Interestingly, some of these role models who have, in my opinion, discharged themselves creditably for the public good, are being linked to pro-same-sex marriage approval, through some organisations they are connected with. A check on the antecedents of the NGOs said to be standing with Amnesty against HB 150 would probably lead you to join me in wondering if there hasn’t been a mistake somewhere.
I feel constrained to return the vexed subject of gay rights and the Nigerian nation. A casual perusal of the list of signatories to Amnesty International's statement of January 26, left me wondering if certain Nigerians should not be making categorical statements about there position on HB 150, and homosexuality in general. HB 150, by the way, is House Bill 150 titled, A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage between Persons of Same Gender, Solemnization of Same and for other Matters related therewith, currently before the House of Representatives.
Of course, in a free country like ours, the right to support or refuse to support any bill before the National Assembly is inalienable. So also is the right to be indifferent. But it would be unfortunate, wouldn’t it, were one to be associated with a position on any issue merely by default, particularly on an issue that’s capable of defining the very future of mankind.
No matter how exaggerated it may seem to the liberal sensibilities of many of us, the truth is, as marriage goes, so goes the culture and the future of the human race. At its most basic is the rhetorical question the Guardian newspaper raised in its editorial on the subject: “Homosexuals are claiming that men can marry themselves. If everyone followed their example, would they have even been born?”
One is therefore fully persuaded that this is an issue about which everyone who has any kind of claim to leadership in Nigeria should take a stand, clearly and unambiguously. This is because certain individuals and institutions have powerful opinion moulding capabilities and are therefore able to influence society for good or for ill.
Interestingly, some of these role models who have, in my opinion, discharged themselves creditably for the public good, are being linked to pro-same-sex marriage approval, through some organisations they are connected with. A check on the antecedents of the NGOs said to be standing with Amnesty against HB 150 would probably lead you to join me in wondering if there hasn’t been a mistake somewhere.
The Nigerian Bar Association, for instance, was listed through its Human Rights Institute. Established “to promote and protect the rule of law, independence of the legal profession effectively and efficiently and to advance human rights enforcement in Nigeria,” NBA–HRI’s membership is “open to all legal practitioners and law firms in Nigeria interested in pursuing the objects of the institute…” Although this membership clause suggests that a legal practitioner can belong to the NBA without being a member of the institute, the question that arises is, does the institute speak for the NBA? I would be surprised if there are many right-thinking members of the public who would hold otherwise. Would it therefore not be right to conclude that Nigerian lawyers, a preponderance of whom would claim to subscribe to Christianity or Islam, support the Amnesty International statement that is clearly saying that homosexuality is a human right? I think not. Yet if the NBA or, at least, Association of Christian Lawyers has dissociated itself from this position, I am unaware of it!
Also on the list is an NGO known as The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) which was "established in October 1997 in response to the need for an independent space for critical reflection and development of universally relevant and culturally sensitive responses to the challenges posed by the democracy and development agenda in the West African sub-region, CDD has become a major reference point for informed analysis and practical strategies on West African socio-political dynamics.”
Apart from the fact that support for same-sex marriage, even indirectly, would seem to run counter to the goal of seeking universally relevant and culturally sensitive responses to the democratic and development challenges (emphasis added), it would be interesting to hear the position of such Nigerian associates of CDD as Matthew Hassan Kukah and Obiageli Ezekwesili, to mention just two.
Kukah, is a Catholic Reverend Father and former Secretary-General of the Catholic Secretariat in Nigeria who served on Nigeria’s Presidential Truth and Reconciliation Commission into Past Human Rights Violations. He is a respected public commentator, who currently runs a diocese of the Catholic Church in Kaduna. Northern Nigeria.
Ezekwesili is a Chartered Accountant who as President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Senior Special Assistant on Budget Matters made such great impact that her elevation to the cabinet and subsequent appointment as a vice-President at the World Bank was seen as richly deserved. She’s a committed Christian whose husband is a pastor.
Also prominent among the NGOs listed as signatories to the Amnesty International statement are HURILAWS; Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project SERAP; The International Centre for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights (INCRESE); Centre for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN Foundation); and Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO).
HURILAWS was founded by none other than Olisa Agbakoba, a human rights activist, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association. It started in 1997 as “an independent, non-profit service, dedicated to providing public interest and human rights law services to advance the legal protection of human rights and has “working relations with the Episcopal Commission for Justice, Development & Peace Commission of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria…”.
Now, Agbakoba’s catholic credentials are incontrovertible and that might explain HURILAW’s working relationship with a commission of the Church. The position of the Catholic Church of Nigeria on homosexuality is too well-known to require a rehash here. So, how do you explain HURILAW’s place on Amnesty International’s list of signatories?
SERAP was established in 2004 to promote transparency and accountability in the public and private sectors through human rights. Its National Advisory Board members are: Mr. Femi Falana, President West African Bar Association, Mr.Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), Professor Oluwole Smith, Dean Faculty of Law Lagos State University, and Mrs.Ayo Atsenuwa, Professor of Law University of Lagos. How opposition to HB 150 promotes “transparency and accountability in the public and private sectors through human rights” is beyond me and makes me wonder whether these influential Nigerians are privy to their NGO’s signature on Amnesty’s statement.
INCRESE touts itself as “the leading Nigerian NGO working for a favourable environment and expanding access to sexual health and rights information and services and has as its vision, “to be the preferred leading sexual Health and right NGO.” With its so-called values as “Autonomy, Diversity, Integrity and Choice,” it is not inconceivable that “choice” might include abortion rights and perhaps a choice to marry within your gender. But does Dr Kayode Fayemi, who is likely to be the next Governor of Ekiti State, endorse this – being one of the Nigerians on INCRESE’s Board of Trustees?
Where do some of the well-known members of the Board of Trustees of CLEEN Foundation, also a signatory, stand of this issue? They include Mrs. Ayo Obe, human rights lawyer and former president of the Civil Liberties Organization; Josephine Effah Chukwuma, who pioneered the establishment of shelter for female victims of violence in Nigeria, and is currently the executive director of Project Alert on Violence Against Women and; Frank Odita, a retired Police Commissioner and former public relations chief of the Nigeria Police Force, who currently presents an television magazine programme Security Watch. There is also Innocent Chukwuma who is Secretary of the foundation. Another icon of human rights struggle in Nigeria who might consider speaking up is Festus Okoye whose NGO, Human Rights Monitor, is on the list.
In closing, I commend to all our leaders and opinion makers the words of Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, who in a reaction to an April 3 Iowa Supreme Court decision imposing "same-sex marriage as a constitutional right,” said in part:
"Homosexual 'marriage' is wrong because homosexual behaviour itself is wrong and destructive -- as proved by its role in the early deaths of countless 'gay' men. We must shake loose of the secularists' and libertarians' amoral nonchalance regarding 'same-sex marriage' by asking questions like this: how exactly would two men consummate their 'gay marriage'? Answer: by engaging in what one Founding Father, Noah Webster, writing in saner times, rightly defined as a "crime against nature.… Our Creator is pure, perfect and holy, and homosexual behaviour is diametrically opposed to His will for people's lives and His purpose for sex within the healthy boundaries of marriage, for the procreation of children. This same God graciously provides a way out of this sinful lifestyle through His son Jesus Christ, a path many former homosexuals have taken -- including those now living in real (man- woman) marriages…”
Pixes:REV FR MATTHEW HASSAN KUKAH and MR OLISA AGBAKOBA, SAN...Time to speak up
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