THAT “BACK TO SCHOOL” ADVICE

Prof Wole Soyinka

"For instance I have always thought that when God made man in his image and after his likeness, and assigned them to multiply and replenish the earth, he was providing a means for that purpose by creating them male and female. Now, I have to unlearn that! I have to come to grips with the new reality that procreation is obsolete and the womb is one body part that needs not have existed. The world is already over-populated anyway."

Oluwole Akinwande Soyinka does not suffer fools gladly. You wouldn’t too, if, like him, you are a literary icon of such gigantic stature that your people call you their very own WS, sharing as you do initials with the late world renowned William Shakespeare.  You wouldn’t too if you were Africa’s first Nobel laureate in literature whose forte covers the whole gamut of literary expression as poet, playwright, and actor, novelist, essayist, polemist, even lyricist and singer! You wouldn’t too, if all the elements of learning fit smugly in you.

Yes, Wole Soyinka does not take hostages, unless of course you find yourself in a radio station when he happens along to make an important broadcast to a nation held hostage by a bunch of unschooled soldiers. Which brings me to the issue at hand, school and education for our lawmakers, particularly, those at the centre in Abuja.

According to our highly respected omniscient professor, the whole lot of them need to return to school. Although he didn’t say which, I would not be surprised if he recommends some secondary school in Abeokuta where they can study civics, and in the process get to learn to differentiate between private and public affairs. The legislators including the professors amongst them need to be herded into a classroom to be taught that what two adult consenting males or females do with each other is not the business of the state.  

Although the activist professor didn’t say so, all of us who support the anti-gay marriage bill passed by the Senate and, which has gone through first reading the House of Representatives would necessarily have to join the legislators in school. That would be one a classroom to behold!  Students will come in babanriga and one-footer caps, long-tail shirts and resource control caps will abound; head-ties and scarves will add a kaleidoscope of colours while contour-emphasising day dresses will not be missing. Muslim leaders in colourful turbans, priests in cassocks and pastors in flowing robes with giant size solid-gold crosses won’t be left out. God help untitled people like us who might not find space in the classroom or, if we did, might not hear a word from the back of behind that classroom.

For me though, it won’t matter much, because I think I have an idea of, not only what I shall be going in there to learn, but also what I shall be going to unlearn. Apart from a crash course in the expanding frontiers of human rights and civil liberties, and the absolute irrelevance of religion in the public domain, as already canvassed by the Prof, I shall have to unlearn some of the “idiotic” things that being a Christian has made me believe.

For instance I have always thought that when God made man in his image and after his likeness, and assigned them to multiply and replenish the earth, he was providing a means for that purpose by creating them male and female. Now, I have to unlearn that! I have to come to grips with the new reality that procreation is obsolete and the womb is one body part that need not have existed. The world is already over-populated anyway.

I used to think that God didn’t make me fearfully and wonderfully (see Psalm 139:4) just to demonstrate his creative prowess. For instance I’ve always marvelled at the information in Finis Jennings Dake, the Bible scholar and writer’s the Doctrine of Man, that the body consists of “various chemicals—iron, sugar, salt, carbon, iodine, phosphorus, lime, calcium, and others”; that it “has 263 bones; 600 muscles; 970 miles of blood vessels; 400 cups on the tongue for taste; 20,000 hairs in the ears to tune in to all sounds; 40 pounds of jaw pressure; 10,000,000 nerves and branches; 3,500 sweat tubes to each square inch of skin (or 40 miles long); 20,000,000 mouths that suck food as it goes through the intestines; 600,000,000 air cells to the lungs that inhale 2,400 gallons of air daily; and a communication network that relates to the brain instantly any known sound, taste, sight, touch or smell;”  and also that “the heart beats 4,200 times an hour and pumps 12 tons of blood daily.”

Benjamin Carson, the Black American neurosurgeon’s statement that the human brain has hundreds of billions of interconnections and is therefore much more sophisticated than anything that man has ever or possibly would ever create…” also concentrates my mind on a purposeful God. One, whose purpose should be respected not thwarted.  

Now, I know I have to unlearn that. Now I know, it doesn’t matter what we do with what: defecate from the mouth (talk of diarrhoea of the mouth); fart through the ears or feed through the eyes! If it feels good, do it, as long as you find a consenting adult to do it to or with. Society has nothing to do with it; talk less of a God you cannot see.

Another thing to unlearn is the so-called truth that “the risk of contracting the Human Immunodeficiency Virus through anal sex is seven times higher than through vaginal sex”, even if one Mrs. Aisha Adaranijo, senior manager, New HIV Vaccine and Microbicides Advocacy Society had the temerity to restate it as recently as last week.

