Interogating the Intersections of Colonial and Postcolonial Internationnal Sex Trade in Nigeria
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2019
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Notes
Abstract
The social production processes of the sex industry in Nigeria involved changes in the patterns of existence consumption, and migration. Produced and encouraged by structures that began to define society in the twentieth century, the sex trade depended significantly on negotiations and conflicts induced by modernity. The industry dates from the colonial period. Hitherto, sex was not an article of trade in any of the pre-colonial component cultures of Nigeria; it was alien to the Nigerian society. This historical article aims to critically analyse the factors responsible for the ever- increasing boom in the Nigerian sex industry in two eras of colonial and post colonial Nigeria. This article argues that the young women involved in the sex trade in Nigeria were at most times engaged in the deal with encouragement from family members. The continuous subscription to the trade encouraged the expansion of business. This article, which relies heavily on archival materials and newspapers, examines the historical trajectories of the sex industry in these two epochs in Nigeria history, particularly as it relates to its ‘modus operandi’ across borders. This article concludes that colonial and postcolonial sex trade in these two periods is predicated on the economic marginalization of woman and facilitated by the same networks, success stories of sex workers, and support from a family member.