I was listening to Chris Brown's "Loyal" and the chorus just makes me laugh all the time, "When a rich nigga wants you, and your man can't do nothing for you...". It's funny because this is actually a serious problem. Money is changing the way people are dating, particularly in Nigeria. Personally, I think it's a combination of several factors but the main one is definitely greed.
Please note that from here on out, when I say "Rich guys", I'm not referring to the recharge card buyers and PHCN electricty credit suppliers. There're levels to this....
Love is expensive these days. I say this because I believe I'm not the only one who agrees that falling in love is now a financial investment. You need to consider if you have the capital to start the relationship and the deep pockets to maintain a certain standard of living for you and your partner. Why? because for every girlfriend out there, there are over 20 other guys, both single and married, who will gladly be willing to invest in your woman. Am I being to ambiguous? Ok let me rephrase. Your girlfriend could have 20 boyfriends, including you, and those 20 boyfriends will be capable of taking care of her whether you can or can not. Let me make one thing clear at this point, this is in no way a generalization. This isn't the case for every girlfriend and not every relationship is vulnerable to the outside influence of money. Not every Nigerian girl is swayed by money and it doesn't even matter how well off the girl is, whether rich or poor, not every Nigeria girl can be financially manipulated. However, we're talking about the ones that can be swayed because their gist is far more interesting isn't it? Exactly.
Now I'll ask you ladies this question, What do you do when a rich guy wants you and your present man can't take care of you? I know the first reference for most of your replies will be "Love". If you love your present man, no amount of money will sway you to leave him for a rich guy. Right?...story. That's in theory isn't it? Granted, some girls will fend off every rich guy who tries to steal her from her man but there are a good number of girlfriends out there who will switch lanes quicker than a premature ejac' in fast-forward. You see greed is simply wanting more than you need and that's the source of the recurring problem we're see in relationships today. One guy has multiple girlfriend's, each one serving some carnal coital purpose, all predominately acquired by financial persuasion. On the other side, one girl has multiple "benefactors" who she informally exchanges "companionship" with for money because money makes her life so much better. The sheer excess of money in the hands of the sexually-greedy Nigerian man, combined with the a greedy Nigerian girl's insatiable financial appetite, all combine to form the growing trend of multi-dating in Nigeria. Am I exaggerating? Well answer this then, If a rich guy comes for a girl who is dating a man who can't take care of her, do you think the rich guy's chances of getting the girl are slim? Haba! "...these hoes aint loyal".
Loyalty and faithfulness are disappearing fast among Nigerian relationships. There's obviously no official statistic except the fact that as you are reading this, you know at least one guy with multiple girlfriends and/or one girl with multiple boyfriends. Greed. We cant see to have enough of anything these days. The motive is, if you can have more, why settle for less. For the rich guy, it's an ego-fueled challenge to acquire wealth and use this wealth to acquire female companionship. It's not just about the sex. It's about the immoral satisfaction of ego. The more women he can "maintain", the more satisfied his ego becomes. Problem is, egos are usually insatiable. For the girl, the chance of a rich guy coming into your life holds the promise of a better standard of living. The more guys you maintain, the higher your standard of living. Couple that with the general state of of the Nigerian education system and labour market and you have a situation where multiple boyfriends and high influx of multi-dating cash seems more lucrative than filling out job applications.
The thing is, I can understand why money is such a deciding factor these days. Why would a girl want to suffer when she can enjoy. Why would she want a trip to Obudu cattle ranch for Valentine's day when someone can offer her a weekend in Paris? It's almost insane to invest in Kito when you could be rocking red bottoms. Can a brother really afford to fall in love then? In this economic-relationship market? Like i said, we are not generalizing here. It would be a waste of time for one "good girl" to start a riot just because I'm saying loyalty is a myth in the face of money. Don't fight me, fight the hoes.