₦airaland Forum

Alcohol sales in Africa are surging because of economic and population growth, a trend rubbing against the grain of another demographic factor defining the region: intense religiosity. By almost any measure, Africa is an exceptionally devout place and the major growth area for Christianity and Islam.

This should have implications for investors, especially in the fast-growing retail and beer sectors: they must navigate sacred sensitivities in areas such as marketing and factor the faithful into forecasts and demographic profiles for the continent’s population of just over a billion.

Brewing executives have said they tone down their advertising campaigns in Africa and these do tend to be conservative. In Nigeria for example, scantily-clad women tend not to feature on billboards promoting beer brands.

Instead, a man in a suit is portrayed sipping a refreshing cold lager, or more often than not, the ad shows just a giant bottle and glass. According to a 2010 report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the number of Muslims living in Sub-Saharan Africa rose 20-fold from 1900 to 234 million.

Christianity has grown at an even more blistering pace, with numbers soaring almost 70-fold over the same period of time to 470 million from just 7million. And in the case of Christianity, much of this growth has been concentrated in Pentecostal churches and other evangelical denominations which, like Islam, tend to frown on alcohol.

The Pew survey also questioned people in 19 African countries about their views on alcohol consumption and found that majority in all but three countries – Cameroon, Chad and Democratic Republic of Congo – found it morally objectionable.

“Views on this issue are related to how religious a person is,” said Neha Sahgal, a Pew research associate. What we found is that in most of the countries those who pray several times a day are more likely to find drinking alcohol morally objectionable than those who pray less,” she told Reuters in a phone interview.

Against this backdrop of piety, the conservative approach to advertising seems to be working. Home to some of the world’s fastest growing economies, Africa’s thirst for beer and spirits is surging: analysts estimate beer volumes rose around 7 percent last year. Excluding the mature South African market, growth reached more than 10 percent. Drinks companies want to maintain the momentum.

SABMiller is investing up to $2.5 billion over the next five years to build and renovate breweries on the continent. African sales of rival Diageo, the maker of Guinness, have risen by an average 15 percent in each of the last five years, accounting for 14 percent of the group’s total.

Nigeria’s 160 million people are now the world’s second biggest consumer of Guinness, after Britain, and analysts expect it to take the number one slot within a couple of years. Cameroon, with a much smaller population of around 20 million, is the fifth biggest.

In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, which is evenly divided between Islam and Christianity, church and mosque numbers are exploding alongside beer consumption. Beer turnover in Nigeria is growing faster than its economy. “At the moment, beer consumption is about 19.5 million hectoliters in 2012 and growing at about 8-9 percent per annum,” said Esili Eigbe, an analyst at Stanbic IBTC, who covers the brewery sector.

A number of factors could explain this. Africa’s population is young and many of the region’s converts find their religious zeal only as they grow a little older. In any case, most people’s drinking peaks in their 20s. And a lot of Africans, like a lot of people on other continents, are both religious and thirsty.

“People’s sense of morality sometimes doesn’t correspond with their behaviour. This is not unique to Africa,” said Sahgal, an expert on polling on religious issues. Some Africans are perfectly comfortable with this fact. “Islam advises against alcohol but does not force you. I drink to help me relax after a hard day’s work,” said Wasiu Abudu, a 42-year-old auto mechanic who lives in Lagos.

Suchie: Trash...commot here jor.

Do not call the word of God Trash, respect others religious sensibilities, even if you do not believe it is God's own words, How would you feel if i called what is contained in the Bible Trash, even as i know the Bible has undergone modification down the years..Pls be wiser, because God wrath no be play o

PS: to my Atheist Friends, i believe some Religious bigots needs to learn more than a thing or two from you

manmustwac: Just 26 posts and u want to be a mod? How long have u been a member of nairaland? Do u know that we have some mods who have been members of nairaland for over two years who are now AWOL. How do we know that if we make u a mod today that you may decide to leave nairaland for good tomorrow.

