Be a virgin again for just N5,000

Bimbola Shoyemi (not real name) was raped when she was 14 years old. And since then, life had been unfair to her, or so she thought.

Without anyone she could confide in, she kept the secret all to herself. And that was just the beginning of her sex escapade.

In 2007, four years after the awful experience, she gained admission to study accountancy in one of the country’s state universities. But there was a new twist to her fate. Her father, who was the breadwinner of the family, died a few weeks before she got the admission.

Being the first of five children, and their mother not working, she decided it was time for her to take the bull by the horn. She would not want to forfeit her admission for whatever reason.

After one year of being an undergraduate, with no one to sponsor her education, she met Martins, a 300-level engineering student, who promised to give her both moral and financial support.

To her, Martins was her God-sent angel, as he was from a well-to-do family. But Martins wanted something much more than appreciation. He wanted a relationship with her, and he had it.

However, in her two-year relationship with Martins, she had abortions three times. After that, they both parted – a year before her graduation. And she was back to square one.

But in 2011, when she thought it was all over, she met Kunle Adefemi (not real name), an engineer in one of the oil companies in Lagos.

According to a friend of hers, who pleaded anonymity and who narrated her friend’s story to our correspondent, Adefemi was not just a rich 28-year-old dude; he was well brought up by a set of moralist parents. And so, it was not surprising that he also had high moral standards.

Eventually, Adefemi and Shoyemi started dating that same year. Wanting to keep to his moral principles, he told her they would not have sex until their wedding night. And she agreed with him. After all, it was a sign of a guy’s true love for her.

Meanwhile, Adefemi had always told Shoyemi prior to their relationship how he placed so much value on virginity and how he was determined to go to any length for any lady that he married as a virgin.

With the fear that he might eventually lose interest in her or at worse dump her if he knew she was not a virgin, Shoyemi had told Adefemi she was a virgin. He was excited, and the wedding arrangements started.

Her friend narrated to our correspondent, “My friend so much loved Kunle that she never wanted to lose him to any other lady. I guess that’s why she lied to him.”

Then the anxiety began for Shoyemi, according to her friend. “How would she ever tell him that she had lied to him to keep the relationship? Would he appreciate her for opening up or dump her?

“But from every indication, there was a high probability that he would dump her if he learnt about her past. Three abortions!”

However, luck smiled on her when she heard of a product that could virtually restore her virginity: an artificial virginity kit.

She was determined to pay any amount of money to gain her virginity and by extension her dignity back.

And she had her way. For about N5,000, she bought the product two weeks ahead of the D-Day and kept it – until the wedding night.

So in the end, Adefemi believed that fate bestowed him the privilege of having a virgin woman as wife – a status thing to him.

“They both have a child now,” her friend concluded.



The artificial virginity kit

The good news is a lady’s virginity could now be restored through a product called the artificial virginity kit.

The kit, also known as an artificial hymen repair kit, (and popularly referred to as a “chinese hymen” or “fake hymen”) is a type of prosthetic membrane created for the purpose of simulating an intact human hymen.

Since hymens can be broken via physical activity or even by the use of a tampon, many women are concerned about restoring their virginity. Hymen repair, hymen reconstruction, hymen surgery or revirgination are all terms that refer to Hymenoplasty – cosmetic surgery that restores the female hymen.

While the Hymenoplasty procedure requires admission to a clinic and can cost an arm and a leg, the artificial hymen provides much cheaper and convenient way to become a virgin again!

According to the product’s manufacturer, when the artificial hymen is carefully inserted into the vagina, it will expand a little and make it feel tight. However, during sex, it will ooze out a liquid that appears like blood – that would make it seem like the woman is still a virgin.

Likewise, it’s claimed to be easy to use, clinically proven, non-toxic to human, has no side effects, not painful to use and has no allergic reaction.

The cost? Our correspondent found out the prices for the two varieties of the kit: one costs N2,000 while the other costs N5,000.

However, in some parts of the world, the fake hymen is controversial. In fact, Egyptian lawmakers tried to ban a similar product in 2009 after a radio reporter translated the Chinese advertisement for the product into Arabic.