Her explanation that “the anus being a narrow and dry passage is susceptible to tears when penetrated” making “the risk of contacting the HIV “very high”, is obviously of no consequence. Not even the fact that governments the world over have spent enormous resources in AIDS research that subsequently led to the development antiretroviral drugs, gives them the right to legislate our sexual choices. Neither does the fact that those resources could have been expended more productively elsewhere give society any role in what adults do behind closed doors.  Antiretroviral drugs, after all, are administered behind closed doors, even if they are subsidised with public funds.

The international gay lobby has a big influential backer, active or passive, in Professor Wole Soyinka, who as I said earlier does not suffer fools gladly. But then, why does Psalm 14:1 keep ringing in my head?  Merry Christmas; see you all in 2012, by God’s grace.

THE BATTLE LINE IS DRAWN! (2)

INCRESE Founder,
Dorothy Aken'Ova

"Delay is dangerous. It is dangerous because the same forces that truncated two previous attempts at the legislation are already gathering. With the release of fund from their principals the so-called human rights activist will begin to find their voice. One already did...one of the NGOs earlier identified in this column as a signatory to the Amnesty International petition against House Bill 105 of 2009, is already kicking."

You didn’t have to be clairvoyant to foresee the kind of reactions that have come from the gay movement and their principals in the various western capitals. As reported here last time, they are already yelling blue murder over our decision, as a people, to throw our lot with God over same sex relationships.

As always, the United States excelled its allies in the steps it took to leave us in no doubt that the Yankees mean business. Shortly after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s self-serving rehash of time-worn, untenable arguments for recognising homosexuality as a human right which must be protected, Washington was reported to have released money thousands of dollars in grant to support gay right activism abroad. It’s a no-brainer that most of that fund will end up in Nigeria.

That has buttressed my assertion here a few weeks ago that “they (the international gay lobby) will work hard to abort this bill at either of the next two steps. They will use every weapon in their arsenal – money, blackmail, intimidation, carrot and stick etc.”

That was why I canvassed “…the need for everybody in support of this law to do everything possible to avoid a loss of momentum. The House of Representatives must be encouraged to fast track its debate and passage.” I recalled calling on “Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha…as one of the sponsors of the aborted 2009 House Bill 150 (A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage between Persons of Same Gender, Solemnization of Same and for other Matters related therewith)… to rally all the other sponsors still in the House to spearhead this new move. Any loss of momentum can be fatal”.

Mercifully, Providence gave him the opportunity to preside over the House session which saw the bill pass through the first reading that same week. But, I shall never tire of saying it; a bill is still a bill until it goes through the whole process. The House must be encouraged, cajoled, pushed, whatever, to fast track this bill so it can go to the President for accent.

Delay is dangerous. It is dangerous because the same forces that truncated two previous attempts at the legislation are already gathering. With the release of fund from their principals the so-called human rights activist will begin to find their voice. One already did.

According to a Next online report of December 9, signed by Jethro Ibileke, one of the NGOs earlier identified in this column as a signatory to the Amnesty International petition against House Bill 105 of 2009, is already kicking. The report reads thus:

“A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), the International Centre for Sexual Reproductive Rights (INCRESE), has called on Nigerians and civil organizations to look closely into the same sex bill to see what implications they would have on every Nigerian, irrespective of gender, sex, religion, creed, culture, sexuality, tradition, origin, ethnic group and political opinion.

“The statement signed by the National Coordinator of INCRESE, Dorothy Aken’ova, observed that every time laws are introduced, most Nigerians do not understand what the provisions of such bills are and their implications on their daily lives as citizens of Nigeria.

“’As noted from lack of a close look at such bills, most Nigerians make abrupt conclusions by concurring with the titles of the bills alone, due to already cultural, religious or political sentiments established on subject matters around same sex issues. It is a duty upon civil society organizations in Nigeria to inform and educate the citizens and be the whistle blowers when needed especially when these kind of oppressive and dangerous legislations are brought forward by our parliamentarians,’ the statement noted.

“According to the press statement, there are reports from around the country of mob action and intimidation of people and individuals who are already being targeted due to discuss on the proposed legislation. We received reports from Benin, Calabar and Lagos and other parts of the country of situations where people are targeted and threatened by mob with extreme intrusiveness of the privacy of those persons whose behaviour does not conform with gender and social roles.

“‘We urge Nigerian civil society organizations, the media, women rights group, feminist forums, social health workers, civil liberties organizations, the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigerian Human Rights Commission, Christian associations, Muslim associations, to mention but a few, to join hands with other CSOs to call on the president and the National Assembly to re-consider this bill to ensure that it protects basic democratic and human rights principles in Nigeria.

“’In summary, the implication and the aims of the bill, despite the best intention of the legislators, will go far beyond the prohibition of same sex marriage, and be used either as a censorship as well as punitive tool or against the democratic process of the country’.”

