₦airaland Forum

SensualMan1:
What Osogbo needs is a pure traditional emirate system and Almajiri education which will take effect soon Insha Allah!
Light, water, good roads mean nothing to us here.

Anguldi:
Stone age

Abuja, Nigeria — (Minority Africa) When I first spoke to Richard on Grindr in July, his bio had displayed his political view for months. It was simple: sex is available only for registered voters. If you want to hook up, you must show proof that you are eligible to vote.

“I put it up on the day Peter Obi declared he would be running for presidency under the Labour Party,” he says. “I updated it because the number of active and reactive interactions on Grindr is way higher than that of conventional social media platforms. The urgency people come to Grindr with makes it easier to stop them in their tracks and have just about any discussion with them.”

Nigeria has appeared third in the list of highest users of Grindr in the world yet homophobia is ubiquitous. In 2014, then president Goodluck Jonathan passed a bill into law criminalizing same sex marriage in the country with up to 14 years in prison.

Online and offline; Nigeria is currently brimming with political discourse centered on the general elections in February 2023. On Twitter, a presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the name of his political party have dominated the discussion for months. Obi has been at the forefront of a social media rave that has inspired many young first-time voters to register to vote and also campaign.

Richard was in Abuja when we interacted. He had been to two other states with that bio on his Grindr profile. It made people laugh, and it made them talk about politics, he says. By the time he took a break from Grindr four months later, he had discussed politics and Peter Obi with over two hundred people.

“I decided to do something to help Obi gain more popularity because I agree with his plans to improve the education and tech sector here in Nigeria,” he says. “I also did it because I think we are our problem – as much as our government is – and as such, can do a great deal in fixing this problem by just voting the right candidate into office.”

In the months since he made his intention to run for office known, Obi, once mocked as Twitter President because of his popularity on Twitter, has grown to have popularity offline as well. His supporters embarked on a named “one million march” earlier in October. However, his followership has not only crossed the borders of Twitter into the streets but also traversed into the ‘dark alleys’ of gay dating and hookup apps in the country.

Igwe Charles lives in Lagos and uses Tinder as his primary hookup app. He has a picture of Obi among his own images on display on his profile. Charles, who should be rounding off his studies in the university but is still in his penultimate year because of university strikes speaks of encountering similar accounts with pictures and fliers of Obi and the Labour Party.

speaks of encountering similar accounts with pictures and fliers of Obi and the Labour Party. And the rest generally start with some small talk about politics and supporting Obi in the chats,” he says.

On what inspired the decision to upload a picture of Peter Obi on his profile, Charles says, “Having photos of Obi alongside my own on my Tinder profile stems largely from how dearly I need him to win this election.”

“Recently, I started chatting with a man who is also an ardent Obi campaigner. He has pictures of Obi on his profile. He sends me so many updates on everything Obi, his travels, speeches, interviews, videos, everything. The hope that Obi wins was one of the things we had in common.”

Nnadi Chukwukalidibia is another person who was not in school because of the strike at the time of our conversation in September. If universities were open, Chukwukalidibia would have defended his thesis for a postgraduate degree in clinical linguistics and be charting his next course in life.

Instead, he worked as a manager in a fast-food outlet in Delta State until the recent call-off of the strike. “As a queer person, I cannot thrive where things do not work. And I know our problems as a country or the LGBTQ community will not be easy to fix. But if there is anyone to steer us in that direction, it is Peter Obi.”

Chukwukalidibia’s Grindr profile picture is a mannequin draped in an agbada. The white swooning garment had the Labour Party logo embroidered like a crest on a breastplate. He wanted to raise pressing political conversation in the minds of the people with whom he interacted. “I know we are in these spaces for sex, but that does not have to be the beginning and end of what we discuss,” he says. “It always felt like many gay men do not even know that beyond sex, there is more to being a part of society. I put up that picture hoping that it would raise that awareness.”

But are the LGBTQ Nigerians campaigning for Peter Obi on dating and hookup apps doing so because there is a promise that an Obi presidency will repeal Nigeria’s anti-gay law? Not exactly. But they voice certain hope.

