Many years ago, when my teacher said nothing sells like sex, crime, and money, I didn’t fully understand what he meant. Yet, over the years, I’ve repeatedly seen that a judicious mix of these socio-economic ingredients is a spellbinder.

Apart from the tragic news about banditry, the suspense in Rivers State, and the heightened prostitution amongst politicians crossing carpet or finding new harems, nothing has hugged the headlines as relentlessly as the salacious tango between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

After weeks of trying to see, hear, and say no evil, I’m compelled to overcome the temptation of abstaining by yielding. It’s not an easy road, believe me – not for those genuinely trying to make sense of it, not for the busybodies and certainly not for the parties involved.

Managing their libido

It’s heartbreaking that despite the perennial underperformance of the legislature, managing the libido of its menfolk has piled on the hazards we must endure.

But it’s not a Nigerian thing, if that is any comfort. A 2016 study by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, on sexism, harassment and violence against women parliamentarians indicates that 20 percent of women parliamentarians globally report sexual harassment during their terms. The hospitality and healthcare sectors follow the pecking order, with power relations influencing the trend in several industries, professions, and work spaces.

Allegations of sexual harassment or assault have indeed been weaponised in the past. From the Central Park Five in the US to Ivan Henry, and Perry Lott, exonerated only two years ago after serving 35 years for a rape conviction in Oklahoma, the literature is replete with cases of persons wrongfully convicted for sexual offences they did not commit. Lott won’t be the last.

What is behind seven…

Yet, Akpoti-Natasha’s allegation should be taken more seriously than just another regular nuisance from an under-performing legislative branch. The feedback from insiders has been puzzling. Akpabio and Akpoti-Natasha have been good friends, one source told me. In Akpabio’s Senate presidency, the source said, none of the other three female senators has enjoyed the privileges Akpoti-Uduaghan has, even though she is a first-timer.

Jealousy, I thought, especially when my source added that apart from her appointment as chairman of the juicy local content development committee, Akpoti-Natasha had been a part of the Senate president’s entourage on trips to several enchanting destinations before things fell apart. This source, I’ve known for years, is not given to flippancy. But I pressed for more.





https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/03/the-thing-between-godswill-and-natasha-by-azu-ishiekwene/