Lagos
socialite and nightclub owner, Pretty Mike, has finally spoken out on
reasons behind his chaining of some girls on a dog leash and taking them
to different events.
Pretty Mike chaining girls like dogs
Popular Lagos socialite, Mike Eze Nwalie Nwogu, better known as
Pretty Mike, who is now famous for being fond of stepping out to events
with girls on a leash and walking them around like dogs, made major
headlines over the past few days after he was arrested by the Police on
the order of Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Punch's Saturday Beats,
Pretty Mike who had apologised publicly for his actions after the Lagos
State Government made him sign an undertaking that he would never do
such debasing stuff again, said that there was a mission statement
behind his action, adding that he was shocked that Nigerians had already
crucified him before hearing his side of the story.
He said, “I have done it twice and let us not make it look as
if it is something I have been doing all the time. The two times I have
done it were weddings where I was part of the groomsmen which means that
I have a personal relationship with the bride and groom. The overall
reason I chose to do this was because of the mission statement behind
it. It is just unfortunate how people are so quick to jump into
conclusion without actually finding out what is going on. All they think
is that it is an abuse, or a form of slavery or perverted thoughts.
“For me, there is a mission statement. I would give you some
examples to explain the mission statement behind my action. I would not
call any names but I am sure we all know about an Emir that was given a
15-year-old as a wife. To me, that is putting women on a leash. We talk
about traditional rulers that marry underage women, that is putting
women on the leash. We talk about boyfriends and husbands that beat
their spouses and abuse them physically, emotionally and spiritually,
that is putting women on a leash.
"I needed to get the world’s attention first to be able to pass
across my mission statement. It is all about women advocacy at the end
of the day. It is all about empowering the women. These women have no
voice. I refer to the girls I use as super heroes and we had to do
something drastic in order to be heard and get the world’s attention.
Now they are talking about it.
“Yes, there are other ways I could have gone about it but there
has to be a new way all the time. This is the era of social media and
if I come up with a good write-up about women advocacy, nobody would pay
attention to me. I would not even get up to ten ‘likes’. We are in the
era of social media and if you pay close attention, something drastic
has to happen to get the attention of people on social media. Most of
the people that have become popular on social media did so by doing
something drastic, different and unique.”
Pretty Mike chaining girls (left) and at the Police station (right)
It was alleged the girls auditioned for the ‘role’ and were even
paid N30,000 to be chained in the dog leash. However, Pretty Mike
claimed he didn’t pay the girls a dime.
“I did not pay those girls; they are a part of my team. I am
the owner of Club Uno and I have a team of people who I work with. I sat
down with the team and we discussed this before I embarked on the
action. When we did it at first, the level of curses we received was
incredible. I was the one that suggested that the girls put on a mask so
that we don’t deviate from the main point. If the masks were not on and
their identities were revealed, you can imagine what they would have
been going through now,” he said.
When asked if he could allow his daughter to go through such, he
said that if it was for the right cause, he would have no objection.
“A lot of people have done dramatic and extraordinary things
even as far back as the civil movement and women have stood up for what
they believed in, so if I see a picture of my daughter on a dog leash,
knowing full well that I have trained her to the best of my knowledge
and in the way of the Lord, I would simply pick up the phone and give
her a call. I would ask if she is okay and if she replies that she is, I
would tell her about the picture I saw and ask what is going on. If she
tells me that she is doing something in terms of women advocacy and she
is trying to liberate women, I would tell her to ride on. If it makes
her happy, I would tell her to go on.
“I have been in this business for about 10 years and all
through those years, I have been very controversial. If you go through
my Instagram page, you would see that these are things that I am used
to. I am a bit surprised that most of the people that have been bashing
me are women between 35 and 50. I understand that they are upset but I
was expecting that they would act more maturely because when I went
through their Instagram pages, I realised that they have kids. How can a
mother tell me things like I would die and my mother would perish? It
only lets me know that this country is so backward that we have a long
way to go. Most of the ladies that said things that were so mean were
mostly mothers. I am not upset because I was already expecting it and I
decided to put myself through the pain, abuses and curses because I am
trying to achieve something,” he said.
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