“If there will ever be a chance for people to appeal the SSMPA, Peter Obi is the best candidate who would listen,” Charles states. He adds that queer Nigerians like himself trust that Obi, besides being a capable leader, is also a leader who listens.

Instead, he worked as a manager in a fast-food outlet in Delta State until the recent call-off of the strike. “As a queer person, I cannot thrive where things do not work. And I know our problems as a country or the LGBTQ community will not be easy to fix. But if there is anyone to steer us in that direction, it is Peter Obi".

A 2014 homophobic video of Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, Obi’s running mate, trending after becoming the Labor Party vice-presidential candidate, has done little to dissuade these voters. As Obi said when asked about his position, Chukwukalidibia observes, “Every human being is prone to change. I do not want to judge him by his words from almost a decade ago but by who he can be with Peter Obi.”

LGBTQ Nigerians like Chukwukalidibia appear to have found a way around this difficult position and chosen a side. Since totally ridding the parties of homophobia is impossible, some say they are going with the most qualified candidate who sees people as people.

To draw out more on the meaning of this development for an institutionally homophobic country like Nigeria, I spoke to two Nigerian LGBTQ rights activists, Mathew Blaise and Chimee Adioha. One is at the fore of gay rights activism in Nigeria, and the other works globally and in Nigeria to promote inclusion and engagement. Their positions are not very different from those of the sources I have spoken to so far.

Mathew Blaise, who identifies as nonbinary and is an activist perceives this as a welcome development. Blaise came to the limelight during the #EndSARS peaceful protest. On and off protest grounds, they spoke up about how the Nigerian police specifically target and brutalise LGBTQ Nigerians.

“It is important that we talk about these issues,” they say. “The outcome of these discussions can affect how we are treated in society someday. It ensures our fundamental rights as humans and members of a community.”

However, Blaise is not carried away by this phenomenon. In their view, the reality of LGBTQ Nigerians is more nuanced, and institutional homophobia in Nigeria goes deep. The solution, according to them, is not simplistic and will not spring forth only because some queer Nigerians campaign for a presidential candidate in untraditional spaces.

Chimee Adioha, a member of the Inclusion and Engagement committee at the Commonwealth Youth Council and the founder of Masculinity9ja, explains why it is essential that LGBTQ Nigerians have political discussions about democracy and the political process in non-traditional spaces.

“We can only change something that we know. I believe political noise and action that occur even in hookup apps and nightclubs that centre gay people should transition from hookup convos to a physical transformation.”

For him, even though the purpose of the legal restrictions put on queer expressions aims to silence the LGBTQ population, Adioha believes the youth can refuse this.

“I also like to see this from a point that queer Nigerians are Nigerians too. It is even more than our queerness,” Adioha says. “To engage and to connect with the state is the most crucial box to check. We may be queer, but let us enjoy good roads and steady electricity.”

jchioma:
People cannot endorse who they want into leadership positions because of who they are. Witches and wizards endorse candidates of their choice and so what?

In a statement signed by its president, Jasper B. E., the group said it came to this decision after assessing all tbe candidates, noting that Obi is the most LGBT-friendly.

Jasper said the Obi presidency has been further strengthened by his promise of a speedy repeal of the repressive Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act 2014 and other legislations.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Community in Nigeria has thrown its weight behind Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

“We have, as a consequence, formally collapsed our Community into the OBIdient Movement for the electioneering period even though our members have been part of the Movement from the onset.

“Our resolve stemmed from the assurances and guarantees from Mr. Obi after he espoused his vision of an egalitarian Nigeria to us at a meeting where he outlined how every Nigerian, irrespective of orientation, is allowed to thrive and recognized on the basis of their talents and what they can contribute to the economic growth of the country.

“The LGBT Community in Nigeria, therefore, hereby endorses Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party as its preferred candidate, whom it would vote for in the February 2023 Presidential Election on account of being the most LGBT-friendly candidate based on our assessment of all those contesting. No other candidate has been able to clearly articulate the protection of our members as Mr. Obi did.

