Wuse and Garki.

Men of power across the three tiers of government at the federal, state and local government levels attract the highest number of damsels who are desperate to get their hands, at the till.

In Abuja, top government functionaries in the executive, legislative and the Judiciary are the most highly prized targets among women.

For a few lucky ones, a steady relationship or even a fling with men in any of these levels of power could very well be a ticket to the easy life they covet.

It is commonplace to see teenage girls behind the wheels in flashy cars and living in houses many Nigerians can only afford in their dreams.

Chances are that they have the right connections in the executive or the judicial arm of government, or simply enjoy "legislative backing."

This does not, however, mean that there are no women who genuinely work for whatever they have achieved.

Among members of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, our lawmakers appear to have replaced the top military brass as choice target among women.

The pressure on lawmakers was so intense, that it prompted a senator to cry out on the floor of the Senate that "Our telephone lines are being sold to women."

He explained that he and his colleagues receive "strange calls" from all kinds of women seeking for one favour or another.

The reason is not farfetched. The public display of affluence by members of Nigeria's legislature fuels public perception.

This became more pronounced during the Obasanjo/National Assembly faceoff. Millions of naira in liquid cash of (alleged) bribe money was laid on the table in the House of Representatives - while Ghali Na'abba was speaker.

It was no different in the Senate. Senators were alleged to have collected N50m each in order to support Obasanjo's botched third term agenda.

The recent furore generated by the pecks of office enjoyed by legislators, whether real or imagined, has not helped matters.

The Central Bank governor, Lamido Sanusi stirred the hornets' nest when he laid bare a fraction of the cost of maintaining our law makers.

A member of the House of Representatives, Patrick Obahiagbon, had this response to the question, "What about women and politicians in Abuja?" in an interview published by one of The Punch titles.

He responded after a bout of laughter, "I don't think women flock around you because you are a legislator. It is not exclusive to the political class. It is a general phenomenon and such disposition only conforms to the law of duality. I mean the law of opposites.

"There is man, there is a woman. But given the materialistic propensity that we have been sunk into, there is a tendency for women to agglutinate to those in the upper class of the society.

"For me, that is no problem at all. This is because I'm very busy and I still have up to 50 books in my library that I have not read.

"I have been buying at least five Nigerian newspapers daily for over 12 years, which I read as if I am preparing for an examination. That takes my time. I'm not saying that I'm an angel, but I don't see women as a problem."

His counterpart in the Senate, Sylvester Anyanwu, dispels the notion that Senators are under worked and over paid.

He said, "The stereotype Senator is rich and has all the money to give everyone.

http://odili.net/news/source/2010/dec/23/800.html

Wicked

The inhumanity and wickedness shown to Nigerian women by their men cannot be fathomed.

Wrong title. I think it more likely should be "Some women and their attraction to money".