₦airaland Forum

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On 1 October Nigeria commemorates the moment when our national flag replaced that of the empire. It marks the day in 1960 that the people of the country gained independence from Britain for the first time. Full independence took a little longer − until 1963, when Nigeria's Declaration of Independence was signed.

To mark the day, Nigerians may consider the 1999 constitution, which opens: "We, the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria." But when I think about that phrase I am reminded that there is a part of the population that is still not classified as people: lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Nigerians.

Fifty-five years after independence, LGBT people — alongside women of all sexual orientations in the country — are the most marginalised section of society in Nigeria. And while there is a level of agreement that women and girls are mistreated in the country and that we need to end, among others things, female genital mutilation (FGM) and increase investment in girls' education and women entrepreneurs, the LGBT community remains a punch bag for many Nigerians.

“A report on the rate of abuse targeting LGBT people in 2014 recorded 45 abuses in 2014 alone. Families, friends and neighbours of LGBT people in the country carried out 73% of them.”
Bisi Alimi

Prior to the Anti Same Sex Marriage Act 2013, Nigeria's legal stance on homosexuality was the Victorian criminalisation of anal sex, also known as "the act against the order of nature". But as LGBT equality gained momentum in the West, Nigeria opted to go the other way and choose the alleged moral obligation of "upholding family values".

In 2006, under the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, the government presented a bill to the House to constitutionally criminalise not just the homosexual act, but also the behaviour and the expression of it in order to maintain and protect family values. It was also a response to the LGBT community beginning to own up and come out: I had come out publicly on national television just prior to this time.

There is an issue of ignorance of the concept of gender and sexuality among Nigerians. In 2010, NOI Polls, Nigeria's leading pollster company, sampled the views of Nigerians on the law and a staggering 98% of Nigerians supported it, even though it proscribed 14 years imprisonment for "known" or "perceived" homosexuality.

When President Goodluck Jonathan signed the bill in January of 2014, 93% of Nigerians supported it, despite the global outcry against the law and the impact it would have on the LGBT community in Nigeria, their health, friends, families and well-wishers. The attacks were immediate and severe. This was not because they were not happening before, but because the LGBT community had the mechanism to document any abuse or attacks.

For example, Solidarity Alliance, a coalition of LGBT community organisations in Nigeria, released a report on the rate of abuse targeting LGBT people in 2014, which recorded 45 abuses in the 2014 alone. Families, friends and neighbours of LGBT people in the country carried out 73% of them.

“The punishment for homosexuality in Sharia states of northern Nigeria is very simple: stoning to death.”
Bisi Alimi
The hate and anger towards LGBT people has been influenced by the legitimatisation of hate by the state and religion. Over 80% of the population is religious and religion dictates the politics, education and even healthcare system in Nigeria.

Immediately after the signing of the law, religious leaders were fast at rushing to outdo each other over who had the best interest of the country at heart. The Catholic Church sent a congratulatory message to the president on his act of bravery. They accused the West of turning Nigeria and Africa into a "dumping ground for the promotion of all immoral practices".


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In a position paper released by the Nigerian Diocese, the then Archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola said: "Same sex marriage, apart from being ungodly, is unscriptural (sic), unnatural, unprofitable, unhealthy, uncultural, un-African and un-Nigerian. It is a perversion, a deviation and an aberration that is capable of engendering a moral and social holocaust in this country."

He purposely used words like "perversion", "un-African", and "unnatural" to scare millions of Nigerians to reject homosexuality and support the government.

While Muslims have not been as vocal as their Christian counterparts, they have been more proactive in enacting strong Sharia law in Nigeria, which means even more severe punishment for LGBT people. For example, a few days after President Goodluck Jonathan signed the anti-gay bill into law, 11 suspected gay men were arraigned in a Sharia court in Bauchi. The punishment for homosexuality in the Sharia states of northern Nigeria is very simple: stoning to death.

However, it is also important to note, that the same region of northern Nigeria is where we have the yan daudu, a social group of effeminate men who dress, act and take on the role of women within the Hausa culture of northern Nigeria.

All this said, it has not been all doom and gloom for the community. With the advent of the internet and social media, the world now knows the cross this community has to carry. There is now more engagement on the issues of gender and sexuality.

This has also helped the level of social acceptance in the country. In 2015, Bisi Alimi Foundation, in conjuncture with The Initiative for Equal Rights, commissioned a poll carried out by NOI Polls that found support for the law is falling. In comparison to the 2010 (98%) and 2013 (93%) poll, the support has now dropped to 87%.

