Why people think I’m woman bully- Pretty Mike
Despite my controversial stunts, my father thinks I’ve not done enough- Pretty Mike
Better known as king of stunt and several online trends, Mike Nwalie, otherwise known as Pretty Mike of Lagos, is one of the popular socialites currently in town who has carved a niche for himself via his choice of lifestyle. With his primary business in night life circle, Pretty Mike has remained focused with a game plan to reach his goals as a club manager.
Despite his several controversies as a result of pulling some of the weirdest stunts, the socialite has however developed thick skin towards hate comments and negative vibes. In this chat with MUTIAT ALLI, Pretty Mike, who was one-time accused of been a woman oppressor, spoke about peoples misconception about his personality, women empowerment initiative, and humble beginning amongst others.
Enjoy…
How did the inspiration to join the night club business dawn on you?
I schooled in the US. When I came back to Nigeria I didn’t know anybody and a lot of people kept asking me how I have been so successful, how I become so popular.
When I came here I figured the only way to drive traffic to my business was through controversy, this is what people enjoy, you have to stir up something and let them ask; ‘who is that guy?’ ‘Wetin him dey do?’ ‘Oh that guy, oh we go check him place up’. That was how it started. That’ why you can find some people who end up saying ‘he is a controversial guy’. With several stunts I have pull over the years, some people had called me an attention seeker but to me, it’s a way of life.
Can you give us some insight into your educational background, from which field of study did you emerge?
This is the kind of question I always run away from; the reason is because Pretty Mike has always been a mystery, people are always trying to dissect me; who this guy, where is he coming from is. Anyway, I studied Computer Science in the University of Houston. I wouldn’t say I am successful yet, but as you can see, I’m just pushing it. What I found out that I was doing tactically in my college days was I was throwing the most elaborate parties in school. Back then, if you didn’t attend Pretty Mike party, you were nobody. One of the good things about the US which is one of our problems in Nigeria is that most college students have a job to be able to sustain them. The society makes it so conducive that you can work and still go to school. The students work and make enough money to buy cars and get nice apartments. Even when my friends were doing that, I refused to work because I always have independent mind, I don’t like people shouting at me. I was into entertainment business and I was making more money, but the good thing about it was that I had more time to myself and still lived a playboy lifestyle. After my university, there was a strong drive to come back to Nigeria, a lot of my friends also came back and some couldn’t survive it; they asked me how I managed to survive. Most Nigerians in Diaspora want to come back, but they have a couple of problems. There are a lot of questions to be asked; when they come, who will help them with the foundation? And when they do come back, what kind of experience do they have? Some of them have bad experiences and they go back to tell others. One thing about Nigeria is that everybody has to be on guard, you cannot afford to lose focus. You can’t lose guard with your father or mother. Your father will take advantage of you and still be laughing with you. We are in a society where everybody is a lion, even the young ones are cubs aggressively growing up to get their own share. People talk about how we must change the country and I ask how? Who wants to change it, the lions? Because every lion wants to be a king. Suppression is in our blood.
So how have you been able to penetrate the Nigerian media space within a short period of time?
When I came back from the States, I figured the only way to drive traffic to my business was through controversy and that was how it started with my several stunts I’ve pulled over the years. So, for me, it’s just a way of life. That’s how some people might end up saying ‘he is a controversial guy, he’s this and that’ but to me it’s just a way of life. With that being said, there are several projects I’m working on.
What could the project be other than night life?
There you got it wrong!! It’s a woman empowerment project.
How could that be; for someone who is seen as a woman oppressor?
One of the biggest problems we have in Nigeria is misconception. For those that don’t know me, they will tell you that Mike takes advantage of women but for those that actually know me they will tell you that I am probably one of the biggest supporters or women over the years.
I remember when I had the same issue with the state government ‘, the Akinwunmi Ambode regime’; the news out there was that I was taking advantage of girls but when I sat with the governor. I said basically this is a women right movement, he said there are several women right hotlines out there that have worked so hard on women right that every woman who has a problem in Lagos knows where to go. But I said ‘no, that’s not the truth. Look at the young ladies on the street if they are abused, please, where would they run to? They can’t run to the police, the police will automatically segregate them and call them ashawo, neither can they run to their family they will probably kick them out. If they are college students they can’t run to their professor because the professor also wants to take advantage of them, so who do they run to? They have to run back to the street and I am their favourite person on the street. The only person they can probably talk to one on one without judging them.’
Women rights should not be segregated but should be across the board, which is why I am championing a non-profit organization that will cater for these people. Already, I’ve been doing it; me being in the nightclub business has given me ability to touch some lives that our so-called society probably cannot help because they reject them.
What would be the nature of your empowerment programme?
Between now and next year I want to be able to support five hundred to a thousand businesses. This laziness, idleness or whatever you want to call it starts from a student. A situation where you have lectures on Monday, Wednesday and Friday but half of the class would be cancelled first of all. There’s no college student that has a job but they all want to work and that’s why you see some of them on the streets, that’s where the word “runs” start. They want to wake up in the morning, get dressed and go somewhere but the opportunity is not even there, which is why when they wake up the first thing they do is to check their Whatsapp to see which boy has messaged them, if there’s no boy, they go to Instagram to check which boy has sent a DM, if there’s nobody they go to Snapchat, if that doesn’t work they now have to make videos and post because no how, a guy will text them and that’s it. It becomes a work.
How are you planning to take them off such hustle with your programme?
What I want to help them do is to establish a business. With the help of social media, if you look round, young ladies are taking advantage of it. Make up business is on the high, cream business, clothing, these are businesses and opportunities that are about there and are flourishing left right and centre. These are businesses that we can train our college students and for me as a philanthropist, I am also ready to empower them with money to start the business, and I’m going to do that for the ones who fall under my horoscope. The girls that I take out to events are even happy because they know that at the end of the day, there palms would be greased with money. What the social media paints and what is happening are two different things.
How did your parents react to the stunts when they started causing commotion?
Let me even amaze you the more. My father thinks I’ve not done enough. There was a time I went to a function with some dwarfs with calabash on their heads. When my father saw the number of dwarfs, he complained that I should have gone with more than two dozen of them. He understands what I do and has encouraged me every step of the way. My mother is a very spiritual person. In fact, my mother is the only pregnant woman I know who fasted ‘dry’; that’s without food or water for 40 days and survived. I was raised in Deeper Life Church, so that way you can understand I had a near perfect upbringing and there should be no question about my spirituality. God can call me tomorrow to lead His people and the world will know that for this man who had seen and been through all of these to embrace Christ, God is indeed his caller.
What’s your take on this nagging COZAGATE?
Well, the matter has gone to court and we should wait to see how it pans out finally. I will not say certainly this or that person is guilty as charged, but it’s clear that this is an indication that women are becoming more courageous. You’ve heard of betrayal by pastors because they are the only ones apart from parents that girls revere, don’t worry, in the fullness of time, you will be shocked to your marrows to hear about how medical doctors abuse these girls. It is going to have a spiral effect- those other unsuspected people abusing will soon start getting mentions and then we will all know that we need a lot more to do in protecting our vulnerable young women.
