Inside The Nigerian Strip Clubs
Uzo Chikere
They are called Gentle Men’s Clubs. But indeed, they are
clubs where young ladies dance almost nude at nights for fees. Known more as
strip clubs, they are quite a recent phenomenon in the Nigerian entertainment
industry as 10 to 15 years ago, such outfits were far removed from the
country’s reality except watched in foreign movies.
Today, strip clubs have become a constant feature in the
Nigerian entertainment firmament, especially in Lagos where a considerable
number of them operate to the amazement of a society that is still trying to
come to terms with this recent development. Just as these clubs began gaining
grounds and making noticeable inroads into the social arena with what many
would regard as bizarre performances, a kamikaze raid was in 2009, launched by
the police on the new fangled clubs on Allen Avenue. Solid Gold Club was among
the victims of that raid and there were several pictures of nearly naked ladies
exposed in the media.
These damsels are a key ingredient of striptease whose
function is indispensable in the operations of any strip club. And the police
harassment did not put an end to the operations of the strip clubs either as
the operators forged on, rebranding and reinventing their business in order to
remain relevant or changing their tactics of trade.
The Wall Street Pub in Ikeja went ahead to portray itself as
a corporate citizen doing business in that light, with its certificate of
incorporation hanging on the wall. At this point, the Lagos residents who were
only used to seeing striptease in foreign movies were unknowingly having strip
clubs right in their domain. The age of innocence had gone forever.
What has become agitating in the minds of many Nigerians is:
What makes these strip clubs tick? How do they get the strippers who oil the
engine of their operation? And how does the component operatives get well
remunerated in the entire play that does not look as tidy as puritans and
moralists see the whole affair.
A peep into the strip clubs’ modus operandi by The Union
revealed that the next compound to a residential building in one of the high
brow locations of Lagos metropolis is a strip club. Amazingly, the occupants of
such abode may not know for years what goes on in the compound next door.
Again, most of these strip clubs are located in residential buildings;
restructured to suit the requirements of such endeavour.
In spite of the look of the structure usually set within
high walled fences, it is characteristic of a typical strip club to have in
most cases, raised circular dance floors provided with poles to facilitate pole
dance for the stripers during the main procedure of club activities. For
instance, at The Cave stationed on Joel Ogunaike Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos,
there is a floor area designed for the clients to savour some form of
exhibition for the striptease performance, which usually features a metal pole
upon which dancers perform a number of gymnastic and titillating moves. This is
called pole dancing and by any standard, Nigerian pole dancers can hold their
own look anywhere in the world.
At The Cave just like the other gentle men’s clubs in
various parts of Lagos, a keen observer will notice young ladies logging bags
casually strolling into the premises one after the other from about 6:30 pm to
8:00 pm. To the uninitiated, what does it matter if young women walk into a
compound singly or in pairs in a steady manner? But they are the strippers who
make the world in the strip clubs go round. Without them, there is nothing
worth staying for in these clubs. As they make their way into the compound,
they head straight to the courtyard; secure any improvised seat, banter among
themselves whilst preparing for the dressing room. The bags contain their
costumes and other tools of trade that they in due course find handy in the
dressing room.
In the club proper, there are rules. Despite that they are
perceived as depraved, guests are expected to conduct themselves in civility.
Usually, there is a common area were guests are allowed to freely move and
interact. Customers are not allowed to wander into the employee area or the
premium lounge (VIP Lounge). For a customer to be admitted to premium lounge
also referred to as Champaign Lounge he or she must pay much more than the gate
fee.
Because the dancers are in the main, the soul of this
business, operators stop at nothing in ensuring that their performances are
well controlled for maximum value. Dancer rotation exists in a number of the
strip clubs in town. This is a method where each dancer takes turn to perform
in a fixed sequence, one or more songs repeated within a shift. While such
clubs as Ocean Blue and Wall Street Pub function in that line, others which are
not that formal adopt a method where a group of dancers take turns on a vacated
stage. In this arrangement also, whatever number of entertainers at will freely
go on and off the stage. This is what obtains in Club Unique. An available disc
jockey may in this setting act as a compere, announcing the movement and what
artistes on stage.
But there is always one question agitating the minds of the
people concerning what or who these stripers are. Some regard them as mere
prostitutes. They insist they are not whores. The Union accosted one of these
strip dancers and under a strict condition of anonymity; she insisted that they
are not women of easy virtue. With her visor on, she described what she does as
“a job just like any other profession”, pointing out that “just as we go out to
work at night, that’s how nurses go out at night to work and yet nobody
considers them as prostitutes, we are all eking out a living, it is just that
we entertain guests who need to be entertained for a token fee”.