Well, i've known nairaland since 08/09 but did not register so...what you are saying is i need to dey post wella abi, even if it is nonsense and rubbish..i post only when i find it necessary

Loveaflame: Lust itself can never lead to love except their is a change in one's mindset about the object in question which now redifines one's feelings or convictions as per the object When this happens your feelings changes from the one of immoral to the one of true moral feelings of affection and passion for the object.This has now transcends your initial assumption as a result of certain qualities you have come to like and appreciate about the person.

it beats me how u can complicate a simple question like "can lust lead to love" into a jamb + complicated answer, u seem like the type one would ask, sir, do u know so so street around here, and you keep the person with you without really telling them if u know the place or not...

PS..all ur grammar, simply put could have been in one word "YES"...lust can lead to love

I believe it is safe to say, that solemn question that has tortured our very spirit has again united my Nigerian People, be you rich or poor or just managing, no tribalistic abuses, no insults... so i dare to ask " how does this really affect the prize of garri in the market? "

My chip, i love kids die, and i always tell my peeps that if not for 9ja economic situation i would have had a truckload of them by now, but from what i have read here, it seems like some of the parents here including the poster are over indulging these kids, like they are handicapped or something and can't put your foot down and stop them from messing with your phones, apart from the radiation these devices emit and the bacteria they carry, it is not healthy for kids to make a phone their toy, and it is never to early to let them know that phone is not their and they should stay away from it, subtly at first, especially when they are really young and more forcefully as they grow older, these are the little things we take for granted until these kids think they should be able to do whatever they want. that is why you area a parent, to control and guide them until they are matured enough to know left from right..
PS. i hardly subscribe to beating kids, although sometimes it is necessary but do it with love

Omo mehn, the light for my area dey fear me now o...imagine uninterrupted power for over a week now, PPM of 5k lasted only 9days, i dread the day dem go revert to their old "reliable" self

OffCuz....hate can even turn to love sometimes talkless of lust which is getting intimate with the subject...and i tell ya..Sex is powerful

There are some thing that have always being my fantasies ( if money was no an issue)since i was a little buoy, that i would really love to do before i exit this world..(hopefully, a very long time to come) and these are just a few that readily come to mind
1. Skydiving...men the day i would jump out of an aircraft at 10,00 feet above sea level...ohhh
2. Race in a really fast Super car, like the Bugatti Veyron Super Sports or Mclaren F1, that kind of ish
3. Travel the world over, see places meet people absorb as much as i can
4. have a party with Beyounce, Rihanna and Shakira (yep, not gonna happen! especially not now that Bee is after 1)
...Well, am sure their are more but can't remember 'em now

A very Egoistic Billboard...
...Am not a christian but i doubt if Pastor E.A Adeboye would approve of this if it were him
........Just Saying!

Or maybe you are just a very imaginative person with very little emotions, People who know her have said she is upright, i would refer u to what her best friend said about her, published in punch newspaper,(http://www.punchng.com/metro/cynthia-was-hardworking-decent-best-friend/ )to me i think she was just naive, and the guys didn't intend to kill her, maybe the Police added some jara. to make them look good though but i think these guys are messed up for real, besides UNILAG has no denied that these guys are not their student and No University in Nigeria would take that mehn...Think about it, as per the dress wey dem wear, common! that is the difference between a high profile case and just any other, it happens everywhere in the world(i.e high profile suspects are always treated differently until they get convicted), and the reason why their faces were not shown is that there are still suspects until convicted by a competent court of Law, The IG of Police stopped the parade of Suspects about three weeks ago as it is still deemed that they are innocent until proven guilty, it was even the human rights commission which had always condemned the culture of Parading suspects before the media in Nigeria ..so there u have it..

This whole "If Yoruba commits a crime,Other Tribes castigate and insult, and if it is the other way round, Yorubas go on the offensive..will get us no where, coming from supposed educated people, Tribalism will kill us all before Boko Haram does....Sad Sad Sad Country indeed.

