‘Pepper-them’ is a new language among Nigerian beautiful ladies for using their success to intimidate other ladies. They obtain and display expensive phones, bags, clothes, jewelleries, shoes, cars, houses, vacations and other items to ‘pepper’ their rivals. While they pepper their rivals by buying and showing these items, the producers make more profits from their rivalries. Unfortunately, most producers of these items are foreigners, who send the profits back to their countries while we compete. If Nigerian beautiful ladies support their men in retrieving access to their resources for industry, their ‘pepper-them’ competition will be benefitting Nigerians. Then they will gladly inspire more Nigerian beautiful ladies to ‘pepper’ one another with their men’s products to increase their national wealth.
Understanding the Nigerian realities is necessary to appreciate the importance of this role for Nigerian beautiful ladies.
Nigeria is a country of several dissimilar communities that were joined together by British colonialists[1][2] for resource exploitation.[3] These British colonialists extracted and exported the local’s resources to their industries, while Nigerians depended on their finished products. At independence, they replaced themselves with loyalist-politicians to sustain this supply of resources to their industries.[4] Hence, Nigerian government keeps seizing and selling[5][6][7] the resources that Nigerians need for industry. This is why many intelligent Nigerians cannot obtain resources for producing what Nigerians need, instead of depending on importation.
To retrieve access to resources for research and industry, many Nigerians call for resource-control and reform. Yet, some politically-connected people, who benefit from the foreign exchange, support any government that maintain the status quo.
Nigerians have much resources (agricultural solid and gaseous), but Nigerian government focuses on petroleum resources. The focus on petroleum resources comes from its demand by industrialized nations, especially the former colonialists, to power their industries. Then, the government distributes compensatory funds as salary and allowances to few Nigerians as justification for seizing their mineral resources. Of course, this distribution only happens after they have reserved enough for themselves.
Though they often appear materialistic, many Nigerian beautiful ladies are eager to contribute to the greatness of their country. They are not proud of the risks and dehumanization in foreign lands as they try to escape poverty in Nigeria. They are not proud to abandon their families and men who love them but lack access to resources for industrial growth. They are not proud to date married men, ancestors and ‘Aristos’ who seize and auction Nigerians’ industrial opportunity. But as humans live on material food, not just promise of love, they succumb and defend it, just to survive.
Now, they can join their voices to their men’s voices to retrieve their resources for productivity and more peppering.
[1] Ogban Ogban-Iyan, Re-inventing Nigeria through Pre-colonial traditions, in Issues in contemporary political economy of Nigeria, (ed.) Hassan A. Saliu. (Ilorin, Sally & Associates, 1999). P77
[2] cf. Richard Dowden, Africa altered states, ordinary miracles. (New York: Public Affairs, 2010). p.445
[3] Cf. Walter Rodney, How Europe underdeveloped Africa (Abuja: Panaf, 2009). P.293
[4] Cf. Walter Rodney. Op. cit.
[5] Nigerian minerals and mining act 2007 act no. 20, chapter 1, Part 1, Section 1, paragraph 2
[6] Nigerian minerals and mining act 2007 act no. 20, chapter 1, Part 1, Section 2, paragraph 1
[7] Nigerian minerals and mining act 2007 act no. 20, chapter 1, Part 1, Section 1, paragraph 3