Many proud and arrogant people no doubt have succeeded greatly in different endeavours of life, but pride has also cost the world so much. Arrogance has led men and nations to wars, pride has killed generations and arrogance has destroyed families and homes. Humanity has found itself at the mercies of arrogant people at one point or the other.

The build up of arms and ammunition, the invasion of lands and countries and attacks on the inhabitants are all fall outs of pride. Pride is responsible for the greed to have all and thus exploitation. The pride of people who feel their ego rather than conscience must be obeyed has led the world to various misfortunes. 

Humility which is the opposite of pride is seldom always found, yet no humble man or woman has ever been known to regret his or her humility. True great people have always been humble; Gandi, Mandela, Lincoln, King, Mother Theresa, Princess Diana, Pope John Paul etc. Humility is a virtue many people would rather not want to court. We will not certainly allow the other party to carry the day. No; the world will call us weak when we allow our humility to chase away that ego that demands respect, that ego to covet all, that ego to oppress others.

 I have seen humility in a few people which is highly commendable, but the greatest I have seen is in chairs. The chairs squat all their lives on earth to enable you and I sit. Can we beat that? Competition is good and it brings about choices and varieties. Pride however has led to unhealthy competitions and rivalries among individuals, groups, organizations, religions and even nations. Lacking the humility and simplicity of the chairs is what makes men to lie, steal and even kill to protect what they feel is theirs and in some cases; what is not even theirs. Pride and unhealthy competition make us to cheat even if just to show ourselves in a better light than what we truly are. Pride and ego is what make organizations to falsify their results and exaggerate their capabilities or achievements.

The chairs of this world have the patience none of us will be ready or pleased to have. Chairs squat for years to see students through schools, to sit us at homes, to sit visitors and researchers, to sit business men and politicians. As inanimate as these chairs are, what will be the fate of human beings in a world without chairs? From the dinning to the sitting rooms, from the church to the conference room, from the car to the aero plane. Do these chairs not deserve our commendation? Have we ever given these chairs the glory of passing an exam, of clinching a deal we negotiated on a round table, or the growth of our businesses etc?

 Rather when we graduate from school we leave them behind, when we gain promotions we discard our old seats but the chairs do not get jealous that we left them behind or we would leave them behind when we succeed from point A to point B. 

The chairs of this world should teach us to be humble, simple and selfless. Many at times we ought to be the chairs that will lead to success, lead to break-throughs, lead to inventions. We can not become furniture but metaphorically speaking we must be humble and patient like the chairs to enable us act as catalyst which will lead to greatness, harmony and development. And unlike the chairs made of furniture that are lifeless, we have the privilege of seeing the results of our virtues, which is transforming the world and leaving good legacies behind.

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 President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak has dates with history. His 30years rule on the presidential throne faces the greatest challenge. How he comes out of this will determine how the final history about him will be written or how he will write his final history. Thirty years or three decades is a long time when you consider that six US Presidents have ruled within this period, four of which ruled for 2 terms of four years with only George Bush Snr. ruling for one term and Barrack Obama still in his first term. To identify the three decades of his rule we iterate three years of each decade on world history with particular impact to the Arab world/Middle east using a 3 by 4 matrix of years 1979,1980,1981; years 1989,1990,1991; years 1999,2000,2001 and years 2009,2010,2011 which is the year of the final show down.

 Egypt is one of the world’s oldest civilizations with a long known history of its Pharaohs, Mummies and Pyramids. It is the only non-maghreb nation in North Africa Egypt is the most populated Arab country in the world with 80million citizens. 90 percent are Moslems, 9 percent Coptic Christians and 1 percent other Christians. Its three principal cities are Cairo, Alexandria and Suez.

Its strategic geographical location especially after the construction of the Suez Canal connecting the red sea with the Mediterranean Sea makes it the shortest route between the west and the east. The Mediterranean climate is a warm invitation to tourists from all over the world.

Cell One: The Iranian Revolution of 11/2/1979 opened a new chapter in the history of Middle East. The Islamic revolution over threw the Shah of Iran (Formerly Persia) and Ayatollah Khomeini became the supreme leader of the Islamic republic of Iran.

On 4/5/1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. On 22/9/1980 the eight year Iraq-Iran war broke out. The United States would go on to back Iraq in the war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

President Ronald Reagan was sworn in for his first term as US President on 20/1/1981. Pope John Paul was shot in an attempted assassination on 13/5/1981 and Princess Charles of Wales married Dianna Spencer on 29/7/1981.

Suddenly Anwar Sadat was assassinated on 6/10/1981 for signing a peace treaty with Israel by Khalid Islambouli an Islamic hardliner. Mubarak who was the Vice President became the President.