I just read the unfortunate murder of Cynthia..(The General's daughter) that was killed for no apparent reason by people she allegedly met through facebook, which brings me to the question , Are there Serial Killers in 9ja i.e Individuals that just kill others for the thrill of it, nothing else..just to get the adrenaline pumping and sh*t, not minding Boko Haram and Armed Murderers (more like cowards ) who invade villages at Night, These category can't be technically described as Serial Killers but more like Terrorist because Terrorist always have a F**cked up reason to terrorize but Serial Killers would kill just any random person for the fun/thrill of it..
..So do we have Serial Killers in Nigeria?

bittyend: Why did they build their homes near the notorious coast of an ocean which has been surging for e-ons? Those people were suicidal in the first place, and you can't blame me for keeping it real..

And to the bolded part, I'm not lucky, bruv; and I doubt you can chat shyte to my face. I'll knock you the fvck out and wake up later to hit your yard for a nap. I'm not an e-thug, but I get busy on those gully roads, bruddah.. Fall back, son!!

No resonable should even bother to reply u after me though, These people living in Kuramo, do u think they love it there man, it's because they have no choive ..Poverty...an for u saing u would knock someone out bla bla bla...u r probably one skinny, fraily dude, and if not , u r still a SH yte- Head

First of all(resisting the urge to put "introduction" as in the Olamide single), This news sounds fake...How do u identify if one is a muslim or not..How do u differentiate one that is fasting from one who is not..except the person is eating in a buka with a very big tag on him/her saying LOOK AT ME, AM A MUSLIM AND AM NOT FASTING...hmmn..i think there is someone, somewhere coming up with these ridiculous stories concerning Muslims and Islam, First, it was the sex workers complaints of low patronage in the month of Rammadan and now this

SimplySEA: Wow! D SINGLE MOST PERFECT MAN in history losin his TEETH in a "WAR"? How's that for PERFECTION? Where's my dictionary again....! I've probably lost d meanin of perfection!

Well Mr Man, The Prophet was a man who faced Challenges, defending and protecting his Followers was one of them, which is why he was involved in a war, Wars are started and ended by Men, so being involved in Conflict doesn't make him less perfect(loosing his teeth is inconsequential but was meant to highlight personal injuries he sustained while being involved in a conflict, like any regular being would),Sometimes the way some people reason(especially on online Forums) are part of reasons why Nigeria is backward

karpentar: @adehwale



Muslims murder 3,000 innocents in New York and expect no criticism.
Muslims murder 202 tourists in Bali and expect no criticism.
Muslims murder 333 schoolchildren and their teachers in Beslan and expect no criticism.
Muslims murder 292 innocents, mainly Kenyans and Tanzanians at two US Embassies and expect no criticism.
Muslims murder 241 US and 58 French peacekeepers in Beirut and expect no criticism.
Muslims fire 4,000 Katyusha rockets into Northern Israel killing over 50 innocent civilians and expect no criticism.
Muslims murder 52 in London and 191 in Madrid and expect no criticism.
Muslims murder 200 in Mumbai and expect no criticism.
Muslims behead Western hostages in Iraq, Buddhist monks in Thailand and Christian schoolgirls in Indonesia and expect no criticism.
Muslims murder 500,000 in Darfur and expect no criticism.
Muslims regard Jews as "sons of pigs and monkeys", and vow to nuke Israel and expect no criticism.
Muslims force women to wear hideous sacks, stone women to death for getting raped and for leaving the home unescorted, engage in honor killings of sisters and daughters for unapproved dating, and expect no criticism.
Muslims danced in the streets and handed out sweets to their kids to celebrate the 9/11 atrocity, and still expected no criticism.
Since 9/11 Muslims have killed over 26,000 and wounded over 50,000 in terrorist attacks worldwide - and expect no criticism.
Since 9/11 Muslims have committed terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Chad, Chechnya, Dagestan, Denmark, East Timor, Egypt, England, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ingushetia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Jordan-Iraq, Kabardino-Balkans, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Gaza-Palestinian Authority, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Arab Republic, United States, Uzbekistan and Yemen, and still expect no criticism.
Muslims have carried out over 5,800 fatal terrorist atrocities since 9/11, and countless thousands since Islamic conquest began in 623 AD and expect no criticism.

