In an era when women use different shades of sex toys to seek sexual pleasure, one can understand while penile augmentation has become a popular subject of discussion. With technology and human civilisation attaining crazy heights, what the human mind cannot conceive does not exist. We live in a dispensation when hitherto strange appetites have become the norm. We cannot blind our eyes to some of these sordid realities that have come to stay with us. It is not a culture-specific issue. In fact, it is a universal issue that many believe emanated from the unbridled sophistication of the western world.
Many Nigerian men have been swindled by sellers of penile enhancement products. Incidentally, there is a psychological angle to this saga. Many men believe that the size of their manhood matters a lot when it comes to sexual relations between them and their partners. In fact, there are innumerable accounts of men whose partners have cheated on them because of inadequate endowment. Such men often have a feeling of low self-esteem and would usually want to go the extra mile to remedy the perceived deficiency.
Unfortunately, many of such men have become the target of charlatans and scammers who prowl the internet space, advertising all sorts of medicines, which they claim, can increase the size of the male organ. The trend is so dangerous that you hardly browse through social media channels like Facebook and Instagram without coming across these advertisers and their spurious claims. More dangerous is the fact that these advertisers have no known physical addresses, aside from their phone numbers, making it difficult to trace them in the case of any form of malpractice or fraud.
It must also be noted here that the health hazards associated with the circulation of fake and unbranded penile enhancement products cannot be overemphasised. One can only imagine the level of harm men expose themselves to when they buy some of these products that do not come with any credible proof of safety or efficacy. Some men have inadvertently consumed poison in their quest to increase the size of their male organ.
The activities of such people have constituted a major threat to the food and drug sector in Nigeria, as most of the products advertised do not have NAFDAC approval and one wonders how they are smuggled into the country. The fact that medicines in this category are sold in covert outlets also shows that the syndicate behind them operates with the full knowledge of the food and drug laws in the country. They know that making such products available in major pharmacies would not be easy, going by the education and exposure of pharmacists who would not want to shelf any product that falls short of the PCN and NAFDAC’s requirements.
By using the social media, they know that they can easily get away with their scams, especially because most victims would not want the public to know that they are battling such a mortifying challenge. In Nigeria, issues bordering on sex and organ size are usually approached with utmost secrecy and so, it is very easy for fake products to reign supreme in the market. This is one area where NAFDAC and the PCN should strengthen and improve their intelligence gathering mechanism.
In places like Lagos, some hawkers and sellers of these products no longer fear that their actions can land them in trouble. They operate openly in major markets, displaying signposts and urging members of the public to patronise them. Some even use public address systems for publicity. The fact that most of these charlatans and their customers are illiterate shows that there is serious danger around the corner. It is unhealthy for men to use drugs that they do not have sufficient information about. This issue, if not carefully checked, can lead to a grave public health challenge.