Describing dancers as the prime medium by which the strip
clubs trap, hold and enlarge patronage, she disclosed that there are
requirements for becoming a strip dancer. She said: “To become a strip dancer,
physic, poise and dancing skill matter a lot”. She further informed that a
would-be dancer must be 18 years and above with poise and personal hygiene.
Inside these clubs, when not dancing, the dancers walk
around, interacting with customers from whom they solicit for drinks and lap
dance. In this process, they glean to spot guests who can pay well and on
discovering their target client, they move in to cajole and lure him.
Subsequently, such a guest is treated to all manners of erotic display
including wiggling and wriggling their bodies on his crouch while he is
clothed. For such effort, the dancer is handsomely rewarded with cash which
constitutes her pay, just as the club owners rake up revenue by selling
drinks.
Amazingly, these strip clubs attract their clients from
among cream of the society as the minimum entry fee is =N=5,000.00. Among their
customers are top ranking military men, the police, business moguls and the
members of the academia. They come on both weekdays and weekends to amuse
themselves in an environment so removed from the everyday people who may be
living close by but can ill afford the kind of fees for admission.
Within and outside of the strip clubs there is tight
security to ward off intruders and further ensure that those in attendance
observe the rules guiding the affair. Bouncers are a critical component of the
business and always on hand to throw out anybody who violates the rule or try
to touch any of the dancers in any irreverent manner. Inside the strip clubs is
a world of its own and those who can afford to gain entrance are gentle men.
What they see most times remain for their eyes only; not to be told outside.
Whether these clubs will expand and extend to other parts of the country
remains to be seen. Only time will tel.
Inside The Nigerian Strip Clubs
Uzo Chikere
They are called Gentle Men’s Clubs. But indeed, they are clubs where young ladies dance almost nude at nights for fees. Known more as strip clubs, they are quite a recent phenomenon in the Nigerian entertainment industry as 10 to 15 years ago, such outfits were far removed from the country’s reality except watched in foreign movies.
Today, strip clubs have become a constant feature in the Nigerian entertainment firmament, especially in Lagos where a considerable number of them operate to the amazement of a society that is still trying to come to terms with this recent development. Just as these clubs began gaining grounds and making noticeable inroads into the social arena with what many would regard as bizarre performances, a kamikaze raid was in 2009, launched by the police on the new fangled clubs on Allen Avenue. Solid Gold Club was among the victims of that raid and there were several pictures of nearly naked ladies exposed in the media.
These damsels are a key ingredient of striptease whose function is indispensable in the operations of any strip club. And the police harassment did not put an end to the operations of the strip clubs either as the operators forged on, rebranding and reinventing their business in order to remain relevant or changing their tactics of trade.
The Wall Street Pub in Ikeja went ahead to portray itself as a corporate citizen doing business in that light, with its certificate of incorporation hanging on the wall. At this point, the Lagos residents who were only used to seeing striptease in foreign movies were unknowingly having strip clubs right in their domain. The age of innocence had gone forever.
What has become agitating in the minds of many Nigerians is: What makes these strip clubs tick? How do they get the strippers who oil the engine of their operation? And how does the component operatives get well remunerated in the entire play that does not look as tidy as puritans and moralists see the whole affair.
A peep into the strip clubs’ modus operandi by The Union revealed that the next compound to a residential building in one of the high brow locations of Lagos metropolis is a strip club. Amazingly, the occupants of such abode may not know for years what goes on in the compound next door. Again, most of these strip clubs are located in residential buildings; restructured to suit the requirements of such endeavour.
In spite of the look of the structure usually set within high walled fences, it is characteristic of a typical strip club to have in most cases, raised circular dance floors provided with poles to facilitate pole dance for the stripers during the main procedure of club activities. For instance, at The Cave stationed on Joel Ogunaike Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, there is a floor area designed for the clients to savour some form of exhibition for the striptease performance, which usually features a metal pole upon which dancers perform a number of gymnastic and titillating moves. This is called pole dancing and by any standard, Nigerian pole dancers can hold their own look anywhere in the world.
At The Cave just like the other gentle men’s clubs in various parts of Lagos, a keen observer will notice young ladies logging bags casually strolling into the premises one after the other from about 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. To the uninitiated, what does it matter if young women walk into a compound singly or in pairs in a steady manner? But they are the strippers who make the world in the strip clubs go round. Without them, there is nothing worth staying for in these clubs. As they make their way into the compound, they head straight to the courtyard; secure any improvised seat, banter among themselves whilst preparing for the dressing room. The bags contain their costumes and other tools of trade that they in due course find handy in the dressing room.
