A STORYTELLER SPECIAL; WHAT HAPPENS IN ABUJA, STAYS IN ABUJA
If you are reading this piece, you must promise not to relate it to anybody else. What happens in Abuja must remain in Abuja..I do not like trouble.
Abuja is a beautiful city; it’s the seat of power, the city of influence and grandeur…it is also the city of sin.
Abuja has about the most expensive real estate in Nigeria. The biggest all fall over themselves to acquire properties and mansions and some estates there.
There are Gates and doors to the inner Abuja. Invisible Gates and doors.
There are places and people you will never meet in Abuja unless someone holds you by the hand and takes you in. There are no secret passcodes at that. Someone must show you the way. That’s why my people advice that you must follow who knows the road.
Governors seek every excuse to visit Abuja. It is where they are indoctrinated into another life by those who have been there before them.
It’s not a classroom section ooh or a cult. It’s the way life rolls. For a first term Governor, Abuja is pristine in it’s Glory. He rolls his head left and right admiring the ten lane highways and the never ending bridges and magnificent buildings. The splendor of Abuja can intimidate, especially at night. He wonders how he will ever fit it, conquer the city and enjoy the life that he knows exists therein.
For some, it starts quite Innocently. He admires the French Suit of a brother Governor.
“Ah, you like it?
I will show you where you can buy something like this”
The Governors of today, even the Comrade who was wearing khaki, up and down as NLC president, now wears Mauri French suits. It is sold exclusively by a shop called Silky Touch. He started out in Lagos, he still has a shop on Allen Avenue. People don’t miss road to enter his shops. Everything there are for those with millions to spare. He also sells shirts and trousers and sandals…but we are focusing on the Mauri suits. The owner is a gentleman named Prince. He is a heavy roller who loves being in the background. He also owns the exclusively Mauri franchise for Mauri skin shoes and some other Italian designers.
This is where Governors are indoctrinated into spending millions on Mauri suits and matching shoes. They have every colour. They attend to VIP’s daily. Ministers, Senators, honourables, oil and gas people from Niger Delta and the big merchandising Giants from the South East. Billionaire Government Contractors, friends of Presidents and the power brokers all flock there. Billionaire businessmen Chief Arthur Eze is a proudly MAURI addict.
It’s not uncommon to hear one big man telling another,
” Ahh, do you come here? Or what are you doing here? This is where we come to buy our Mauri French suits.”
A dear friend and brother who had been patronizing Silky Touch for over twenty years walked in one day to buy a dress shirt and met his state Governor inside with another Governor.
The Gov asked him how he knew the place existed. The Governor, a comrade who just started visiting some years before thought he had exclusive access to the shop. Imagine our people.
SILKY TOUCH is not all about MAURI, they also stock high market Brioni suits . You will also find ARTIOLI and STEFFANO RICHI suits, Sneakers, shirts, leather jackets, watches, colognes, belts. If you indulge in golf, there are Animal skin golf kits, Panama hats and luxury travelling bags to top it up. They also have animal skin men’s handbags, you can Chuck in a few bundles of dollars there when going out sometimes. It’s easier to disburse. Naira is bulky. It’s your money talking.
Such a visit might set a Governor back by twenty or forty million if he really is in the mood to change his wardrobe and live the part of a flashy Governor. I guess you are dying to ask if Nyesom Wike also visits Silky Touch in Abuja. I can’t answer that question. I like to mind my business. A man has a right to buy his stuff from anywhere as long as he has the money to buy them. Where ever he bought those stuffs from though, they will still be smiling. He went there meaning to ‘ show them.’
Looking good they say is good business.
Done with clothes and shoes, the next stop is to buy wrist watches. Abuja is also the place. POLO is the shop they visit. It’s always good for a customer to introduce you. POLO is owned by the gentleman man called Paul Obayuwana. He is a smart businessman. He started small on Allen Avenue over twenty five years ago. He has a big building on Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue in Victoria island Lagos and also in Abuja. He is also in road and building construction.