While the fake hymen might seem ridiculous to some, virginity, as New York Magazine points out, “can be a literal issue of life and death” in some parts of the world.

Nigerian ladies are desperate to get this kit

When our correspondent visited the website of the manufacturer of the artificial virginity kit, the responses of some Nigerian ladies to the product are overwhelming.

A lady, who calls herself Mary, posted on April 3, 2012, “Please I need this artificial virginity kit because my wedding is coming up in the third week of April and my husband-to-be believes that I am a virgin. Please help. Thank you.”

She added, “Please tell me the exact place to buy it. I live in Nigeria, Lagos to be precise.”

Definitely, she was not the only one who showed desperation to get her hands on this product.

Another lady, Jenny, wrote, “Please I need this product, but I don’t know where and how to get it because I am in Nigeria. I will appreciate your help. Thanks.”

One other lady who used the pseudonym “Boularnleh” posted, “Please I really need this product. Thanks.”



Availability in Nigeria

Our correspondent visited some pharmacy stores in Lagos. A pharmacist, Folusho Bakare, told our correspondent he was aware of the product but was yet to lay his hands on it.

Bakare said, “Yes, I am aware of this product but I have not yet seen it. It is new and not yet well known here.”

But Deola Jibola told Saturday PUNCH she once saw the kit with a friend about four months ago.

She said, “I have seen it here in Nigeria. It is only that it is not yet popular. This is just a matter of time before it litters every pharmacy store.”

Another pharmacist, who doesn’t want to be named, told our correspondent that the product is very well available in Nigeria and that it would only take a few more months before it becomes very popular.

“Ladies come here regularly to buy creams for that purpose because there are some creams that could also help tighten the vagina.

“You can be sure that when the artificial virginity kit hits Nigeria, it will be a bomb.”

Significance of virginity

A long time ago, virginity was a thing of dignity, but it cannot be said of now, said 60-year-old Omobolanle Aderemi.

She narrated, “It was a thing of pride in those days when a man met his wife as a virgin. The society regarded it as a thing of honour. Ladies fought hard to preserve it because they wanted to be referred to as a source of pride to their parents.

“When a man met his wife as a virgin on the wedding night, there would be shouts of joy throughout the town. The couple’s relatives would sing and dance throughout the night.

“The husband would buy many gifts for the wife’s parents as a way of appreciating them for bringing up their daughter morally. When such gifts were to be presented to the parents of the lady, a box full of matchsticks would be added as an indication that the lady was ‘intact’ before the wedding night.

“There was this certain anxiety you felt then. However, if the lady was discovered to have been deflowered, she would be regarded as a source of disgrace to her parents and family.

“Instead of the shouts of joy, people mourned. It was such a big deal. And instead of gifts for the lady’s parents, the husband’s family would send a box of empty matchsticks to them as an indication that the lady was met ‘empty.’

“Such women were regarded as ‘empty baskets’ then. It was such a glorious thing in the past.”

However, things have indeed changed, said Mr. Rasheed Oladokun, a 75-year-old retired teacher.

“This generation no longer values virginity unlike before. When 14-year-old secondary school girls are having boyfriends now, what do you expect?”



The birth of fake marriages

With the introduction of the artificial virginity kits into the market, one should expect a society full of fake marriages and value degradation.

That is the opinion of Noah Adepeju, a Warri-based pastor at The Master’s Place International Church.

Adepeju said, “What this means now is that we will be having many marriages that will be based on deceptions and false foundations.

“It is about the eternal effect, not the present. As you call it, it is artificial, and what is artificial can never be original.

“Think about the effects on the family, the children, and the society. You could pretend for a while but you can never cover up in the long run. The truth always shows up.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong in a lady telling her fiancé she had once had affairs with other men before. Everybody has a past, which could be ugly.

“Imagine living all your life in guilt and shame when you can avoid these by simply opening up. No matter what a lady has gone through, no matter who she was, if the man really loves her, he would forget the past and forgive her.

“But I am afraid there could be some unpalatable consequences for living a fake life.”

Adepeju gives his final advice for both the ladies and the men: never indulge in what you cannot be openly proud of.

He said, “Keep your virginity, and keep your dignity because no artificial hymen can restore your dignity.”

Copyright PUNCH.