A chat with Abuja Lesbians

Journalists walked around in search of a lot of things, chief of which is a good story. But if you are waiting for the usual serious stuff and you stumble on the unusual, story line is still a story line.
While waiting for a big figure for the usual hard stuff, one bumped into two smart well dressed ladies in an upscale garden in Maitama, Abuja. A bit of casual chat led to one subject after the other until the unexpected happened. My two unplanned companions are top members of the lesbian family.
Their expectation was that I was waiting for a female companion and my serious mien shocked them even when I was still in their company. This chance encounter with two top players in the sector in Abuja revealed a world of passionate believer in the unorthodox sexual orientation with hints that same sex couples unofficially abound within the high sector of the society.

The meeting unveiled a world hitherto speculated but truly existing with  practitioners becoming increasingly emboldened to own up to their sexual orientation despite ongoing move to ban the practices through an act of the National Assembly. Craving anonymity and shocked to know later that I am a journalist, the lady from a North Central state simply named Jade said nothing is bad about lesbianism or being gay, explaining that “ we are simply responding to our natural inclination and we are well organised across the nation.
“We have more young girls coming in. We actually recruit if we see one with the right quality. We entice; we induce. We do what men do when they want to befriend a girl. I mean we toast fresh young ladies,” the lady, who runs a consultancy firm, said.
Asked about the success rate in their recruitment drive, the lady confessed that it was very high, citing many tactics they deployed to lure young girls into the fold and the continuous support they offered them in terms of sustenance and even jobs.
“We are very successful in getting new friends in because we are quite comfortable, every young lady needs comfort. This helps us with new friends,“ she said.
Her partner, who is a lawyer, also entered the discussion and disclosed that the network of lesbians in Nigeria, as in other parts of the world, is backed up by highly placed citizens who for one reason or the other serve as matrons of the group.

The lady who called herself Nata also said the group has both married and unmarried women in the fold, adding that “members have access to jobs and support but the rules are very strict.
“For example, once you joined, no man should come near you. You are forbiden from dating. You are to remain as a faithful lover to her or else, you will find yourself in trouble,” she explained.
Asked how married women can be part of such a network, Jade stated that “ those are our matrons, mothers of the group,” adding “we the younger ones won’t even go near a man not to talk of marrying them.
“You men are evil. Let me say this. We are growing in numbers because of men. Men are liars, fake and unreliable“, she said.
The two ladies then narrated how and why married women are taken to lesbian practices, citing abandonment by their husbands for younger ladies.
According to the ladies,“younger ladies are taking away husbands of rich madams. So what do you expect? Many of such madams need this circle as much as we also need them.”
As the discussion was going on and as the ladies turned it into an open chat, I was silently praying the public figure I was waiting for to surface. But that was not to be until one of the ladies directly asked for my position on issue of sexual orientation. As I was searching for an answer, my politician friend cruised into the garden.
Profusely, I thanked them for the company and I practically jumped into my friend‘s jeep. So the gay/lesbian community has become so well organised.