This is not a topic you have not heard of before. You probably have one or two friends or acquaintances that have fallen prey of fast guys who lived fast and die fast. They make quick money, spend it with little or no sense and when it’s payback time, they drag a few people down with them. Why should they go down alone, considering they don’t usually spend fast dough alone?

Girls seem to have made up their minds to chase only ready-made guys. Well, things are tight, as they say. But it is so easy to take the wrong turn in the road. Girls who jump at designer shoes and ride in Hummer jeeps they know not whence they come are liable to die young or end up in miserable prison cells.

What brought this on? Some of my sisters in their desperate moves to improve their lots have been buying dangerous shares in unaudited companies. They hop on Prado jeeps and club all night with guys who won’t think twice before reducing them to one-boob imbeciles to keep the cash counters running. While there is nothing wrong with ambition, there is danger in investing in stocks that SEC and Madam Okereke-Onyiuke to come marching off to the trash can. And then there is the fear of the Senate committee on Capital market which can declare certain steps null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

It’s bad enough that everybody is broke but the way this no-money syndrome is breaking up affairs and homes is cause for concern.
There is now an unpredictable blue-red dance. One minute it is on the high and the next, at an all-time low. Women don’t want to marry paupers even if they can’t get the ready-made guys. Really, getting a ready-made bachelor these day is more difficult than getting a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
At least in the days of the finance houses, guys had money to burn. Or have you forgotten that that was when such expressions as ‘power dresser’, ‘yuppies’ and ‘upwardly mobile’ came into being?

Those were the good, old days when the streets were full of 26- years old green horns who became treasury managers straight after doing their NYSC year on remote farm settlements.
They drove Daewoo Espero, Hyundai Excel, Sonata and other such cars with tongue-twisting names. Then, affairs were straight from best sellers, complete with purple prose red roses and weekend trips. Husbands performed their God-given roles and wives did their wifely duties.

That was before ‘distress’ was introduced into our business parlance. Those were ‘them days’ when women were allowed to be women. We had time to pamper ourselves as we spent hours at beauty parlours. Not like now when we have to work as hard, if not harder than our men, to make ends meet.
Things have fallen apart. The posh cars have disappeared taking along the generous nature of our husbands. Caring wives have become selfish wives. Tantrums and threats have become the order of the day and more homes are faced with threats of going under.
If the married women are under so much stress, can you imagine the single girls’ troubles?
The poor folks can’t even enjoy their single years. The boyfriends don’t have enough money to give their girl friends good treats not to talk of settling down.
The women are wary and worried. When would things return to normal and the days become bright again? But before you could say revamp, resourceful Nigerian blokes came up with new tricks advance fee fraud (419) armed robbery, Otokoto.

Whatever. All that mattered was the posh cars and bright lights resurfaced. Who cares where the money came from?
Now, that is today’s big trouble. Too many greedy girls are falling into hell holes in their desperation to hook ready-made men. The flashy guys with murky pasts are back in town and it’s so easy to fall for them. Fortunately, there are signs and characteristics that set apart this breed of men.
He is 32 or thereabout, dashing, makes up for whatever he lacks in looks with good dress-sense. He drives Toyota camry(2008), gleaming black and his red Infinity is talk of the town.

His wrist watches and shoes are top of the range. In fact, total his get-up carried mind-blowing price tags. He has all manners of call cards. The reason is he has a chain of businesses ranging from importing condom to crocodile. There is always a bevy of bleached girls around him.
Though he is mean, rough, tough and crude, the girls stick to him because of the endless flow of cash. The polished look is only skin-deep, of course.
He talks and drives like an Italian. Oh, his money is not inherited or from a long chain of family business. His money is his. Don’t ask me how he made so much in 30 years.

His parents too are dazed at the rate at which their son achieved this success.
He belongs to many societies and clubs which on the surface look like social associations. But they are cults.
He is too far gone to consider leaving. His blood brothers are his life line. He owes them and his life is in danger if he betrays the oath.
Girls who flock around him are taking big risks and if you are involved, you need all the luck you can be wished.

Bobo may offer you his brand of romance and glamour. He may spoil you with money. But remember he may also be cut down in his prime.
His brains may get spilled all over your bedroom wall in the middle of the night. His offended blood brothers may send goons after him. His cult may ask for your blood for the next sacrifice.

You may end up as accessory after murder. Whichever way you look at things, you are not likely to end up well.
Then, what’s the worth of all the glamour, dollars and pounds sterling if you can be dead or widowed at age 25? Remember that when you settle for a guy whose source of income you know nothing about. You can’t be too careful these days, trust me.