 This era marked the height of cold war between the West and Soviet Union, a bi polar world with two super powers the USA and the USSR; this period witness a stern competition between Capitalism and Marxism. Black and white TV was in vogue, analogue Telephone was the means of communication. There was a serious expansion of multi national corporations leading to internalization of capital. The Mafia in Italy and America were at their worst. Our age brackets were either toddlers or not born.

 Cell Two: The Tiananmen Square protest in China which led to the massacre of Chinese protesters took place on 4/6/1989; brave Chinese faced the tanks of the China’s red army.

 General Omar Al-Bashir came to power in an Islamist backed coup on 30/6/1989. He introduced Sharia law across Sudan which has Christians and animists in the south, this escalated the second civil war in Sudan; once again bringing the matter of political Islam to the fore. Sudan is Egypt’s neighbor to the south and the largest country in Africa in terms of land mass.

The Berlin wall fell on 9/11/1989 signaling the collapse of the iron curtain. Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison on 11/2/1990. (The CIA had earlier caused his arrest by the South African Apartheid regime in 1963)

On 2/8/1990 Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded Kuwait. Margaret Thatcher resigns as British Prime Minister on 22/11/1990 after been forced out by her own Conservative party. The Invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein led to the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War 1 code named Operation Desert Storm on 17/1/1991. The US army (which supported Iraq during the Iraq-Iran war) led the invasion of Iraq and fighting on the same side with the Soviet army for the first time.

The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party was thrown out on 26/1/1991 and Somali Dictator Siad Barre fled to Nigeria. That was the last time Somalia had a functional government and Islamist rebel groups have been battling the Fragile AU backed government; Somalia is the world’s number one failed state.

The final collapse of the USSR on 31/12/1991 led to a unipolar world with the USA as the single world super power. Iraq was the dominant Arab military power and the world witnessed increasing shift towards market economy with structural adjustments for developing economies. Digital Telephone followed coloured TV supported by Satellite TV. Our age brackets were either in primary or secondary schools.

 Cell Three: On 6/9/1999 Mubarak survived another assassination attempt. Ivory Coast the then most stable West African country witnessed its first military coup on 25/12/1999 when General Guei ousted President Henri Bedi, this will degenerate into a civil war between 2002 and 2004.

Boris Yeltsin of Russian resigned on 31/12/1999 paving way for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to beome the Russian President on 1/1/2000. The Camp David Accord ii pushed by President Bill Clinton was signed on 11/7/2000 and this was meant to be the final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

George Bush Jnr became the US president on 20/1/2001.The terrorist attack on the WTO centre and Pentagon in USA took place on 11/9/2001 and this redefined the global war on terror. The CIA trained Osama Bin Laden becomes the most wanted man in the world. The United States believed Bin Laden was hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan and they invaded the country on 20/11/2001 to remove the Taliban government in response to the twin bombings of world trade centre in New York. This era raised the stake on international terrorism and globalization became the order of the day.

Russia under Putin will rise from the ashes of the Soviet Union to be a major player. The introduction of email and GSM revolutionized communication, and cables overtook satellite TV. Our age brackets were between secondary and tertiary schools.

Cell Four: Barrack Obama was sworn in as the first black President of the US on 19/1/2009. On 12/06/2009 Iran held an election which was disputed by the opposition sparking a mass protest which was quelled by the use of force. The Supreme Leader of Iran Ayotollah Khameni backs radical President Ahmadinejad.

David Cameron of the conservative party became the youngest Prime Minister in Great Britain on 11/5/2010 and the first coalition in 70 years. In Ivory Coast two men each claiming the rights to be Presidents swore themselves in as Presidents on 4/12/2010. This was the aftermath of a disputed election held to reunite the Ivory Coast after a bitter civil war which tore the country into two; the rebel controlled Moslem north and the government controlled Christian south.

On 17/12/2010  Mohammed Bouazizi set himself ablaze in Tunisia sparking street protest on the high cost of living and high unemployment in Tunisia he died on 4/1/2011. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the Sudanese civil war fixed 9/1/2011 to 15/1/2011 for a referendum to take place in the autonomous Southern Sudan and South Sudanese overwhelmingly voted for succession from the repressive Moslem North. The Protest in Tunisia spread to Algeria and Tunisian ex-President Ben-Ali was ousted as he flees Tunisia on 15/1/2011 to Saudi Arabia. Dubbed the Jasmine revolution, the Tunisian revolution was a people’s revolt without a leader. The Domino effect of the Tunisian protest resonated in Jordan, Algeria, Yemin and Egypt. Irked by the dictatorial and corrupt regimes in the Arab world the people decided to take to the streets.

