My experience with the dating app

"You should be on Tinder" a colleague advised me a few months ago when we were talking about love and relationships in Nigeria. When he told me about Tinder I wasn't too enthusiastic about it. I briefly tried it out last year but lost interest on the same day I downloaded it. I deleted it from my phone quickly.

I decided to give it another shot and downloaded it. I still hate the fact that Tinder incorporates your Facebook profile and photos. The average Facebook profile sucks and the photos on there suck more.

I had to upload my new Instagram-worthy photos on my Tinder Profile. I also pimped my bio to attract ladies. After this, I started swiping. I swiped to the left a lot, but once in a while, I swiped right whenever I saw a hottie. After 15 minutes of swiping, I closed the app.

ALSO READ: Find out why M.I thinks Tinder is terrible

Two days later, on a Sunday, I got a notification that someone had I earlier swiped had also swiped my profile. I checked her account, I couldn't remember that I gave her a 'yes' swipe but hey, I went through her photos and she wasn't bad looking.

I sent her a "Hi", and she hit me up with "what's up?" I introduced myself and she replied me with an "OK". Things got fuzzy from here on. I tried to engage her in some small talk but I got a "so when are we hooking up?"

At this point I knew who I was dealing with- a runs girl. "When are we hooking up?" is the introductory line of most Internet savvy runs girls.

After I asked her "what will it take?" I got no reply. I continued on swiping Tinder and hours later, a hot chick swiped back. I started another round of convo. When I asked her are you here for hook ups she said yes. A couple of minutes later she told me that N25,000 is what it will take for her to hook up with me. I gulped then laughed at the screen of my iPhone. I told her I would hit up later in the weekend after she told me what the money will 'cover' and 'not cover'.

The nice guy in me didn't want to believe that Tinder in Lagos is basically a transaction point for flesh. However, after I had chatted with four more young women I fully believed. The prices of the other women I hit up ranged from N30,000-N60,000.

I thought this experience was only exclusive to me but when I spoke to other guys they revealed a lot of guys on Tinder in Lagos use Tinder for paid sex. Someone actually told me it is a "[expletive] parlour." I guess you can't find love through an app.

My personal revelation shouldn't be surprising really. Before Tinder, 2go and Badoo were the reigning apps used for 'hook ups'. I knew someone who used Badoo a lot for hookups.

It is possible to find women who are not into transactional sexual relationships on Tinder (after I skewed my profile I chatted with two working ladies who were not into hookups).

A couple of months later, I was tired of the swiping game and deleted Tinder from my phone. The app is still a hit for those searching for relationships or other things.