INCRESE, by the way, is a Minna, Niger state-based NGO founded by one Ms Dorothy Aken’ova, a Nigerien by birth but Nigerian by marriage. It is said to be “pioneering multidisciplinary research and communication project on sexual diversity and human rights in Nigeria”. For this it got a Ford Foundation grant of $190,000 in 2006. Before its known website (increse-increse.org) was suspended for undisclosed reasons, it had the following listed as Board of Trustees members: Dr. Benoit Kalasa, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Dr. Babacar Fall, Dr. Afua Hesse, Prof. Bene Madunagu, Dr. Zagbayi Nuhu, Dr. Angela Giwa–Osagie, Ms. Cynthia Rothschild and, of course, Ms. Dorothy Aken‘ova, herself.

This, I can assure you, dear reader, is the first salvo because once funds become available to these groups, they will deploy it liberally to delay the bill, distract the House with campaigns that there are more issues critical to the well being of Nigerians than an anti-gay marriage law, and suborn officials that they can etc. The goal is so the bill can go the way of others before it. Vigilance is required if this bill is going to become law. Even when it is done, it will be only the beginning of a long drawn battle for the soul of our nation, but it will be well worth it. For that reason, you’ve not heard the last from me on this subject.  Merry Christmas in advance.

THE BATTLE LINE IS DRAWN!

Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State

 "Indeed, our religion and our culture are sources of compassion and inspiration toward our fellow human beings. It was not only those who’ve justified slavery who leaned on religion, it was also those who sought to abolish it. And let us keep in mind that our commitments to protect the freedom of religion and to defend the dignity of LGBT people emanate from a common source"- Hilary Clinton

Many well meaning Nigerians, including some respected intellectuals don’t see what the big deal is about Senate Bill 05 that I have been discussing and promoting these past few weeks. One of them wondered on his Facebook page during the week why our legislators have not given corruption the kind of attention that the gay issue is receiving. Another even posited that it is the strategy of the legislators is to divert out attention to this unimportant issue, while they are busy looting and carting their loot to their various bank accounts.

I sympathise with these very patriotic Nigerian who have been led to such cynicisms as to suspect every action and omission of our lawmakers. But I daresay that they deserve commendation and require encouragement to see this anti-gay marriages bill passed into law.

Developments since the bill began its journey at the Senate ought to cause a rethink amongst the cynical and indifferent ones amongst us. It is already well known that the United Kingdom’s government rose stoutly against the bill, threatening us with an aid ban.

Canada soon came on board with Foreign Minister, John Baird not only voicing his country’s opposition to the bill, but also promising to mount a campaign against at other fora.  His words:  "The government of Nigeria must protect all Nigerians, regardless of sexual orientation…Through the Commonwealth and other forums, Canada will continue to make this point in the most forceful of terms."

Then came the United States of America, the so-called leader of the Free world, which according to a December 6 Bloomberg report has decided to “weigh how countries treat gays and lesbians in making decisions about foreign aid”.

Quoting from a memorandum described as “first-ever U.S. government strategy dedicated to combating human rights abuses against LGBT persons abroad”   issued by President Barack Obama’s White House, the report said the President “is directing all agencies engaged abroad to make sure U.S. diplomacy and aid programs ‘promote and protect’ the rights of gays and lesbians.”

Bloomberg further quoted the memorandum as saying: “The struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons is a global challenge, and one that is central to the United States commitment to promoting human rights…promoting the human rights of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people reflects our deep commitment to advancing the human rights of all people.

The memorandum, continues the report, “directs all agencies engaged abroad to improve refugee and asylum protections for gay, bisexual and transgender people. It also calls for strengthening U.S. efforts to oppose foreign governments criminalizing homosexuality, bisexuality or transgender behavior. U.S. foreign aid programs will increase government and civil society engagement to promote gay rights.

The last part of this report is particularly striking, because the United States is declaring that apart from withholding aids from countries which criminalise homosexuality, it will fund homosexual groups. In order words, the US will use money to undermine the legitimate laws of other countries.  That sounds like a thinly disguised declaration of war.

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton went on to spell out the rationale for the memorandum and the policy it enunciated the following day at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

CNSNews.com’s report of Clinton’ statement said to have been issued ahead of the commemoration of Human Rights Day on Saturday December 10 read in part like this: “…Clinton said recognition that LGBT people ‘are entitled to the full measure of dignity and rights’ has evolved over time: And as it did, we understood that we were honoring rights that people always had, rather than creating new or special rights for them. Like being a woman, like being a racial, religious, tribal, or ethnic minority, being LGBT does not make you less human. And that is why gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.’