Unlike the Islamic revolution of 1979 in Iran, this is a people’s protest, though it gives the banned Islamists parties an opportunity to come back to the political scene of their countries. The revolution in social media like face book and twitter helped to mobilize protesters and aggravate the demonstrations. The recent economic meltdown makes this era one of austerity and bail outs.

Mubarak Appointed former Intelligence chief Omar Suleyman on 29/1/2011 as his Vice President the first in his 30 years rule, this has knocked off his Son Gamel out of the succession line and may pave way for an Egyptian Transition. The rising profile of China is a big challenge to the western powers and Iran is the dominant Power in the Arab region. Our age brackets are either getting married or some have become parents.

Improbabilities: Prince William son of Prince Charles and Diana who wedded in 1981 when Mubarak became president will marry Kate Middleton in West Minister Abbey (London) on 29/4/2011. Kate is presently wearing Princess Diana’s engagement ring, Prince William was not born when Mubarak became the Egyptian President. Will Mubarak defy all odds and still be the President of Egypt on the wedding day?

Pope John Paul II who survived an assassination attempt in 1981 the same year Mubarak became President will be beatified by the Roman Catholic Church, a step to sainthood on 1/5/2011 Will Mubarak the President who became a king still be on his throne to witness the beatification of Pope John Paul II?

South Sudan or any name it will be called will become the world’s newest country on 9/7/2011 splitting Egypt’s Southern neighbour into two. What ever the outcome will be, whether Mubarak will remain the President or not, he has a place as the longest serving ruler of Egypt since Ismail and he has played a very vital role in stabilizing the turbulent Middle East by been an ally of Israel. Iran of course is spreading its influence in the region and as a sworn enemy of Israel, Iran will be happy to see Mubarak go, that is why despite quelling its own revolt in 2009 by force; Iran is urging Mubarak to listen to the voice of its people.

The United States has always had Mubarak as an ally; the hypocrites that they are, U.S. now says it stands with the People of Egypt. With a Hezbollah led Government in Lebanon, Iran’s influence is growing in the region and Israel will loose another ally in the region if Mubarak is forced out. The Israeli Prime Minister fears Egypt may end up with a radical Islamic government like that of Iran. The banned opposition Moslem Brotherhood may win election in the nearest future if not now. The outcome of 1/2/2011 one million man march in Tahrir square and the general strikes called by the April 6th Movement (a face book based protest movement started in 2008) will determine if the ex air force officer who became the President and eventually became a king will either make history or will be marred by history. Until then, Mubarak has a lot of dates with history. If only he left office before now, will he be on this brink?

Eplilogue: On the 11/02/2011 other wise written as 11/02/11 Mubarak steped down. He will not make the dates of the royal wedding, canonisation or independence of a new nation. However that was the same day as 11/02/1979 when the royal regime in Iran collapsed after guerrillas armed rebel troops loyal to the Islamists overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting. It is also celebrated yearly as Islamic Revolution’s Victory day with a national holiday in Iran.

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Building of lives, physical structures, enterprises and services are at the core of existence. Nothing existed which was not first built and nothing was built which was not first created or perceived. There are many more things that have been built and can still be built, but one which has taken a prominent role is building of relationships. Relationship building permeates family, physical, emotional, business and international relationships respectively.

Relationship may be defined as a significant connection or similarity between two or more people or things or groups; and especially as regards the way they behave toward and feel about one another. Relationship shows our affiliations, rapport, bond, correlation and association with one another or with other members or group in our society or different circles. No man is an island; this cliché has over the years defined the basis on which relationship must exist in all spheres of lives. And this relationship is what I prefer to look at as networking.

Networking simply is the process or practice of building up or maintaining informal relationships, especially with people whose friendship could bring advantages such as business/social opportunities. Take for instance when God decided to create man he entered into a relationship with man where man will serve and worship God and God will be man’s deity giving man life and blessings. When a man marries a woman or a man dates a lady it becomes a network where both parties stand to benefit from each other. Even in school we benefit by associating with serious or intelligent students who either spur us or teach us when we are lost. When business associates form groups such as mergers or cartels or even partnerships these kinds of relationships provide networking opportunities for them to benefit from economies of scale. Networking has taken a more central role now with revolution in both knowledge and information& communication technology (ICT). Taking a cue from broadcast networks it is easier and cheaper for a media outfit with a network of stations to reach many audiences at a time and hence maximize revenue from massive advertisements due to their wide coverage. Same for computer networking where the internet or central server provides a platform for many computers or processing units to interact with each other. Bringing this into human networking, we stand to benefit and maximize our potentials by building networks around us. We will gain in terms of knowledge and information, business and job opportunities; family and social activities, religious and spiritual growth. Building network is as important as maintaining these networks. No relationship is important if we go into them and just abandon them. They become more useful when we maintain them and even upgrade them.