While this might seem like the glass half-full or half-empty, depending on who is looking at it, the good news is that among young people between 16-25 years old, the acceptance rate of LGBT people is at an all-time high of 30%.

As Nigerians remember the "labour of our hero past" it is also important to think about how Awolowo, Azikwe and Bello did not fight for Nigeria to be an independent country for some. Fifty-five years later, we live in a world and at time where hate has no excuse and where equal opportunity should not be a utopia but a reality that gives men, women, boys, girls, straight or LGBT Nigerians the opportunity to contribute to the good of the nation.

The road ahead is tough and the night is long. The work that needs doing is challenging, but the flame of hope has never burned brighter.

Bisi Alimi teaches pre and post colonial sexual orientation and gender identity in Africa at Humboldt University in Berlin. He is a prominent Nigeria LGBT activist and published poet.

Source:http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/nigeria-we-may-be-free-homophobic-hatred-remains-our-nations-shame-1521925

Another south wastern

Wasted

Wetin this _cocksucker dey talk?

go and change your diaper it is wet.

A humble request from me to the MODs in Nairaland-
Please don't take this topic to the front page,we have had enough on LGBT today.
I hope while I am typing this,I am not a little too late.
Majority of Nigerians frown at it,let's face other issues.
Happy independence.

Good for him

kelvine:
A humble request from me to the MODs in Nairaland-
Please don't take this topic to the front page,we have had enough on LGBT today.
I hope while I am typing this,I am not a little too late.
Majority of Nigerians frown at it,let's face other issues.
Happy independence.

Does the post scare you or what?Oh I see you are threatened by constructive informations and simple dialogue.

why is it dat d Yorubas top d list of LGBT in Nigeria? dey also top d list of Nigeria LGBT Nigerians in diaspora

My question for Biafra is this?
What is your stance on LGBT issues?

Also do you believe that you can win this war with Nigeria without actually fighting it with the help of LGBT's round the country?

Dnacode:
My question for Biafra is this?
What is your stance on LGBT issues?

Also do you believe that you can win this war with Nigeria without actually fighting it with the help of LGBT's round the country?

This is a fair question. However, we don't have a Biafran state yet and your question can't really be answered as of now. I will suggest that Biafran activists should think carefully (with some originality) before answering this question.

One key issue that has turned me off Nigeria is the institutionalised lack of respect for the rights, feelings and sensibilities of perceived minority groups. Over the years (especially the last 16 years), the discontent amongst these groups have occasionally frothed over and exploded into occasional outbursts of anarchy and violence. The central government's response has been a combination of bribery and heavy handed repression (euphemistically called "carrot and stick" by its proponents).

It occurs to me that while it's very apparent that various minority interests may have a common cause for the creation of a just society recognizing the inalienable rights of all, the reality is that these minority interests are acculturated to deal with one another through mutual suspicion. The result is that a common front is elusive and the current repressive order persists. A case in point is the recent online altercations between Biafran activists and those from the ND.

Personally, I'm a libertarian. I believe in a very limited government. I'm aware that a large percentage of Biafrans are conservative Christians and their faith may color their views on sexual orientation. However, I would argue that the state is better served if they should restrict their religious sentiments to their private lives and accord all minority groups (as far as they don't interfere in the rights of others) those same rights we are currently demanding from the Nigerian state.

Curlieweed:
This is a fair question. However, we don't have a Biafran state yet and your question can't really be answered as of now. I will suggest that Biafran activists should think carefully (with some originality) before answering this question.

One key issue that has turned me off Nigeria is the institutionalised lack of respect for the rights, feelings and sensibilities of perceived minority groups. Over the years (especially the last 16 years), the discontent amongst these groups have occasionally frothed over and exploded into occasional outbursts of anarchy and violence. The central government's response has been a combination of bribery and heavy handed repression (euphemistically called "carrot and stick" by its proponents).

It occurs to me that while it's very apparent that various minority interests may have a common cause for the creation of a just society recognizing the inalienable rights of all, the reality is that these minority interests are acculturated to deal with one another through mutual suspicion. The result is that a common front is elusive and the current repressive order persists. A case in point is the recent online altercations between Biafran activists and those from the ND.

Personally, I'm a libertarian. I believe in a very limited government. I'm aware that a large percentage of Biafrans are conservative Christians and their faith may color their views on sexual orientation. However, I would argue that the state is better served if they should restrict their religious sentiments to their private lives and accord all minority groups (as far as they don't interfere in the rights of others) those same rights we are currently demanding from the Nigerian state.