AND THEY EXPECT US TO RESPECT THEM AND THEIR TWISTED RELIGION ENOUGH TO CONVERT!

It is NOT a Loving God that runs this religion, but Satan himself!

Islam is nothing but an excuse for a well organized boys club to pillage, rape, lie, and steal in the name and excuse of religion.

I would just have ignored ur Rant but...nah, u know for every 1 of ur list, i could insert worse attrocities that has been committed against predominantly Muslim Populations by the Mainly Zionist/Christian/ Jewish alliance of the Western world and Isreal, but that would make me like u and just doing the blame game, the thing is that world events have been coloured to suit the purpose of a pseudo religios war, when it's really just about who gets what, do u claim ignorance of the daily shellings going on in gaza and the everyday killings of Palestines..G W Bush lied to the world about Iraq, invaded the country and has killed thousands, yet no body (at least in the western media) has called him a Terrorist, still killing poor Families in Afghanistan just because Osama once lived in the country (by the way, the Taliban had to go one way or another)..yet in the eyes of People like u, The muslims are the evil doer..Guy Pls..do some research and not consume only what u see on CNN and the likes, The group of persons that are responsible for most deaths in the world are not Muslims, google a list of mass murderers in the world and i doubt if a Muslim is in the top ten of that list,Islamic Nations have bn for most part of human history reacted to acts of aggression and have not been the aggressors themselves..Lastly, i believe if u have a closed and biased mindset, then all the points i have made here would make no sense to u which means there is really no point trying to educate u.
Lastly though, there are bad people in every religion, race, tribe etc...Stupidity is when the bad minority is been used as a yardstick to judge the majority, if the 1.5 billion Muslims in the world are really as bad as u have made out, Then.this world as we know it really wouldn't be...Think about it

asemota2012: What efforts have you guys made to stop your members from destroying innocent souls and compelling other religions to convert to islam?

What makes the "our members" that some misguided people refer to themselves as muslims does not make them so, sorry put yourself in mu shoes, how would u advice BH( cuz these are the guys am sure u were referring to) because even Imams in the North that have openly condemned their activities get Killed..even if these guys really read their Quran..one of the greatest sin is to kill another soul...I believe i speak for the generality of Muslims by saying BOKO HARAM MEMBERS ARE NOT MUSLIMS...Shikena

This post has bn deleted

Though the news has bn confirmed to be fake...it's hilarious...But Common...its Dbanj we are talking about here

Well, i'll get u pregnant in five minutes...i am very potent and it is free[color=#990000][/color][font=Lucida Sans Unicode][/font]

AMERICAN TARGET SHOOTER Josh Lakatos faced a conundrum. Halfway through the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, he and his rifle-toting teammates were finished with their events, and the U.S. Olympic Committee and team officials had ordered them to turn in the keys to their three-story house and head back to the States. But Lakatos didn't want to leave. He knew from his experience four years earlier in Atlanta, where he'd won silver, that the Olympic Village was just about to erupt into a raucous party, and there was no way he was going to miss it. So he asked the maid at the emptied-out dwelling if she'd kindly look the other way as he jimmied the lock. "I don't care what you do," she replied.

Within hours, word of the nearly vacant property had spread. Popping up once every two years, the Olympic Village is a boisterous city within a city: chock-full of condos, midrises and houses as well as cafés, barbershops, arcades, discos and TV lounges. The only thing missing is privacy -- nearly everyone is stuck with a roommate. So while Lakatos claimed a first-floor suite for himself, the remaining rooms were there for the taking. The first to claim space that night were some Team USA track and field fellas.