Have you imagined what happens to you if you do not maintain contacts and someday you have an urgent need that any of them is in position to address? Let’s say you care less to keep in touch with your mechanic and someday, your car suddenly breaks down far away from town where you have no one to call for aid? Visualize you had established a rapport with your mechanic, will he not leave anything he is doing and come to attend to your car no matter how odd the time is? Or do you think money can solve all the problems all the time? Look at critical areas of human need today like health, law, security, banking, insurance, business, etc and see if you have any kind of relationship with a professional in each or some of these fields. Why not make friends with a doctor today so that you can call him /her when ever you have an emergency and you may just need medical information. Why not find and build a contact with security agents today to enable you make that urgent call when the need arise since 911 does not work in this country. You can even make friends with a lawyer who will advise you informally and for free in case you need a legal advice or you need to go into a contract. How about knowing that banker whose area of competence is more than yours or different from yours. Even in the office, we can build our networks with the people who work with us on the same desk or different floors because we need them.

As we need them, they will also need us or our services. As we see the need in others we must also make ourselves needful and useful by becoming experts in our professional and informal lives. We must be willing and able to place ourselves to be available when they need us. Networking is a wonderful opportunity which gives room for synergy. We must give as much as we take, we must learn as much as we teach, we must also improve the relationships by updating our capacities to be and remain relevant in the networking equation.

Networking in this present day makes it possible for us to tap from the pool of talents embodied in others; it enables us to tap our own potentials in the bid to remain active and relevant. Networking teaches us about the interdependency evident in the fact that we need each other and even businesses need each other whether as competitors or as holding companies; as linkages or as markets. Networking gives each of us a social value or economic value since we have the opportunity to develop our resources. We make money from networking and also save cost from this.

Building and maintaining contacts is the key to surviving in a highly competitive world. Information and communication technology has made it easier by compressing space and time, thus we can network across distance and beyond mere physical contacts. Let’s keep building if we have already started, let us start building if we have not started, most importantly, let us not only build but let us maintain our networks. As the world keeps moving from analogue to digital, from manual to automation from physical to fibre, we can not afford to shy away from upgrading our own networks. At the height of it, is when networks build networks between and among themselves to harness the boundless opportunities which integration affords all.

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 How many times have we out of anger, frustration, fatigue, fear, hatred, laziness and even sheer mediocrity lost other opportunities because we shut ourselves in or out by failing to leave a window open? We pass opportunities by shutting ourselves out and opportunities pass us by because we shut ourselves in. We have lost the will to try other pastures because when we discovered the present pasture we threw all to the wind, locked ourselves in this and believed that we have attain the best. We have lost the faith in our ability to dare because we didn’t leave any window open for possibilities to believe in our selves. We are living on the dexterity of those who left their windows open and pushed their frontiers to build enterprises while we have limited our selves to their whims and caprices.

Even in love sometimes we fail to love again because the last time we did we got hurt or disappointed hence we said never again; and this came with shutting of the doors and windows to everyone and anyone including those who unknowingly to us are the right people we have been born for. Even plants can not survive if they are isolated and locked away in rooms without window, because they need air, light and sun to grow. What more of we humans and how much more for the human mind, heart and will? No matter what we face now or we have faced, we need to leave at least a window if not a door, and we need to leave a pigeon hole if not a window.

No matter how good life is, it can still be better and no matter how bad life is, it can still be worse. This window we leave makes it possible for our good lives to become better and makes it possible for the bad life to have an opportunity to become good else it can get worse; because there is always a motion in life, nothing is static. The desirability for us to take charge of our emotions and decisions makes it imperative for us to allow a vent in and out of our lives. This vent gives us the advantage over those who live in a sealed world. Living in a sealed world whether in affluence or penury has already foreclosed our ability to gain more or change our fortune for good.

The golden opportunities of life come at different times and outlooks, they major way to benefit is to leave a lee way that we can use to tap into those opportunities. Leaving a window open no matter our circumstances in life makes it possible for us to smile again, love again, gain again, achieve again, excel again , fly above our inadequacies and discover our destiny.

Once upon a time, I was non-existent; I was happy where I was because I was no where.

I had nothing to fret and worry about. I could wake and sleep at will and travel everywhere at anytime.