In the club proper, there are rules. Despite that they are perceived as depraved, guests are expected to conduct themselves in civility. Usually, there is a common area were guests are allowed to freely move and interact. Customers are not allowed to wander into the employee area or the premium lounge (VIP Lounge). For a customer to be admitted to premium lounge also referred to as Champaign Lounge he or she must pay much more than the gate fee.
Because the dancers are in the main, the soul of this business, operators stop at nothing in ensuring that their performances are well controlled for maximum value. Dancer rotation exists in a number of the strip clubs in town. This is a method where each dancer takes turn to perform in a fixed sequence, one or more songs repeated within a shift. While such clubs as Ocean Blue and Wall Street Pub function in that line, others which are not that formal adopt a method where a group of dancers take turns on a vacated stage. In this arrangement also, whatever number of entertainers at will freely go on and off the stage. This is what obtains in Club Unique. An available disc jockey may in this setting act as a compere, announcing the movement and what artistes on stage.
But there is always one question agitating the minds of the people concerning what or who these stripers are. Some regard them as mere prostitutes. They insist they are not whores. The Union accosted one of these strip dancers and under a strict condition of anonymity; she insisted that they are not women of easy virtue. With her visor on, she described what she does as “a job just like any other profession”, pointing out that “just as we go out to work at night, that’s how nurses go out at night to work and yet nobody considers them as prostitutes, we are all eking out a living, it is just that we entertain guests who need to be entertained for a token fee”.
Describing dancers as the prime medium by which the strip clubs trap, hold and enlarge patronage, she disclosed that there are requirements for becoming a strip dancer. She said: “To become a strip dancer, physic, poise and dancing skill matter a lot”. She further informed that a would-be dancer must be 18 years and above with poise and personal hygiene.
Inside these clubs, when not dancing, the dancers walk around, interacting with customers from whom they solicit for drinks and lap dance. In this process, they glean to spot guests who can pay well and on discovering their target client, they move in to cajole and lure him. Subsequently, such a guest is treated to all manners of erotic display including wiggling and wriggling their bodies on his crouch while he is clothed. For such effort, the dancer is handsomely rewarded with cash which constitutes her pay, just as the club owners rake up revenue by selling drinks.
Amazingly, these strip clubs attract their clients from among cream of the society as the minimum entry fee is =N=5,000.00. Among their customers are top ranking military men, the police, business moguls and the members of the academia. They come on both weekdays and weekends to amuse themselves in an environment so removed from the everyday people who may be living close by but can ill afford the kind of fees for admission.
Within and outside of the strip clubs there is tight security to ward off intruders and further ensure that those in attendance observe the rules guiding the affair. Bouncers are a critical component of the business and always on hand to throw out anybody who violates the rule or try to touch any of the dancers in any irreverent manner. Inside the strip clubs is a world of its own and those who can afford to gain entrance are gentle men. What they see most times remain for their eyes only; not to be told outside. Whether these clubs will expand and extend to other parts of the country remains to be seen. Only time will tel.
Uzo Chikere
They are called Gentle Men’s Clubs. But indeed, they are clubs where young ladies dance almost nude at nights for fees. Known more as strip clubs, they are quite a recent phenomenon in the Nigerian entertainment industry as 10 to 15 years ago, such outfits were far removed from the country’s reality except watched in foreign movies.
Today, strip clubs have become a constant feature in the Nigerian entertainment firmament, especially in Lagos where a considerable number of them operate to the amazement of a society that is still trying to come to terms with this recent development. Just as these clubs began gaining grounds and making noticeable inroads into the social arena with what many would regard as bizarre performances, a kamikaze raid was in 2009, launched by the police on the new fangled clubs on Allen Avenue. Solid Gold Club was among the victims of that raid and there were several pictures of nearly naked ladies exposed in the media.
These damsels are a key ingredient of striptease whose function is indispensable in the operations of any strip club. And the police harassment did not put an end to the operations of the strip clubs either as the operators forged on, rebranding and reinventing their business in order to remain relevant or changing their tactics of trade.
The Wall Street Pub in Ikeja went ahead to portray itself as a corporate citizen doing business in that light, with its certificate of incorporation hanging on the wall. At this point, the Lagos residents who were only used to seeing striptease in foreign movies were unknowingly having strip clubs right in their domain. The age of innocence had gone forever.