"The next morning," Lakatos says, "swear to God, the entire women's 4x100 relay team of some Scandinavian-looking country walks out of the house, followed by boys from our side. And I'm just going, 'Holy crap, we'd watched these girls run the night before.'"

And on it went for eight days as scores of Olympians, male and female, trickled into the shooter's house -- and that's what everyone called it, Shooters' House -- at all hours, stopping by an Oakley duffel bag overflowing with condoms procured from the village's helpful medical clinic. After a while, it dawned on Lakatos: "I'm running a friggin' brothel in the Olympic Village! I've never witnessed so much debauchery in my entire life."

TAKE YOUR MARK
Home to more than 10,000 athletes at the Summer Games and 2,700 at the Winter, the Olympic Village is one of the world's most exclusive clubs. To join, prospective members need only have spectacular talent and -- we long assumed -- a chaste devotion to the most intense competition of their lives. But the image of a celibate Games began to flicker in '92 when it was reported that the Games' organizers had ordered in prophylactics like pizza. Then, at the 2000 Sydney Games, 70,000 condoms wasn't enough, prompting a second order of 20,000 and a new standing order of 100,000 condoms per Olympics.

Many Olympians, past and present, abide by what Summer Sanders, a swimmer who won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze in Barcelona, calls the second Olympic motto: "What happens in the village stays in the village." Yet if you ask enough active and retired athletes often enough to spill their secrets, the village gates will fly open. It quickly becomes clear that, summer or winter, the games go on long after the medal ceremony. "There's a lot of sex going on," says women's soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo, a gold medalist in 2008. How much sex? "I'd say it's 70 percent to 75 percent of Olympians," offers world-record-holding swimmer Ryan Lochte, who will be in London for his third Games. "Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do."

GET SET ...
The games begin as soon as teams move in a week or so before opening ceremonies. "It's like the first day of college," says water polo captain Tony Azevedo, a veteran of Beijing, Athens and Sydney who is returning to London. "You're nervous, super excited. Everyone's meeting people and trying to hook up with someone."

Which is perfectly understandable, if not to be expected. Olympians are young, supremely healthy people who've been training with the intensity of combat troops for years. Suddenly they're released into a cocoon where prying reporters and overprotective parents aren't allowed. Pre-competition testosterone is running high. Many Olympians are in tapering mode, full of excess energy because they're maintaining a training diet of up to 9,000 calories per day while not actually training as hard. The village becomes "a pretty wild scene, the biggest melting pot you've been in," says Eric Shanteau, an American who swam in Beijing and will be heading to London.

The dining hall is among everyone's first village stops. "When I walked in for the first time in Atlanta," says women's soccer player Brandi Chastain, "there were loud cheers. So we look over and see two French handballers dressed only in socks, shoes, jockstraps, neckties and hats on top of a dining table, feeding one another lunch. We're like, 'Holy cow, what is this place?'" Many liken it to a high school cafeteria, "except everyone's beautiful," says Julie Foudy, who has two golds and one silver from playing soccer in three Olympics and is now an analyst for ESPN. "We'd graze over our food for hours watching all the eye candy, wondering why I got married."

From one end of the village to the other, flags hang from windows and music blares from balconies. "Unlike at a bar, it's not awkward to strike up a conversation because you have something in common," Solo says. "It starts with, 'What sport do you play?' All of a sudden, you're fist-bumping." BMXer Jill Kintner, who won bronze in Beijing, says the Italians are particularly inviting: "They leave their doors open, so you look in and see dudes in thongs running circles around each other."

On the way to practice fields, "the girls are in skimpy panties and bras, the dudes in underwear, so you see what everybody is working with from the jump," says Breaux Greer, an American javelin thrower. "Even if their face is a 7, their body is a 20." In Beijing, even the adolescent female gymnasts got sassy with the water polo and judo boys who shared their training room. "That's where most of my socialization took place -- in a tub, up to my chest in ice water," says silver medalist Alicia Sacramone, then 20, who served as den mother to her teammates. "The younger girls would try to flirt with stuff like, 'Look at that butt on him!' I'm like, 'Excuse me, did that just come out of your mouth? Don't pay attention to his butt!'"