I was really a free being because I was not even in being.

The baker and the flour had an affair and they decided to start baking.

Good, homemade bread tasted so sweet and people rushed to buy and eat.

The increase in demand led to a surge in production.

The profits were coming and so was the market expanding.

At the rate the flour was been used to bake the bread, the baker knew it would run out of fashion and it was going to cost him more to sustain the rapid purchase of flour to keep the bakery at optimal point.

They introduced the production possibility curve concept and baptized it as Isoquant. But something was missing. For the curve not to obey diminishing returns they needed more dough with less flour.

From my wilderness of freedom they cajoled me into the baking process and called me a baking powder.

Little amount of flour combined with Sammybest gives more dough for higher loaves of bread.

The market kept booming, the people ate enough and the baker smiled home with more silver.

I bear the mixing, endure the heat and undergo the transformation.

I see how my captivity aids a small portion of flour give birth to many loaves for the accomplished baker.

I am mostly locked in a tin or tied in nylon without light or air, when I am brought out it is not to get some fresh air but to be added to the dough and sent into the heat.

Like an animal fat I get heated and evaporated, at the end of the process everyone sees the bread and the coal but no one remembers me because I have gone

But since I am just some powder and I have no mouth to eat the bread, I must now wait for miracle.

Now I fret at my existence because I was happier when I did not exist.

Their avarice is my agony.

Mama is fifty

The world is sending congratulatory messages

My elder siblings are dinning and wining

They are celebrating mama’s age,

They bought lipstick to adorn her lips

New clothes to wear on her

My sisters even sewed theirs

My uncles are busy popping champagne.

Mama is fifty

Everyone is happy for her

Even the sun seems to be smiling from afar

As the rains walk southwards to give us room

I look around and see everyone dancing and jubilating

Thanking God for her life.

When I stare into mama’s loving eyes what I see are misty clouds.

I know why mama is sad on her birthday.

Mama has attained the golden age but with wooden legs.

And my family members who took away the gold in her

Are the very ones dancing more than ever.

Mama is fifty

At fifty our mother is wooden not golden.

Watching Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki on television reading his declaration to become the next President and Commander In Chief of the Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I asked myself a question. Who shall we call our President; The father or the son?

Bukola Saraki did not convince me that he wrote the speech he read, I want to believe his father, the self styled god father of Kwara Politics wrote the son’s speech. He claimed Nigeria needs a younger generation to take charge of the affairs of our country. Agreed we need the new breed to come and salvage us, but someone should please tell Mr. Governor what we do not need are old breed masqueraded in their children as new breed. Each time I see Bukola Saraki I see Olusola Saraki’s shadow looming around, anytime hear Saraki Jnr. talking it is the voice of Saraki Snr. that is talking to me. How else would one explain a man who made his son governor of a state for 8 years and his daughter a senator from that state. How can I imagine that the godfather now wants his daughter to take over from the son as the governor as he promotes his son to the presidency of our nation? Will it not become the trinity of the father, the son and the daughter? If kwara state can be re-baptized to Saraki state and all people of kwara state made to adopt the surname of Saraki, will Nigeria become the Republic of Saraki too?

 I dare say that if Bukola Saraki was the son of a commoner like many of us, he would not have become a governor, it was his father’s rather than his popularity that made him a governor. It is his father who months ago gathered political big wigs in kwara and told them to pray for his son who after two terms as governor was too young to go into retirement. The father has now found another employment opportunity for the son.

Bukola Saraki made mention of what he hopes to accomplish as the President of Nigeria based on his achievements in kwara, none of the politicians is shamed to be promising things we ought to have overcome by now. But must one be a President to serve or create a change? Can’t he as a senator, philanthropist, or as an adviser, still contribute in the development of this country? Can’t we have a Saraki Foundation that will create Jobs or provide scholarships to empower the youth? Can’t we have a Saraki NGO that will address infant and maternal mortalities? What of a Saraki Center that will train skilled and unskilled Nigerians to make them well equipped to face the challenges of a modern world? Why must it be a Saraki Presidency; will there be this urge to serve as the President if that office is divorced from having access to the billions of oil dollars at the president’s disposal to be spent or embezzled at selfish politicians’ whims and caprices?

In other civilized societies, great men who contributed to the development of their land and people were and are not politicians. Bill Gates is making impacts worldwide without a government portfolio. Michael Jackson pumped millions of dollars into Charity without seeking for political office. Oprah Winfrey is doing same without the patronage of public funds or power. Why can’t we take a cue? I don’t want to be in doubt of who is my President come 2011, whether it is the son or the President’s father?

