Nigeria’s five years old democracy, which has provided a fertile soil for spiritual matters such as the SHARIA law, has likewise had a multiplicity of interest groups and associations. Some less desirable than others.
Associations, organisations, groups and societies have come forward to express themselves .Same sex in nigeria then began to come into limelight and remains a criminal offence under the Nigeria criminal code and can carry a jail term of 14 years while a sentence penalty by stoning under the Sharia law is inevitable.
It is this politics now that has given impetus to lesbians and homosexuals to join hands in the formation of an audacious same sex groups and associations which they term “the right to be different”
The Nigeria society totally condemns the same sex syndrome. With the country being confronted by a deregulation of its economy, the deregulation of morality has also set place.
The Anglican communion in Nigeria, terms same sex as a terrible sin recalling the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah where same sex perpetuators were divinely destroyed. The Muslim call it ‘haram” or forbidden.
The prevailing view in Nigeria is one that regards homosexuality as an abuse of the ancient traditional values and as the work of the present day occultism. In the united states of America and some parts of Europe, sodomy and lesbianism are considered normal due to the ideas of free associations and democratic principles. It is perhaps for this reason Nigerians see homosexuality and lesbianism as a whole sale importation of an alien commodity.
Within the Hausa ethnic group, in Nigeria, male homosexual prostitutes (commonly known as Yan daudu) meaning “ men who are wives of men” , are commonly among the elite classes and often patronize hotels and brothels in the major northern cities.
The fight by the government and the sharia law tends to be one sided. It mostly targets the poor and low keyed , leaving the main culprits who are high classed persons. Some gay movement organisations here in Nigeria have a whole handful of members who use the organisation as an umbrella to get partners. Such organisations must be banished and deregistered.
If the same sex advocacy is to be wiped out, the high and the mighty must also be prosecuted .
Last year witnessed a situation where 6 core members of one leading gay movement association (mostly same sexed in Kano, Nigeria were arrested and prosecuted by the sharia courts although one is believed to have absconded probably hiding in the country or outside.
This is a welcomed development to serve as a detriment to any one who welcomes same sex or associations who do that.
If this is not done effectively, the same sex associations and movements would breed moral and social dislocations .They will be tools for corroding and eroding societal norms and values. All hands must be on deck to correct this western imports in to Nigeria.
Umbawo is a free lance writer and writes from Kano state , Nigeria.