What has become agitating in the minds of many Nigerians is: What makes these strip clubs tick? How do they get the strippers who oil the engine of their operation? And how does the component operatives get well remunerated in the entire play that does not look as tidy as puritans and moralists see the whole affair.
A peep into the strip clubs’ modus operandi by The Union revealed that the next compound to a residential building in one of the high brow locations of Lagos metropolis is a strip club. Amazingly, the occupants of such abode may not know for years what goes on in the compound next door. Again, most of these strip clubs are located in residential buildings; restructured to suit the requirements of such endeavour.
In spite of the look of the structure usually set within high walled fences, it is characteristic of a typical strip club to have in most cases, raised circular dance floors provided with poles to facilitate pole dance for the stripers during the main procedure of club activities. For instance, at The Cave stationed on Joel Ogunaike Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, there is a floor area designed for the clients to savour some form of exhibition for the striptease performance, which usually features a metal pole upon which dancers perform a number of gymnastic and titillating moves. This is called pole dancing and by any standard, Nigerian pole dancers can hold their own look anywhere in the world.
At The Cave just like the other gentle men’s clubs in various parts of Lagos, a keen observer will notice young ladies logging bags casually strolling into the premises one after the other from about 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. To the uninitiated, what does it matter if young women walk into a compound singly or in pairs in a steady manner? But they are the strippers who make the world in the strip clubs go round. Without them, there is nothing worth staying for in these clubs. As they make their way into the compound, they head straight to the courtyard; secure any improvised seat, banter among themselves whilst preparing for the dressing room. The bags contain their costumes and other tools of trade that they in due course find handy in the dressing room.
In the club proper, there are rules. Despite that they are perceived as depraved, guests are expected to conduct themselves in civility. Usually, there is a common area were guests are allowed to freely move and interact. Customers are not allowed to wander into the employee area or the premium lounge (VIP Lounge). For a customer to be admitted to premium lounge also referred to as Champaign Lounge he or she must pay much more than the gate fee.
Because the dancers are in the main, the soul of this business, operators stop at nothing in ensuring that their performances are well controlled for maximum value. Dancer rotation exists in a number of the strip clubs in town. This is a method where each dancer takes turn to perform in a fixed sequence, one or more songs repeated within a shift. While such clubs as Ocean Blue and Wall Street Pub function in that line, others which are not that formal adopt a method where a group of dancers take turns on a vacated stage. In this arrangement also, whatever number of entertainers at will freely go on and off the stage. This is what obtains in Club Unique. An available disc jockey may in this setting act as a compere, announcing the movement and what artistes on stage.
But there is always one question agitating the minds of the people concerning what or who these stripers are. Some regard them as mere prostitutes. They insist they are not whores. The Union accosted one of these strip dancers and under a strict condition of anonymity; she insisted that they are not women of easy virtue. With her visor on, she described what she does as “a job just like any other profession”, pointing out that “just as we go out to work at night, that’s how nurses go out at night to work and yet nobody considers them as prostitutes, we are all eking out a living, it is just that we entertain guests who need to be entertained for a token fee”.
Describing dancers as the prime medium by which the strip clubs trap, hold and enlarge patronage, she disclosed that there are requirements for becoming a strip dancer. She said: “To become a strip dancer, physic, poise and dancing skill matter a lot”. She further informed that a would-be dancer must be 18 years and above with poise and personal hygiene.
Inside these clubs, when not dancing, the dancers walk around, interacting with customers from whom they solicit for drinks and lap dance. In this process, they glean to spot guests who can pay well and on discovering their target client, they move in to cajole and lure him. Subsequently, such a guest is treated to all manners of erotic display including wiggling and wriggling their bodies on his crouch while he is clothed. For such effort, the dancer is handsomely rewarded with cash which constitutes her pay, just as the club owners rake up revenue by selling drinks.
Amazingly, these strip clubs attract their clients from among cream of the society as the minimum entry fee is =N=5,000.00. Among their customers are top ranking military men, the police, business moguls and the members of the academia. They come on both weekdays and weekends to amuse themselves in an environment so removed from the everyday people who may be living close by but can ill afford the kind of fees for admission.
Within and outside of the strip clubs there is tight security to ward off intruders and further ensure that those in attendance observe the rules guiding the affair. Bouncers are a critical component of the business and always on hand to throw out anybody who violates the rule or try to touch any of the dancers in any irreverent manner. Inside the strip clubs is a world of its own and those who can afford to gain entrance are gentle men. What they see most times remain for their eyes only; not to be told outside. Whether these clubs will expand and extend to other parts of the country remains to be seen. Only time will tel.
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