Since the historic passage of a law criminalising all forms of gay activities in Nigeria by the Senate, I’ve been receiving tips through SMS and e-mail by a few concerned Nigerians who claim to have information to the effect that gays in the country are “re-strategizing” with a view to launching a campaign of calumny against those who are thinking straight, and the leadership of the Senate in particular.
Sincerely I never took any of those ‘tips’ seriously, to the extent that someone even called me to ask ‘Mr. Olu, why didn’t you post the anti-gay law story on your Blog’? All they’ve been saying is now making sense to me after reading through an article written by someone.
As a ‘gay activist’ who’s yet to summon the nerves to come out open probably because of what people would say. I used to follow the activities of Chude Jideonwo with pride, but his latest rantings in an article about the passage of the anti-gay bill goes to confirm that Nigerian (youths) should be mindful of who they listen to in these perilous time. Below is an edited version of the article Chude wrote for CNN on the ‘very shameful’ debate:
“You can comb the breadth of our decidedly homophobic media and there is neither anecdotal nor empirical evidence of a clamor, even a quiet one, for gays to be married in churches, mosques or courts [This is even a big lie].
Still, our legislators were hard at work over a considerable number of weeks while the rest of sane Nigeria, in a state of suspended disbelief, ignored them; convinced that, in a country with pressing issues such as fuel subsidy removal and debilitating insecurity, this frivolous legislation would not see light of day.
Our elected representatives in the Senate, armed with their version of our National Moral Code, took time off urgent national issues to tackle the even more urgent evil of gay marriages. Before we could catch our breaths, our over-paid and under-worked Senators had legalized homophobia.
According to the law, not only is gay marriage a crime punishable by a 14-year jail term, but "any person who registers, operates or participates in gay... organizations" faces a decade in jail -- a clause that specifically targets the many active s*xuality rights advocacy groups in the country.
By the time the House of Representatives adds its predictable voice to this and the President signs it into law, writing this kind of piece might even risk jail time. It is important to note though that I and other aware young people who might sometimes be misidentified as the elite, may spend precious hours in vocal incredulity on Twitter and Facebook; shouting down a law that we can hardly do anything about - but we are sadly in the minority, at least for now.
You see, in Nigeria, homophobia is alive and well.
Many Nigerians are convinced that homos*xuality is "of the devil", against our "culture" and an encroachment of "sad Western values." A young man recently tweeted that "homos*xuality is the cause of the present rot in America."
What rot? America's thriving Silicon Valley? A democracy it should be proud of? Or the millions of dollars in aid that its government and people have invested in treating everything from malaria to HIV in our dear country? That's forgetting that the real giant of Africa, South Africa, is the continent's bastion of s*xuality rights.
"Our values are our values," the pompous senate president David Mark replies to critics of the bill. Nonsense he can get away with, only because a large segment of our educated population is unaware that animals have been found to be gay.
Dead cliches like "God did not make Adam and Steve" continue to get excited choruses from sedated congregations and people still declare with ignorance that "homos*xuality is not a part of our culture", conveniently skimming over historical evidence of the practice in the East and North of the country; and blissfully unaware that the origins of homophobia in our societies can only be traced to the influx of foreign religions.
Today, I am ashamed to be Nigerian.
But it's not because a gang of morally questionable legislators has forced through a piece of legislation that is both irrelevant and irresponsible. It's rather because, in a country burdened by a lethal mix of misplaced priorities, confused sense of culture and an ignorant electorate, this intolerance is in fact a popular decision. We have allowed the politicians to fool us once again.”#
Well, thank God that Chude - the ‘gay activist’ - realised that the resolve to outlaw “their activities” is a ‘popular decision’. Look here Chude; no matter how hard you (and others) try to twist the issue by calling our Senators (and Senate president) names, Nigerians will not fall for such 'nonsense' antics. Whenever there is need for us to criticise them, we won’t need you to remind us. But on this GAY issue, we (majority of Nigerians) are in full support of their action.
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