Is it how you treat your house help that they behave to you ?
Do you Treat your househelp well ?
Ijeoma Ugwumba’s euphoric mood over the date she had just had was shattered when she waltzed into her Lekki apartment one sultry Sunday evening. “I saw a note from my househelp, Oluchi (Muoghalu), saying that she had left,” said the mid-level federal civil servant.
“Her (mobile phone) number was not going, I called her parents (in Anambara State) and they said they did not see her. I was rushing to keep an appointment with my date, so I gave her N30,000 to pay into the bank for me. When I came back, Oluchi had disappeared with her bags and my money.
“Not only that; she left with my DVD (player), my manicure kit, and even had the audacity to take some of my underwear,” she added. Ms. Ugwumba’s four days of an extensive manhunt eventually unearthed Ms. Muoghalu in far away Delta State.
She had aborted a pregnancy, unknown to her employer, and eloped with a boyfriend to Asaba. She had also, to Ms. Ugwumba’s chagrin, borrowed N10,000 from a neighbour on her employer’s behalf. Ms. Ugwumba’s plight represents that which a growing number of Lagos residents pass through in the hands of domestic workers like maids and houseboys.
The rapidly growing number of working women and the demands of living in an overpopulated mega city like Lagos has necessitated the need for hired helps to take care of homes, and children in some cases. In downtown Surulere, Bernadene Ihekweme, got a scare recently when she got home from work, around 10pm one night, to find her maid and three children missing. “Apart from my first son, (Jude), the rest are normally in bed by that time. I nearly had a heart attack.
I panicked and started calling every neighbour to know where they were,” she said. Her fears were assuaged when it turned out her husband, who works and resides in Abuja, had paid a surprise visit and played a prank on her by whisking the family away. “Normally, I shouldn’t have panicked like that, but in this era of maids and houseboys conniving with kidnappers, do you blame me?” added Ms. Ihekweme.
Her suspicions are equally mirrored by majority of respondents; even in cases where domestic servants have been with their employers for long periods.
Bad eggs
Having served her employer for a “loyal” eight years, Kikelomo Olarenwaju, is indignant at the suggestion that her trustworthiness could be suspect. “That one can never happen,” she declared. “My madam (Abisola John-Martins) can never try to suspect me for anything. I have been here for so long that I can’t mess up. In short, I am now a part of the family. My madam has already registered for my JAMB; that is because she now wants me to go to university just like her children.” Emilia Ike is an economics graduate, and manages a cyber cafe at Aguda, Surulere.
She has served as a househelp to Cyprain and Geraldine Okwara since 1996. “There was a time I had a problem with madam, but since then I have a very good relationship with them,” she said. “I am very grateful to them; oga sponsored my education from secondary to polytechnic, and even opened this cyber cafe for me to manage. I will stay with them until I marry.”
Expert advice
Dave Uko, a legal practitioner, believes that some of these domestic workers that misbehave do so as a reaction to the unfair conditions of labour they might be subjected to. “Some of these people that complain about their maid or houseboy did this and that are the cause of their woes,” he said. “What do you expect from a maid who is overlaboured and underpaid? There are bound to be feelings of resentment in such cases.
How many people know that their domestic servants, who are not relatives, are entitled to workmen’s compensation insurance under the Workmen Compensation Act? Domestic servants are human, and should be treated with the utmost respect.” Ms Ugwumba is adamant that she treated her erstwhile maid well, and believes she has been unfairly rewarded. “Now, her ungrateful parents are accusing me of all sorts of rubbish and even threatened my father when he went to their house to explain what happened,” she said.