My question is valid.
You do not need to have a Biafran State yet to answer it.
As a people repressed for so long you can understand the pain of repression.
The Nigerian government represses the rights of pple mostly minorities.
The LGBT are not asking for gay marriage from Biafra but at least for a non repetitiveness of the draconian law of the Nigerian government by the Biafran State.
Its wrong to jail someone for whom they are (especially when they do you nor society any harm). Leave the judgment to God.

I remember what made the Biafran movement to fail in 1967.
The refusal to treat the OSU's in the land with dignity and self respect and so it is said that they saboteured the whole mission ( I do not know how true this story was though).
Thank God Igbos views of Osu's have changed and they are gladly treated with respect.

Now how will Biafra treat the LGBT?
Let us have the full cards on the table before the state becomes arisen.

How you will decide to treat the LGBT can make the international community listen to your plight and they can force Nigeria to grant you your freedom.
Do not say taaa! si ebe a puo!.

An average Hausa or Muslim man can do anything for the sake of Islam. If you have heard of the word takkiyah(talked about recently by Ben Carson), you will realize that a Muslim can go against the tenets of Faith just to propagate Islam through jihad--it is allowed. Stories have it that the same sodomy whose sentence is death by stoning is employed by many Muslim terrorists(I.e they get sodomized to increase their butt hole and load weapons inside). Such "perverted" behaviour is permitted to further the cause of Islam under such circumstances. So every card available should be placed on the table. No price is too much for freedom.
They called us undiplomatic. We will teach them we understand diplomacy to the end. We are wise in diplomatic relationships.

Also a word is enough for the wise. Do not make the same mistakes as your fathers as they made with the OSU's.
Let the LGBT help you. Use them to your advantage.

Dnacode:
My question is valid.
You do not need to have a Biafran State yet to answer it.
As a people repressed for so long you can understand the pain of repression.
The Nigerian government represses the rights of pple mostly minorities.
The LGBT are not asking for gay marriage from Biafra but at least for a non repetitiveness of the draconian law of the Nigerian government by the Biafran State.
Its wrong to jail someone for whom they are. Leave the judgment to God.

I remember what made the Biafran movement to fail in 1967.
The refusal to treat the OSU's in the land with dignity and self respect and so it is said that they saboteured the whole mission ( I do not know how true this story was though).
Thank God Igbos views of Osu's have changed and they are gladly treated with respect.

Now how will Biafra treat the LGBT?
Let us have the full cards on the table before the state becomes arisen.

How you will decide to treat the LGBT can make the international community listen to your plight and they can force Nigeria to grant you your freedom.
Do not say taaa! si ebe a puo!.

An average Hausa or Muslim man can do anything for the sake of Islam. If you have heard of the word takkiyah(talked about recently by Ben Carson), you will realize that a Muslim can go against the tenets of Faith just to propagate Islam through jihad--it is allowed. Stories have it that the same sodomy whose sentence is death by stoning is employed by many Muslim terrorists(I.e they get sodomized to increase their butt hole and load weapons inside). Such "perverted" behaviour is permitted to further the cause of Islam.

A word is enough for the wise. Do not make the same mistakes as your fathers as they made with the OSU's.
Let the LGBT help you. Use them to your advantage.

I don't understand your post. I can't speak for millions of people. I can only presume to speak for myself and clearly I am against the repression of LGBT, atheists or other minority groups. I can only speculate as to the likely response of the millions of conservative Christian Biafrans

Curlieweed:
I don't understand your post. I can't speak for millions of people. I can only presume to speak for myself and clearly I am against the repression of LGBT, atheists or other minority groups. I can only speculate as to the likely response of the millions of conservative Christian Biafrans

Everyone's voice should be heard.
Thank you for voicing out the little you can.

Curlieweed:
I don't understand your post. I can't speak for millions of people. I can only presume to speak for myself and clearly I am against the repression of LGBT, atheists or other minority groups. I can only speculate as to the likely response of the millions of conservative Christian Biafrans

Another reason y I ask this question is for me to know where I stand before venturing into the unknown.
I am an effeminate non practising gay man . what I have noted is that I find more peace stayin with the Yoruba than with my own people.
When I walk on the road due to my effeminateness the Igbo insult me but every Yoruba I have ever met still treat me with a high degree of respect as a human but I can't stand back and watch my people being killed--i have to help them in every way possible. This is y I want to know Biafra's stance on LGBT issues.