Quickly the reality sinks in that the village is "just a magical, fairy-tale place, like Alice in Wonderland, where everything is possible," says Carrie Sheinberg, an alpine skier at the '94 Winter Games and a reporter for subsequent Olympics. "You could win a gold medal and you can sleep with a really hot guy."

And no matter your taste, the village has got you covered. The soccer girls? "All hot, and they dress like rock stars," one male swimmer says. Male gymnasts? "They are like lovable little Ewoks," Kintner says. Sacramone has a few favorites of her own: "As far as best bodies, it's swimmers and water polo players, because that's an insane workout. And the track guys, they're sneaky-cute. Very serious, but when they lighten up, you're like, 'Oh, you're kind of adorable.'"

The challenge athletes face is what to do with their urges and when. "If you don't have discipline, the village can be a huge distraction," Solo admits. Some swear off sex until their events are done; others make it part of their pre-event routine. American shot-putter and silver and bronze medalist John Godina thought he'd seen it all in Atlanta: late-night hookups, friends disappearing for days at a time. But he hadn't seen anything like the dorm room in Sydney he shared with a javelin thrower, which had instantly become a revolving door of women without backstories. "It's like Vegas," Godina explains. "You learn not to ask a lot of questions."

That randy roommate of Godina's, Greer, picks up the story: Each day, the shaggy blond was visited by three women, sometimes just hours apart -- an accomplished pole vaulter and former flame; a mighty hurdler who "tried to dominate me," Greer says; and a "very talented" vacationer from Scandinavia. Greer says his Olympian partners were, like him, looking to "complete the Olympics training puzzle." When his event did come around, Greer nailed Athens' longest toss in prelims before a knee injury sidelined him. "I was a happy man going into competition," he says. "If you find somebody you like and who likes you, your world's complete for a second, and you compete well."

Still, some coaches try to limit late-night activities by enforcing 11 p.m. noise curfews, banning alcohol consumption or, in the case of USA Swimming, forbidding cross-gender visitation in bedrooms. Amanda Beard, with two golds, four silvers and one bronze medal to her name, was in a relationship with another swimmer during the 2000 Games but says, "People would walk around for miles to try to sneak somewhere."

Many on-the-prowl athletes maintain that they're driven by a simple human need: intimacy, if only for a moment or three. For most Olympians, the ramp-up to the Games is lonely. Not unlike movie stars on a far-flung movie shoot, the Olympics present the perfect opportunity to find a partner who understands where they're coming from. "Think about how hard it is to meet someone," Azevedo says. "Now take an Olympian who trains from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m. every day. When the hell are you supposed to meet someone? Now the pressure is done, you're meeting like-minded people ... and boom."


Noma Bar
GO!
Typically, the swimmers are some of the lucky ones who wrap up early. For Lochte, that typically means "hitting a local pub and drinking with the soccer hooligans," he says. But a teammate in Athens had a better idea: sex on his village balcony. "Another team saw it, which led to a big argument because they accused me. I said, 'No, I'm innocent,'" Lochte says, laughing. "I'm always innocent." After his team finished its events in Beijing, "our coach sat us down and gave us what I can only describe as the birds-and-the-bees talk," says gold medalist Cullen Jones. "We're like, 'Okay, this is extremely awkward.'"

Just outside the village are sponsors parties. But what most Olympians want, in the end, is to bring the party back to the village.

