Those who are not practically involved in teaching and learning are either doing one form of business or the other.
At the end of every day, few people cluster around few relaxation centres to unwind. In these joints, fresh fish pepper-soup, roasted fish, nkwobi, ishi ewu among other delicacies are often served. These delicacies are served with chilled drinks to customers who consumed them very fast in order not to keep late nights. In deed, night-life was almost zero in the University town especially when stories made the rounds that related cult clashes resulted in killing of many young men.
Those days, security was the main challenge facing the residents who at the end of the day made haste to get to their houses before sun set.
Today, the game has changed. Hotels are springing up here and there and so there has become stiff competition among the owners. Many other hotels around town are either already completed or at one stage of completion or the other. As the hotels were springing up, so many other drinking joints going by the name, gardens, began to spring up too. The development no doubt comes with its attendant ups and downs.
However, these hospitality industry players just like any other business enterprise are faced with one major challenge; power supply. For a hotel that has at least 30 rooms, it requires nothing less than three pieces of power generating sets that are within the range of 100kva each. Each of these generators gulp not less than one hundred litres of diesel daily. When multiplied by the current price of the product, it will translate to a huge sum that cannot be sustained by the revenue the hotel generates.
Therefore, in order to make both ends meet, operators resort to doing one thing or the other to attract customers to the joints or hotels. The idea here is that when they have people around, then the chances of selling large quantities of drinks become high. In order words, the operators of these hotels make more money through the sale of liquor than lodging and accommodation.
Before now, the major strategy which the operators apply to attract attention of customers was the installation of big LCD televisions showing English Premiership League matches as well as the European Champions League. Football enthusiasts are often seen in these hotels and joints when major teams and clubs are engaged in matches but today, the game has changed. Operators now look elsewhere to attract the attention of these customers because so many are beginning to acquire their own Satellite Dishes and televisions.
The in thing today is the hiring of young beautiful ladies who come on stage, strip themselves naked and dance lewdly to some tunes.
Speaking to our roving reporter, an operator of one of these gardens who pleaded anonymity said: “We are operating under stiff competition. We run our gardens with generators and if you see how much we spend on diesel, you will pity us. We can't under this present circumstance pay our workers let alone make profit. Due to the mess we found ourselves, we were forced to apply other means to break even and that is the reason why we employ the services of these ladies. They come on their own and apply to dance naked in public. When they come on stage, we usually witness a boom in sales. In a night, we can comfortably sell over a hundred cartons of assorted drinks. We kill more fish and prepare more ishi ewu and out of these, we make little profit to keep us moving.
When asked to comment on the moral aspect of what he is doing, the man who did not want his name in print said he did not force the ladies to come and dance naked on the stage. “It is their profession and they are paid for their services.
As for whether his joint was not corrupting the youths, he said his garden was well fenced and so there would not be any thoroughfare for those below the age of 18. “It is purely for adults and we ensure that you are aware of where you are going. The venue is strictly not just an all comer's affair”.
Asked to express how he will feel if as a man he found his daughter in a stage like that, he said God would never allow his daughter to degenerate to the extent of going to clubs to dance naked.
Also speaking to The Starlite, the proprietor of Bar Royal center at Odenigbo, Nsukka, Mr. Eze Damian said he does not have the intention to engage such ladies to perform in his bar stressing that those who were in the habit of promoting the business of strip clubs were free under the sun to do so stressing that there was no law in our law books where such thing is classified as against the law.
“In as much as I would not want to apply such in my joint, I do not have to condemn those who think they would make more profit through that. This is a free world and whatever you do, you will account for it either here on earth or thereafter. For those who go to patronize the joints and hotels where ladies dance naked, it is also their choice. I do not have the capacity to condemn anyone. I don't also pry into other people's business. I try to focus on what I do and that is all”. Mr. Eze D. O said.
In the meantime, very many men of God who spoke to The Starlite on the development condemned it and called on government to look into it with the aim of coming up with legislation that would protect the moral values the people of Nsukka worldwide are known for adding that these vices came as a result of urbanization. Though most of the Priests said they were not aware that such level of immorality are going on in Nsukka, they said they would meet their colleagues in other denominations to push for the proscription of venues where ladies are allowed to dance naked.
“It is painful to the ears to hear that the stories associated with big cities like Lagos, Abuja and Owerri are already here under our nose. It is really sad and we shall work to make sure that the excesses of these hotel and garden operators are curbed. In those places where people operate strip clubs, it is not just open to the general public. The operators try to shield little children from having access to the venue but here, we are throwing our gates open to everybody to come in. I am not saying that the idea is partially good but to let little children who do not have the mental strength to reject what they don't like is highly criminal and should be condemned in strongest terms.
“Now that you have aroused the consciousness, I will collaborate with other men of God to fight this satanic scourge that is coming to destroy our youth”.
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