I don’t want our country’s budget to be prepared from Ilorin or laws to be made by a father whose son is privileged to be the President. I don’t want my nation’s armed forces to be confused on who really there Commander in Chief is .I believe that the mystery of the Holy Trinity should end in the spiritual sphere of God the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and not extend to the political of sphere in form of the selfish trinity of the father’s President, the Son and the daughter. It is only in a tortoise economy like ours where growth is so slow or non-existent that people personalize governance and economic resources to this magnitude.

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CredoResearchers: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen. Background:

 The issue of prostitution is a complex one; it is so dynamic and hence its economics also. Prostitution exists with us and since we co-exist with it whether as participants, agents or onlookers; we as members of the society cannot afford to shy away from this phenomenon much as we try to. Prostitution is extremely wide spread, though the question of prostitution is a difficult and thorny subject that has received a little attention in Nigeria. Our reluctance to come to terms with the harm widespread of mass prostitution does to the entire society is highly hypocritical and comes with a lot of associated costs. Economic reasons such as vicious circle of poverty have raised the tally of the women in crimes labeled among which is prostitution and women trafficking. The women’s involvement in prostitution though can be linked to poverty is not limited to it. Also most of the money generated from prostitution is expended on the sustenance of family, education, etc. Most women and children are not freely choosing to work in prostitution, “it is a choice based purely on economics of food and shelter”. According to a World Bank report 20 % of the world’s population possesses 86% of the world’s financial wealth. The assets of the three executives of Microsoft are more than the combined assets of the 43 poorest countries in the world – representing more than 600 million people. This has led to an increase in immiseration-the growing poverty of the mass of the population in the periphery.

 Naanen (1991) writing on the history of prostitution in Nigeria’s upper Cross River Basin during the first half of the 20th century, traced the rise in commercial sex activities and blamed colonialism and even the sexual habits of the colonialists. Colonization led to an increasingly monetized economy where sex could be bought. This paper attempts to bring to the fore the problems posed by prostitution in a bid to attract attention to this menace with the view of finding solutions to this societal challenge.

 The Dynamics of Prostitution:

 Prostitution is said to be the world’s oldest profession. It is a complex and worldwide phenomenon. Kollantai 1921 sees prostitution as a phenomenon which is closely linked with unearned income. He further defines it as the act of selling one’s body for material benefit- for decent food, clothes and other advantages. It can then be said that for prostitution to take place; there must be an exchange at a cost-value, making prostitution an economic activity. It is however not limited to one sex alone but over the centuries, the females have been on the active side of providing the services with the males as the patrons. The double standard and the depersonalization of sex combined, making sex a viable commodity in a society of consumers. The growing use of nudity and illicit sex scenes in the media, as an effective economic tool, and the focus on pleasure rather than work assisted the commercialization of sex. As it became defined in economic terms, society began to equate sex with success. Women derived their sexual success from desirability where as men’s success is measured by their ability to have or buy sex. With success as a goal, the demand for sex as a commodity increases, creating a broader market for pornography and prostitution. In this economic system, most often lower class women, recognizing the monetary worth of their bodies, sell it as a means of income. This relationship makes urban areas the centres of prostitution because “the city” provides more sufficient patrons to make prostitution a profitable occupation.

Prostitution is thus defined as a socio-economic phenomenon, illustrating a free market where every participant sells themselves for money or goods, exploits and is exploited and where some make more profits than others. In that sense prostitution (including male prostitution) is an economic rather than a sexual phenomenon. On the other hand, prostitution illustrates clearly the gender difference which lies at the heart of the sexual system, and it is therefore not a by-product but at the very foundation of many economies. The international labour organization for one has recognized prostitution as work. Whatever arguments, prostitution is one of the few ways in which women with no other skills and little education can earn a living. The United Nations believes that at least 10% of the world’s female population in urban areas earns all or part of their living working in prostitution. Prostitutes often argue that they are also therapists. Therapy now includes “sex surrogacy “- where substitute female partners help men who lack sexual experience or suffer feelings of inadequacy in bed. Sex surrogates would certainly not see themselves as prostitutes, and yet they perform sexual service for money. Those who sell sex are as diverse as sex itself. Most are female, some are male. Most are heterosexual, many lesbian or gay. Some see prostitution as a personal tragedy; others have chosen it freely. Prostitution and sex tourism fall under a more general category of sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation happens when one person (or persons) receive(s) sex or money through another person’s sexuality. For instance, prostitution entails a man receiving sex while a pimp may receive the money using a woman as a prostitute. In sex tourism, a foreigner may pay a sex travel agency for a trip to Nigeria which includes airfare, hotel, food and women for sex.

