We’re in an epidemic of pornography

By Matthew Eloyi

Pornography is obviously, becoming a new culture, a negative and user-destructive culture that no one wants to talk about. But for how long do we remain hesitant to confront it while millions drown in its alluring ocean? Before now, we could only find sex recordings leaked on the internet, but presently, a more structured sector has evolved, with many unregistered and unregulated pornography firms coming on board.

It has become so ugly that the industry now hosts sex parties with pricey gate fees to generate more revenue and recruit more actors for amateur porn. The uglier part of it is that some prominent individuals in the society constitute a significant percentage of the number of those patronizing this industry, thereby emboldening the actors and producers of the destructive scenes.

According to research, the global pornographic industry is worth a trillion dollars, which is one of the main reasons why it is a lucrative business for unscrupulous investors all over the world, including Nigeria. Sadly, the pornography industry in Nigeria is expanding significantly, with Nigerians shamelessly participating in what has become known as “Nude Nollywood.” Research has also revealed that most of the females in these porn videos are former sex workers or human trafficking victims who were deported from Italy and other European nations. These deportees then collaborate with their Nigerian colleagues, as well as unemployed young guys looking for a quick buck, to produce these illicit films.

One of the many looming dangers of this unhealthy, unstandardized act is that it poses a possibility of increased human trafficking and breeds further sexually transmitted diseases. The worst of it is that pornography is gradually destroying the moral status of our dear country, Nigeria. Studies have shown that viewers of new and intense pornographic images may develop tolerance to them, which can affect sexual response and contribute to erectile dysfunction in some situations. Some research suggests that seeing pornographic material increases the risk of sexual crimes and that the liberalization of porn in society is linked to higher instances of rape and sexual violence. Pornography is incredibly addicting, according to experts, with some comparing it to crack cocaine.

Pornography is terrible precedence that is bound to alter family life, society and human interaction. It undermines marital trust, closeness, and love, causing harm to marriages and families. It also encourages selfishness, emotional detachment, and unhappiness with one’s partner, fueling abnormal thoughts and urges that lead to users forcing undesirable sex behaviours on their partners. Pornography encourages emotional and physical adultery, leading to the devastation of marriages, separation, and divorce, all of which are harmful to the offspring of the marriage. Little wonder some Nigerian schoolchildren who received computers from a US assistance organization have been said to have used them to search the Internet for pornographic sites. Attempts to promote learning with the computer in schools have also gone astray, with students openly browsing adult websites with graphic sexual materials.

Recently, some adventurous students from Chrisland School, Lagos, engaged in sexual immorality in their hotel room in faraway Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), where they had gone on an excursion, recorded the action and broadcast it to the entire world to see on the internet. Students, parents, and school officials have been in the middle of the storm since then. Many have tarnished the pupils’ reputations by accusing them of being errant and worldly, their parents of poor parenting, and the school of guilty neglect. What we have yet to grasp is that the adolescents’ display of shame reflects the amount of depravity in our society. The truth is that children hear and observe the atrocities that certain undisciplined adults commit as a result of their poor morals and distorted value system daily, and they just replicate them. A juvenile TikTok user from Lagos also went viral recently after claiming she slept with a dog for N1.7 million. This teenager is just one of many who believe that having sexual intercourse with an animal isn’t a big deal. Although she has now recanted, claiming she was just sailing about, the fact that she considered such an act to be status-enhancing is a new low for modern Nigeria and its broken family systems.

Based on obscenity, pornography has frequently been subjected to censorship and legal restrictions. Worldwide pornography boomed after the arrival of home video and the Internet. Almost all countries prohibit child pornography, and some countries criminalize pornography involving violence, such as rape, rape pornography, or pornography depicting human-animal sex. While advocates of pornography continue to undermine the future of our adolescents with their questionable and criminal businesses, the legal position on this destructive act in Nigeria remains unclear, hence it’s high time our legislators came to the aid of our thronging teens by enacting tough legislation prohibiting all types of pornography, and by extension, ending its epidemic in our society.