POLO is the home of Rolex and other high end watches in Nigeria. When you buy from POLO it’s like money in the bank. Don’t be fooled, not all Rolex is Rolex, some certificates are forged, but POLO prices itself in selling only the best and original and they will buy it back I hear should you wish to sell.
At POLO it’s a strictly VIP scene. Champagne is on the house. The ambience is superlative. This is where kings and their queens and princesses shop for watches. People don’t haggle here. They come prepared to spend. Every customer sits cross-legged sipping champers while being attended to. People who come here don’t buy just one watch. Why do all that trouble for only one watch when they can buy a couple of them…makes more sense abi.
I won’t discuss the price of the watches POLO sells. Let me just say they cost an arm and a leg. If you are a Governor, that is small change. Now, you are dressing the part; Mauri suit, Mauri Shoe and Rolex watches…that is how it starts.
Abuja, after work is also the home of parties and exotic liquor and booze. Again this is where most Governors fall in love with certain kinds of liquor. Not to worry, there is always someone who will supply you with cartons of whatever directly to your statehouse, delivered personally so you can enjoy with your friends. What’s the big deal spending one million on a bottle of liquor. Money dey na.
If you are also at the party hosted by another brother Governor and you see some pretty things stroll in and they catch your fancy since madam is far away. You will be given the contact of a supplier in Abuja who will flood your guest house with your preference within the hour. If you want them light skinned with long hair, they can be imported. Give the command. When your money talks, things happen. Abuja, my Abuja.
The Governors love Abuja because they can do whatever they wish away from the prying eyes of madam and their nosy aides. Only a trusted few will know the Waka of
Oga in Abuja. It helps to compartmentalize things like that. The less people know, the better…
Almost all the Governors have homes in Abuja, another brother Governor will show you where you can buy yours and pay in dollars. He will take you to shops where you can buy furniture or simply introduce you to an interior decorator who Will Make over the whole place with everything state of the art, flown in from Turkey or China. N100 million is not too much to furnish your Abuja mansion and show off to your friends. Abuja is for those people who do not respect money. Who dig in and spend.
To keep the Abuja mansion spanking clean and running, it’s in Vogue to employ Philipino house keepers and cooks. They get paid in dollars but you will be treated like a king. Continental dishes, a 24 hour bar man…the whole works.
In Abuja there are contractors to the rich and powerful for everything. These contractors are also very rich because they charge excessively for their services. They know their clients swim in money and they come highly recommended, nobody cheapens himself. A Governor’s friend must pay the same price as a Governor.
It’s Abuja you will also find people who advice Governors on how to exchange money and where to hide them. Somebody also knows someone who knows somebody who can get something done in Abuja. And it is all coded. Your political enemies will not hear, your kinsmen will not know.
If you want a signature perfume, the type only you will have in the state, it can be supplied. When you appear, even the walls will know the Governor had arrived. One million is not to much to smell nice.
Abuja is also the home of problem solvers. Whatever the problem, there are people in Abuja with answers. There are people who will take you to people who will call those people to order. Nothing comes cheap. You only need to know who to talk to.
Abuja is also the home of male ENHANCEMENT drugs. It’s a whole industry in Abuja. You can not be seen in Wuse market. They will come to you. These people will reel off names of their customers ; generals, billionaire businessmen, power brokers, senators and Governors like you.
When a Governor wishes to open numbered foreign accounts or buy mansions overseas. Abuja is the centre. Willing contractors abound. There are also con men who will elope with your dollars and you can’t shout. The good, the bad and the ugly are all in Abuja.
Please when next your Governor travels to Abuja, don’t disturb him. He is busy sowing his wild oats. Stop disturbing him with calls. He is busy. Again, what happens in Abuja, Stays in Abuja.
By; Al Humphrey Onyanabo ( The StoryTeller)
Tel; +2347054674906
Email Nigeria360online@gmail.com