 Sex trafficking is defined by the European Union as the transportation of women with the goal of sexual exploitation with or without their consent. The concepts of prostitution are dynamic especially with the advancement of capitalism and the growth of globalization, yet they all centrally revolve around a pivot; sex is purchased through prostitution no matter the guise.

Causes of Prostitution:

As already stated poverty and the excuse of poverty drives the trading in prostitution and wealth increases the buying power of the patrons while at the same time raising the allure for more players. This means that inequitable distribution of income which is reinforced by corruption and high rate of unemployment are among the major drivers f prostitution. Towns grew where both goods and sex could be more easily bought. Discriminatory practices against women like widows or sterile women who are driven out of their homes; is another major cause of prostitution. The demand for commercial sex in itself is another major cause for increase in prostitution. Long distance truck drivers and men with high sexual drive seem to push up this category of demand –induced prostitution. The revolution in Information and communication technology (ICT) has radically influenced the choice of women participants in prostitution. ICT enhances the recruitment and participation in prostitution through e-prostitution. Ladies keep their pictures and mobile numbers in hotels for clients and patrons to contact them. Modern technology has made them to now see what glamour is; and the crave for material wealth as evident in the society is driving more and more people to work in this industry. The Market structure of the Industry: Prostitution can be decomposed into four forms; institutional, freelance, corporate and international prostitution respectively. The first is mostly practiced in the hotels, brothels and bars while the second is a single sex operator. Corporate prostitution occurs when ladies are compelled into sleeping with their bosses to get jobs, promotions or even keep their jobs; or when female workers must sleep with clients to achieve their targets. The last one involves cross border prostitution which involves smuggling and human trafficking Prostitution integrates most of the various market situations. It is often a monopolistic competition because the sex providers can be differentiated. High valued prostitutes can however become monopsonists when they attract and restrict individual clients to themselves alone. Also the supply of clients can be a monopsony or oligopoly when one or a few rich clients become the sole or few patrons of a sex worker(s). In other cases prostitutes form cartels to maximize the benefit s from the trade. Outsourcing is very rampant where madams or established prostitutes provide younger ladies or new entrants to men who will in turn pay them for acting as suppliers. Consequently the value chain moves in both directions from the clients to the sex providers or from the sex providers to the patrons through intermediaries. Most of the women are below the age of 30 years, indeed many see prostitution as a stage in their life circles because men demand younger women. The women see this period as one when they can and must save for later investment back home. Unfortunately in the modern day, even ladies from comfortable backgrounds, students and some working class ladies have been attracted to the glamour which prostitution provides, and hence they have joined in the trade at the economic sphere of ostentatious living rather than necessity. Even Professional and other employed ladies engage in prostitution on a part time basis.

Benefits of Prostitution:

The benefits of commercial sex for the supplier is that prostitution even after food and clothing and the institutions cut are taken into account is lucrative. The average prostitute makes as much money as a senior civil servant. The flow of sophisticated young women into towns and cities like Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Kano, Jos, Benin and Ibadan among others is a product of modernization. Naanen (1991) showed that half a century ago, the remittances from prostitutes into Obubra of South East Nigeria amounted to more than double the public revenue, contributed to house building and family support.

Costs of Prostitution:

 Commercial sex is an active source of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including HIV and AIDS. Prostitution is becoming more of a dangerous profession, with the increase in crime rates ladies working in prostitution stand a high chance of becoming victims of rape, kidnapping and rituals. Daily trust newspaper of May 18, 2010 on page 41 reported the story of a 22 year old female undergraduate who jumped from the third floor of a hotel in Abuja to escape ritualists. She broke her waist in the process; she had been picked the previous night to sleep with a client (who happened to be an agent of a ritualist) at the rate of N4, 000 only. Prostitution discourages hard work because it gives the ladies the false impression that there is an alternative to success through selling their bodies for money or favour. This brings about moral decadence in the society and is a major reason for human trafficking which results to human degradation and also sex slavery.

Control Measures Against Prostitution:

The Family Based Approach: Should be the fundamental and primary control measure. Family values must be reintroduced and entrenched at the very tender age with close monitoring through the formative years into adulthood.

Community/Religious Based Approach: must be emphasized to save the society from the pollution caused by prostitution. It should be a participatory /collaborative method designed to expose the dangers of prostitution on the individuals and society while encouraging the populace on the merit of morality and hard work. Counseling and rehabilitation facilities should be made available both for preventive and corrective measures. The media must reduce its sensational portrayal of sex as a tool for exploitation and achievement.