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Safe and covertly vicious, university campus pimps in the country have coolly wormed their ways into the social circuits nationwide.Parties hardly click until one or two of them “grace the occasion” with a bevy of pretty girls in their notebooks and on their payrolls.HighflyersAt LASU, a self effacing pimp simply called Ben “freights” and airlifts girls to Abuja.“Whenever there’s a big event, I get an order for 20 – upto 30 girls. So, I package them for the ‘pay masters’ who will, of course pay into my account. The money is for ticket and taxi, and small, small expenses. After the show, the pay master will pay the agreed amount and we fly back”, Ben explained.Mr Fix-itAccording to Ben, a night out for each of his girls attracts N10,000. A weekend in Lagos, the girls grudging charge between N50,000 and N30,000.For Ben, “Mr. fix-it”, for the deal to go through, you must stuff his pocket with N150,000. To prove his class, Ben rides a clean Toyota Camry lives in a tastefully furnished 3-bedroom apartment off campus. Though the dictionary defines a pimp as a man who engages women in prostitution in brothel and on the streets, but in the Nigerian context, women have a large share of the business.At University of Lagos, Akika Star is the toast of most social events in the city of Lagos. Though her real first name is Stella but her alias, Star, twinkles and winkles as brightly as her reputation.For four weeks our reporter traversed some campuses around the country, delving deep into the world of undergraduate sin city barons.WHO IS THIS GIRL ? WATCH VIDEO !For fun or material gains their “pawns” – fellow students blindly fall into their traps and clutches without knowing.A big ‘Gbedu’Most times it begins with an invitation to “a big Gbedu with the correct guys in town”. Linked by a source, pimpmynaija sources posed to ‘Star’ as a potential client and sneaked into her closely guarded world.Known around as “a happening babe”, when a client ‘places an order’, Star quickly sends text messages, connects and recruits the girls she wants for the outing and summons a meeting, and most times adds a few extras to the number of girls ordered.“I have some regular girls I go out with. They are up to 20 but if your demand is more, I can double the number. But I need time”, she said.Star preferred a week or at least four days notice. Hear her: “What I hate is someone rushing me. Imagine coming to me on Friday night for a Saturday night out. That’s too tight. I can only listen to you if I’m not booked”.Fair in complexion and friendly, Amina of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State bears an iconic first name. Like the legendary Queen of Zaria, she says “the girls have a choice to go out and play with whoever they like.“We’re all adults. Anybody can decide who to go out with. Here at Samaru, we don’t force anybody. If I call you and you don’t want to go out, no problem”.Patrons in high placesAt the University of Jos, Bulus holds sway. He forays with his tight network of girls to adjoining states like Bauchi, Kaduna, Gombe, Taraba and Nasarawa.His patrons – “my powerful friends”, as he prefers to call them, are mostly top government functionaries and businessmen.Coming from a humble background, Bulus over the years uses proceeds of his wheeling – dealing in women to pay his way through school.Smiling broadly, he told pimpmynaija sources pimping is not an easy job. “Hmm, to arrange girls on campus no dey easy-o. You have to spend and spend and prove you are capable before any girl will agree to follow you”.Depraved tasteAs pimpmynaija found out, it is a lot easier for pimps to hook up with girls. But the difficult part is in ensuring the girls “behave well” on outings and treat the clients well.“You must also make sure that the men you are giving the girls are good. Some men are wicked.They will use the girls and pay little money, Bulus revealed.Another worrisome part for pimps is that some men have a penchant for kinky stuff. Some have wild depraved tastes.“The men don’t care. These girls they carry are even young enough to be their daughters. A good organizer must make sure the men you give girls to, do not use them rough. If any thing happens to the girls, people will start to ask questions, “Akin of University of Ilorin said.Territorial controlCampus pimps imitate the viciousness of their counterparts in the cults of the ivory tower: they fiercely fight and scramble for girls and clients.As pimpmynaija sources’s investigation reveals, they start vying for girls at the beginning of every academic session.“When Jambites (new students) come, you have to rush after them, target the pretty, classy ones. If you try hard, before the end of the first semester, they will become your friend and play along with you”, Mike, a popular undergraduate at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said.Tatoo brandingSome campus pimps brand their girls with tattoo. As a badge of pride and social class, some girls willingly get branded with floral, butterfly or a heart pierced with arrow on their biceps, ankle, tigh, hip or on other private, intimate parts.To ensure loyalty of the girls in their “notebooks”, the pimps keep them under their thumb with “pecks” (gifts) and “red eyes” (threats).“You don’t understand, we invest in those girls. It’s like trading and buying a product. For this, you must not fail to sell for profit”.Ade, Lagos State University (LASU) undergraduate said.Cult ConnectionThe pimpmynaija sources investigation reveals that some campus pimps have links with cult groups ravaging campuses across the country. These boys use the money generated to fund cult activities. It’s really a dangerous trend.When they graduate, they become bigger and menacing”, a lecturer at the University of Calabar, Cross River State, who craves anonymity said.Punishable offenceThe campus pimps are obviously aware of the legal implications of their illicit, exploitative, morally bankrupt business. This explains why they shy away from publicity and scrutiny.A lawyer with Adekunle Ojo and Associates Barrister Godwin Ewa says the nation’s Penal Code (for the north) stipulates 10 years imprisonment without option of fine for any offender.The Criminal Code (for the south) states that first offenders risk two years imprisonment with caning.“Our law book is adequate. Sections 216 – 227 of the criminal code make ample provision against lacuna. The courts are ever ready.But the problem is the ever compromising law enforcement agencies especially the police,” he said.
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