The athlete compound soon becomes the site of an uneasy dance between jocks on a post-competition bender and those who have yet to compete. Says Swiss swimmer Dominik Meichtry: "I'd get home from the clubs at 6 or 7 a.m., and I'd feel bad for the track and field guys. They're getting on a bus and we're intoxicated, wearing fedoras, looking like crap." As the curtain falls on more events, the action accelerates. Displaced roommates become commonplace, with the standard sock-on-doorknob serving as the signal for "please go away." Before long, Foudy says, "it turns into a frat party with a very nice gene pool." And heaps of stamina. "Athletes are extremists," Solo says. "When they're training, it's laser focus. When they go out for a drink, it's 20 drinks. With a once-in-a-lifetime experience, you want to build memories, whether it's sexual, partying or on the field. I've seen people having sex right out in the open. On the grass, between buildings, people are getting down and dirty."

Those who desire a little privacy can borrow a hotel room from their agents or visiting friends. "You can get pretty much whatever you want if you flash your medal," says one American female. "That usually does the trick." Not quite everything. At the Lillehammer Games in 1994, two German bobsledders tried using their medals as currency. "They made it clear that they'd trade me their gold for all kinds of other favors," Sheinberg says. "I said jokingly, 'Thanks, but Tommy Moe has a medal. I'll play with his.'" The Germans were hoping for some group fun, which is not uncommon in the village. One skier tells a story from the Vancouver Games in 2010, when six athletes -- "some Germans, Canadians and Austrians" -- got together at a home outside the Whistler village. "It was a late-night whirlpool party. It turned into a whirlpool orgy."

[+] Enlarge
CSPA/US Presswire
"I was too locked in in Beijing. This time, when I'm done leaving my legacy on the track, I'll make sure London remembers me." - LaShawn Merritt, U.S. sprinter, Beijing 2008
"This is a diplomatic relations trip," says Godina, "maybe because they feel they never have to see each other again." Adds Sheinberg: "It's also about finding something new. Olympians are adventurers. They look for a challenge, like having sex with someone who doesn't speak their language."

The sense of discovery can be powerful. At the 1976 Montreal Games, three-time Olympic diver and four-time gold medalist Greg Louganis, appearing in his first Olympics at age 16, developed a kinship with the boys on the Soviet Union diving team and soon found himself partying in their rooms. "Once events were over, our entire diet was caviar, vodka and Russian champagne. It was crazy," Louganis says. He was particularly struck by the Russians' sense of sexual liberation. "Culturally, they're more openly affectionate toward each other, which I just drank up, since I was still discovering who I was. But I had my eyes on one Soviet. I'd curl up in his lap; we'd hug and cuddle. I felt so protected." It didn't progress beyond that, Louganis says. "He was hooking up with one of the other male divers on the team" -- not to mention married.

AND KEEP GOING ...
By the eve of the closing ceremonies, all of the events have wrapped, all bets are off and the home team often hosts one hell of a party. That was certainly the case in Sydney, where Australia's baseball and women's soccer teams threw a joint bash complete with a massive bonfire. "Who knew the village furniture could burn so well," kids Alicia Ferguson, an Aussie footballer. "We did involve the fire wardens, who were very accommodating, and then we started hooking up around our very own Olympic Village bonfire."

And after the men's hockey gold medal game in Vancouver, which Canada won, a dry lounge in the village exploded into a full-blown rager. "If you were walking by, you would've thought it was a high school party," says NHLer Bobby Ryan of the silver-winning American squad. "I'm talking booze, people randomly making out, everybody else cheering them on. And that was the PG stuff. Then everything went inside."

And then there's the one party that can't be missed: the closing ceremony. Says Ferguson: "They basically throw us all in a stadium and say, 'Just go for it, party hard, get drunk and do some groping.' Which we did, with some Canadians." Here's what you don't see on TV: all of the athletes who arrive inebriated and, throughout the ceremony, sneak back and forth between the infield and the stadium with drinks. Somewhere in the middle of this party, typically, is America's women's soccer team, whose tournament runs the duration of the Games. "This is our chance to let loose," Chastain says. "Our hair is on fire, we're leaving the next morning, and we're going to enjoy our last 24 hours." After the Beijing Games, the women went, well, Hollywood. Solo recounts the story: "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but we met a bunch of celebrities. Vince Vaughn partied with us. Steve Byrne, the comedian. And at some point we decided to take the party back to the village, so we started talking to the security guards, showed off our gold medals, got their attention and snuck our group through without credentials -- which is absolutely unheard of." And, she adds, "I may have snuck a celebrity back to my room without anybody knowing, and snuck him back out. But that's my Olympic secret." The best part, according to Solo? "When we were done partying, we got out of our nice dresses, got back into our stadium coats and, at 7 a.m. with no sleep, went on the Today show drunk. Needless to say, we looked like hell."

