I had an interesting discussion with a neighbor friend yesterday, and it bordered on sex and women. He has this believe that every lady wants a man who will be having sex with her on a regular basis and that no lady can remain a virgin till marriage.

It’s quite a weird thinking, skewered i must say. Of course i told him his argument was baseless and lacks merit but he believes he is right. That tells me something about the mindset some people actually carry around when it comes to sex and relationship. Some believe they can’t be in a relationship and not have active sex with their partner. While others differ on it. Some don’t even need to be in a relationship before they have sex with anybody they fancy just like that my friend.

It scares me, i must say the way people view issues of sex in the face of Venereal Disease, Morality, Honor, beliefs and what have you. I once saw an advertorial which says, “there is nothing wrong been a virgin” and i wonder to myself, do people really believe that? In our culture in this part of the world, it’s an honor for a Lady to be married to her Husband a Virgin but those it still hold true? Not only in our culture, but the Holy Scriptures as well calls for it.

The National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA) stated that, “The adult HIV prevalence has increased from 1.8% in 1991 to 4.5% in 1996 to 5.8% in 2001. Estimates indicate that more than 3.5 million Nigerians were infected with the virus in 2002. The epidemic in Nigeria has extended beyond the commonly classified “high-risk groups” and is now common amongst the general population. With the adult prevalence rate at 5.8 percent in 2001, the nation is now threatened by an exponential and explosive growth of the epidemic. Impact of the epidemic on the social and economic development of Nigeria has been substantial; it has contributed to the present decrease in life expectancy, increased the number of deaths of young adults; increased the number of orphans in the country; increased the cost of achieving developmental goals and increased the level of poverty in the country. It threatens to cause even worse socio-economic problems if the epidemic is allowed to further escalate.” (www.naca.gov.ng )

A non-governmental organization, Action Health Incorporated stated in the Punch Newspaper of October 28^th 2008 that based on the 2006 National HIV/Syphilis Sero-prevalence sentinel survey, more than 1.98million women were still at risk of being infected with HIV/AIDS virus by 2010. This is alarming! It was further stated that based on National survey, estimates and projections showed that in 2006, 1.74million of the total of 2.99million population of HIV infected people were females! This means that 58% of people infected with HIV/AIDS are women! What is the problem?!

And with this statistics some are saying they can’t do without sex! And yet it’s more horrible that someone could think that Ladies need a Man to have sex with them always! It’s very disheartening to see the way women are degraded by Men. The way they are abused, humiliated, terrorized and used. It’s terrible, and I think this will be for another day.

But the long and sum of it is this, our perception and mindset on sex needs to be worked on thoroughly. We need to wake up and face the reality of the situation, go back to the roots, and find a way to deal with the moral decadence that is plaguing us and our society. To find a way to help and nurture each other to grow in love, respect and understanding. To cherish our lives and make a meaningful contribution to our world.

There is nothing wrong been a VIRGIN!