The Government Approach: comes in the area of ensuring adequate living standard with qualitative human development indices to all citizens. Corruption must be minimized, poverty alleviated, infrastructure provided, education subsidized and employment generated or the opportunities enabled. Rural areas should be developed and urban poverty with high rate of population densities must be checked. People who exploit others sexuality for greed or money should be brought to book and border control should be enforced to check human trafficking.

The Radical Approach: like the current moves by the incumbent minister of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja to flush out prostitutes who have refused to leave the trade. However care must be taken to put in place adequate measures and incentives for the prostitutes to buy into scheme, else they will go under and this will distort the supply of commercial sex. This in turn will only create black markets and hike up the price of commercial sex. Again this will serve as a multiplier effect to motivate more prostitutes to find ways of circumventing the government since it will become more lucrative at a distorted supply rate.

Conclusion:

It is clear that economics more than any other factor propels prostitution. This could be economics of needs or economics of wants, economics of survival or economics of luxury. In the short run the boom is an incentive with attendant benefits but in the long run the doom to the individual or society is a collateral damage. The economics invariable becomes a diseconomy with the industry creating disequilibrium. The big challenge is to identify the major causes of prostitution like poverty, dislocation of the actors from their families, corruption, and the commercialization of sex among others. Adequate measures at both the governmental and nongovernmental levels must be taken to address these causes.

Radical control measures taken must be careful not to criminalize the prostitutes. Rather they should be integrated. Prostitution should be taken out of the prostitutes and not just mere taking them out of prostitution. In addition, because prostitution is deeply rooted in economics, making it illegal doesn’t reduce the persistence of male demand. Illegalization, however transforms prostitution into a subculture with a criminal status. Once a prostitute has a criminal status, she becomes trapped in an economic and criminal cycle that facilitates societal rejection. In the final analysis the economics of prostitution is a zero-sum gain; the disadvantages far outweigh any perceived advantages.

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Humanly speaking we were all born with our virginity intact, but honestly speaking most if not all of us have lost our virginity. How we lost our virginity, when we lost of virginity, and what or who we lost our virginity to is very key, but not the ultimate.

 Virginity is defined by the dictionary as an unspoiled state. It is the state of being untouched, unexplored, or unspoiled. Many of us were virgins in our hearts, in our trust, in our finances, in our beliefs, in our academic pursuits, in our ambitions, in our careers and in a host of others. And as varying as these states of virginity are, so have we lost our virginity in various states; individually or combined.

Once we were innocent, once we were full of trust, once we were happy, once we were young at heart, once we were optimistic, once we were full of faith and not long ago we believed in hope, we had confidence in our selves. Today the young man has lost his self esteem, the boy has lost his confidence, the lady has lost her trust in love, the woman has lost her happiness, the parents have lost their sleep, and the citizens have lost faith. We have lost one or few or many of the various states of virginity. We gave our all and got none or so little in return. He loved with all his heart and got all the disappointments. We had gone to school with the hope to achieve our ambitions, some have achieved, some are still achieving but some have lost the drive to achieve. Many a young people grew up to seek and believe in love. Some are happily in love; others are sadly out of love. Most of us had plans to be financially emancipated, some are on their path, others have met with obstacles and some have met brick walls.

We were once naive; today we are suspicious, worldly and shrewd. We were once innocent today we are malicious and some times tainted. We were once full of hope; today we are skeptics and pessimists. We were once courageous today we live in despair. We were once happy today we are sad and full of grief. We were once buoyant; today we are glum and sullen. We no longer aspire, we no longer dream, we no longer plan, we no longer wish and we no longer desire. How then can we hope to achieve? How can we live if we do not anticipate? Should loosing our virginity kill our dreams and life?

We lost our hearts to heart break, should the heart break last for ever? We lost our love to failed relationships; must we deny ourselves the right to love again? We lost our wealth to the economic meltdown will the gloom remain till death? We lost our happiness to those who exploited us, should we remain in that state? We lost our trust to those who betrayed us must we doubt the whole world? We lost our childhood to wrong peers can’t we become better adults?

 We may have lost a lot but we can not afford to loose our head. We need to win our confidence and faith and trust and personality back. Loosing our virginity is not as tragic as not gaining the lessons that will help us regain our worth. Loosing our virginity may be painful but remaining in a state of perpetual lost is more painful, that will be a total lost. That we have lost our virginity is no longer news, how we lost our virginity should not kill our morale but the question we should ask is: what did we gain when we lost our virginity? Did we gain the lessons? Did we gain the experience? Are we going to remain perpetual losers or can we bounce back?

If we lost our virginity we can not afford to loose ourselves.

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