And then it's over -- for most Olympians, anyway. For a few and the most committed, the games continue -- all the way home. On a United Airlines flight from Sydney to Los Angeles in 2000, nearly 100 Olympians were among the passengers, causing the flight attendants to begin the flight with a warning: "Ladies and gentlemen, anybody who wishes to sleep, trade seats with someone in the front of the plane. Everybody else to the back with the Olympians." After that, the story gets fuzzy.

"Everybody partnered up fairly rapidly, and when they'd bring a drink cart through, we'd send it back dry," says Lakatos, who met a girl and "comfortably occupied row 50-something for roughly half an hour." Greer ended up in the bathroom with a famous Olympian he will not name. "We're going at it, and then -- boing. I accidentally turn on the assistance light." Happily for them, once Greer assured the flight attendant of their Olympic credentials, they were able to return to their business. "And we stayed in there a long time."

It's tales like these -- of connections made and just as easily ditched -- that have London-bound Olympians dreaming of the possibilities. "My last Olympics, I had a girlfriend -- big mistake," Lochte says. "Now I'm single, so London should be really good. I'm excited." So is American runner LaShawn Merritt, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 400 meters. "An Olympics to remember has to have those stories," Merritt says. "But I was too locked in in Beijing. This time, when I'm done leaving my legacy on the track," he says, laughing, "I'll make sure London remembers me."

Taylor Phinney too is looking forward to a do-over in London for two reasons. In Beijing, he was an 18-year-old wunderkind American cyclist who night after night sat on his balcony, one floor below the gymnastics team terrace, and tossed Shawn Johnson prohibited Snickers bars. "She was a superstar," Phinney says of the then-16-year-old, "and I was a lowly cyclist with a massive crush." After Johnson won gold and moved to a hotel with her parents, Phinney moved his courtship to the lobby, where they closed some blinds and had a "kissing session." But Phinney's long trip to first base may have also derailed his medaling hopes. "This is going to sound stupid, but I almost forgot I had to race."


After a Skype relationship forced by their globe-trotting careers, they are now on hiatus. But Phinney can't wait for London, where Johnson, who retired in June, will be on hand to fulfill her sponsorship obligations. "I'll try to hang out with her as much as I can," he says before he doubles back, still clearly flummoxed. "And I'm going to try very hard to stay away from females." In that case, he might want to stay away from the Olympic Village altogether.

FORMER GOVERNOR FAYOSE DO PASS THIS ONE...STILL STEAL BILLIONS OF EKITI FUNDS SO WHAT ARE WE SAYING..THOUGH I BELIEVE ROCHAS IS A MORE SINCERE PERSON BUT ALL THIS NA FOR PUBLICTY JARE..AM NOT BUYING

I TOTALLY AGREE...TOTALLY...i always taught i was the only one that saw it so..

and these

Mad Fun i tell you...Lagosians really know how to have Fun, My own Pictures are from the Top of TBS

Last Picture was not taken at the Carnival but all join!

Interesting how Thread diverted to 2 somebodies flirting, But Girl, it is not nice to categorise someone as urself as dirty and smelly, Na condition make them househelps, some of them are even prettier that the butty Family they serve, i've seen a lot, as per Poster, i feel ur pain, But Flee, (in this case, u can't since na ur house she dey) so find a way to send her Packing

Laughing at all these Post in March 2012, where wuz i, i think it's too late to share my childhood escapades