“Our confidence in an Obi presidency has been further strengthened by his promise of a speedy repeal of the repressive Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act 2014 and other legislations that hostile homophobes have exploited to make life a living hell for us in Nigeria. This 2014 Act is the singular piece of legislation that is being used as the greatest weapon for legitimizing state-backed attacks on our persons and community. We are eager to see it go and only an Obi presidency will guarantee us that.

“We would like to clarify that our preference of Mr. Obi is not all about his global view of sexuality and sexual orientation because he has shown us that he is in tune with the realities of contemporary times. At the meeting with the leadership of our community, in addition to his assurances to protect the Community, he also promised to promote the secularity of the state by helping to abolish cultural practices that are inimical to the existence of the Community as well as putting a stop to the implementation of Sharia Law throughout the federation.

“We welcome Mr. Obi’s promise to usher Nigeria into the same socio-psychological era as the advanced countries of the world where the LGBT Community is not under the constant threat of repression. We assure him that our contributions to the economic rebirth he is promising Nigerians would be glaring for all to see. The medieval mindset of hounding the LGBT Community has no place in an age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution that Mr. Obi wants Nigeria to tap into.”

The LGBT Community, therefore, assured the Labour Party candidate that “its members would be able to increase their contributions to the country once the stigmatization, harassment and criminalization of their orientation become things of the past under him as president.”

Jasper added: “We further assure our dear incoming president that we shall leverage our international connection and network to attract foreign direct investment into the country being that some of these investment potentials were blocked on account of the homophobic stance of past and present governments, which will not continue under Mr. Obi as president, going by his promises to us.”

Splashme:
You go explain tire.
Deep down your heart, I know you know the truth.

Suddenly, thousands of Reno's new and top fans on Facebook & Twitter are 90% agbado Yorubas.
.

aswani:
Reno,

At least you for invite Peter Obi nau, ah ah.

You know say di man no get any job wey he dey do dis time apart from to dey give advice wey nobodi ask am.

He and Aisha Buhari for book one hotel room make dem finish wetin dem start come put am for onlyfans den cash out from Obidients.

Goodmarlian:
guy man wan Cashout for tinubu administration see how he dressed like yoruba..

Uyomiya:
I was not the one chanting RONU like a mentally challenged individual

Uyomiya:
Remind me again where the imam who was caught with fresh human Head is from?

Uyomiya:
We know your games but those games don't put food on the table.

Fulani have been a kidnapping and boom Evans was caught and published.

Killings, beheading recorded on Media, bomb blasts and boom chinaza was arrested it was published.


Oluwole in south west is popular for result forgery hence the name oluwole certificate.

But boom mmesoma was caught and hallelujah let's spread propaganda

No Be so? RONU

Uyomiya:
This is Yusuf

His name is Yusuf

Is Yusuf also Omo ibo?
.

Stupid forum with brain dead members

Nato008:
We might as well turn to wild animals, there procedures for these things..... We can't because of criminals turn into a lawless society, other societies that catch high profile criminals do u see this exhibition of lawlessness

TopBanter:
What evidence do you want? Should they prejudice the case tell the public everything?

They already have enough info. Did you even watch the video where the police chief informed that this criminal was on bail for a similar offence and jumped bail to re-offend as the hardened criminal he is?

Did you not hear details of plate number of vehicles involved? Is he prevented from speaking to tell his side if indeed wrongly accepted?

When have you know the police to parade victims and announce names if they want to engage in a cover up? Some of you sha. Take his place if his plight bothers you that much.

obataokenwa:
whatever your brain says its right to you.

DMerciful:
Anything that would make the two regions holding Nigeria down fight themselves is a welcomed development

GO0dharddick:
A battle between the North and westerners.

Well, the rest of we Nigerians have no business with this. They can both fight and kill themselves

Walks out of thread

GreatChizzy:
Where OBO Popsy? This list complete so?

cenaman:
No be dis morning nairaland talk sey Dangote don $20m?

wediehere1:
who asked you this?
You go explain explain explain without evidence