I'M ASHAMED OF MY COUNTRY NIGERIA

Every once in a while America and Europe
tries to impose their social standards on
Africa. I think that they are wrong to do so.
As a Nigerian, however, I believe that I
have the right to criticize my own country when I
believe our government has erred. Recently
Nigeria criminalized gay marriage and gay
lifestyle. It now carries a 14-year prison sentence
if you are arrested as a result of same sex
marriage and a 10-year jail term if you are
arrested for just living your life as openly gay.
Since the law was signed by President Jonathan a
few weeks ago many have been rounded up and
charged to court. A few days ago seven men were
stoned to death in Bauchi state under the Sharia
law for being gay. Now, there is a new video
making rounds in which two gay men were
brutally beaten to death while police men
watched. These are the sort of headlines I used to
see out of Iran and Saudi Arabia, very barbaric to
say the least, especially in 2014. I never in my
wildest dreams imagined my country sliding this
far behind.
I posted an article back in June titled "Nigeria gay
issues…and the hypocrisy of our politicians" I
wrote this immediately after the law was passed
in the Federal House of Representatives, and I
warned Nigerians of the consequences, but like
everything else in this country people simply
ignored the bill. Today it has been signed by our
president and its implementation has finally
woken some people. Those who defend this law
are quick to point out that it is supported by an
overwhelming number of Nigerians. I would
readily give it to them, but my question remains;
does it make it right or just? Perhaps I need to
remind these people that majority of Americans
supported the laws that allowed the enslavement
of our brothers and sisters in America two hundred
years ago and beyond. Majority of South African
whites supported the apartheid regimes for nearly
a century. Majority of Germans supported Hitler's
policy of exterminating the Jews. In spite of the
popular support for these policies, it does not
make them right or just.
Some have quoted the bible to back-up their
support for this law; others have found their refuge
in the Koran. I also need to remind you that there
were those who used bible verses to justify their
enslavement of fellow human beings. The truth is
that you can pretty much find anything in the
bible to justify your stance. For me, I'd rather
stand on the words of Jesus Christ, which says;
"love thy neighbor as thyself." If you love your
neighbor you would not stone him to death, even
if he is a homosexual, you would not even have
him imprisoned for being gay. Our problem in
Nigeria is that we often try to be more Catholic
than the Pope. The Pope responded when asked
about homosexual lifestyle, he said, "Who am I to
judge." In Nigeria today, we are judging, sending
them to prison, and stoning our brothers to death
in the name of religion. I am a Christian, and I
know that the Christ I serve would not do this.
When a woman was caught in adultery and the
Pharisees tried to stone her to death, Christ
challenged them to cast their stones if they have
no sin. Of course, they all dropped their stones
and went away.
It is true that the bible condemns homosexuality
as a sin, but so did the bible on a barrage of other
sins like adultery, fornication, etc. Is there anyone
in Nigeria House of Assembly, including our
president who is not guilty of these other sins? If
so, why have they not found the grace of God
within them to grant mercy to other sinners like
them? Many countries, including America and
Europe have gone this route before, and they
have come to regret it. As recent as ten years
ago, states like Texas in the US still have anti gay
(sodomy) laws in their books until they were
struck out by the US Supreme Court. A few
decades ago, the UK still had anti gay laws in their
books, and today they regret haven done so. I
have no doubt that Nigeria will one day regret
haven passed these laws, but for now, it is setting
us back 50 years, and there may never be any
recourse for its victims. Must we make all the
mistakes made by others before we learn? I
thought that their mistakes were supposed to be a
guiding light for us.
Surely, Nigeria is not yet civilized enough for one
to contemplate an introduction of gay marriage
rights or anything of the sort. I believe that it
would amount to a culture shock for our legislators
to consider passing laws that recognize gay
marriage, and to the best of my knowledge
nobody is seeking for such legislation in Nigeria.
Why then can't we allow them to live their lives in
peace? Why must we send someone to prison in
Nigeria just for being homosexual? All I have
heard from some defenders of this law is that the
bible said this and that. Well, as I recalled it, the
bible under the Law of Moses also calls for "an eye
for an eye" but Christ came and recommended we
turn the other cheek. In my previous article, I said
that Nigeria has 99 problems, but homosexuality
is not one of them. As I write this article, I am
burning up my generator to provide electricity for
myself. I'd love to see our National Assembly
members and our President spend their valuable
times trying to solve the numerous problems that
actually hinder Nigeria's progress instead of
chasing shadows.
Most Nigerians are simply wallowing in ignorance.
They will tell you that homosexuality is a white
man's problem, which does not exist in our
culture. The truth is that it has always been here.
We either don't know how to spot it, or are too
afraid to recognize what exists in our midst. Our
forefathers used to throw away twins, and
considered them evil. In my lifetime I witnessed
the throwing away of dead bodies for various
nefarious reasons such as (ida ibi, and ito afo) all
out of ignorance. Today, we are now sending
homosexuals to prison and stoning them to death.
Even these shall come to pass, I'm sure,
absolutely sure, but I'm filled with shame to see it
happening in my country in 2014. Lord have
mercy on us.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.