“Clinton noted that among the challenges facing LGBT people is ‘when people cite religious or cultural values as a reason to violate or not to protect the human rights of LGBT citizens. This is not unlike the justification offered for violent practices towards women like honor killings, widow burning, or female genital mutilation. Some people still defend those practices as part of a cultural tradition. But violence toward women isn't cultural; it's criminal. Likewise with slavery, what was once justified as sanctioned by God is now properly reviled as an unconscionable violation of human rights,’ she said.

"’In each of these cases, we came to learn that no practice or tradition trumps the human rights that belong to all of us. And this holds true for inflicting violence on LGBT people, criminalizing their status or behavior, expelling them from their families and communities, or tacitly or explicitly accepting their killing.

"’Rarely are cultural and religious traditions and teachings actually in conflict with the protection of human rights,’ Clinton continued. ‘Indeed, our religion and our culture are sources of compassion and inspiration toward our fellow human beings. It was not only those who’ve justified slavery who leaned on religion, it was also those who sought to abolish it. And let us keep in mind that our commitments to protect the freedom of religion and to defend the dignity of LGBT people emanate from a common source.

“’For many of us, religious belief and practice is a vital source of meaning and identity, and fundamental to who we are as people. And likewise, for most of us, the bonds of love and family that we forge are also vital sources of meaning and identity. And caring for others is an expression of what it means to be fully human. It is because the human experience is universal that human rights are universal and cut across all religions and cultures’"

Anyone who has followed the debate on gay rights will of course find nothing new in Clinton’s attempt to press love, a decided godly attribute, into action in the pursuit of a clearly an ungodly idea – one that runs counter to His single most important assignment for mankind - continuation of the species. (CONTINUES).

CALLING EMEKA IHEDIOHA AND CO

Sir Emeka Ihedioha, Deputy Speaker,
Federal House of Representatives

"The House of Representatives must be encouraged to fast track its debate and passage. Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha has a major role here. As one of the sponsors of the aborted 2009 House Bill 150 (A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage between Persons of Same Gender, Solemnization of Same and for other Matters related therewith)” , he must now rally all the other sponsors still in the House to spearhead this new move. Any loss of momentum can be fatal."

With the passing of Senate Bill 05, formally cited as “An Act to Prohibit Same Sex Marriages” last week, one giant step has been taken towards dealing a major blow for righteousness, in our social milieu. But it is, to borrow a cliché, one down, two to go.

I wish to congratulate our distinguished senators for being truly distinguished on this subject. The missionary zeal with which they went about it, as seen live on television, further persuades me that many of our senators are patriots able to rise in defence of the national interest. Against the background that the government of the United Kingdom did not stop at its general declaration of an “aid war” on African nations who fail to accord homosexuality human rights status, but also sent a letter to the Senate Committee considering the bill, the senators must be applauded for their courage.

Their defiance of external interference in the regulation of our social and moral conduct was very clearly demonstrated by the unanimity of the passage and voiced by the Senate President. His words: “Anybody can write to us, but our values are our values. If there is any country that does not want to give us aid or assistance, just because we hold on very firmly to our values, that country can keep its assistance. No country has a right to interfere in the way we make our own laws.”

But as I said above, we are still two steps away from the bill becoming law. The House of Representative still has to debate and pass it; and in case of differences in the two versions, go for harmonisation. The harmonised version would of course require the signature of the President to become an Act of the National Assembly. In other words, the battle is not over yet.

If experience has shown anything about the way the international gay lobby functions, they will work hard to abort this bill at either of the next two steps. They will use every weapon in their arsenal – money, blackmail, intimidation, carrot and stick etc. There’s therefore the need for everybody in support of this law to do everything possible to avoid a loss of momentum. The House of Representatives must be encouraged to fast track its debate and passage. Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha has a major role here. As one of the sponsors of the aborted 2009 House Bill 150 (A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage between Persons of Same Gender, Solemnization of Same and for other Matters related therewith)” , he must now rally all the other sponsors still in the House to spearhead this new move. Any loss of momentum can be fatal.

The President has already demonstrated his opposition to the conferment of human rights status to homosexuality through our permanent representative, Ambassador Joy Ogwu’s vote during a recent debate in the United Nations. He should not be allowed room for any kind of rethink!

Incidentally, one of the tactics that would be employed by the gay lobby is to play on the liberal sensibilities of the intelligentsia in Nigeria by downplaying the importance of the gay issue relative to other so called pressing national issues. They will point out that corruption is still alive and well; that kidnapping and armed robbery are still rampart; that the Boko Haram sect is yet to be reined in; that our economy is tottering etc. And from that position accuse of legislators of misplaced priority and denounce them as an unserious bunch.  Many of those who would canvass this position of course mean well; they would be sincere; but they would be sincerely wrong.

It is a scenario I addressed in an article headlined, “Homosexuality and the Price of Fish”. That piece on October 12, 2008, noted that because of our liberal tendencies, we have been dismissing attempts by governments to deal with social issues of any kind as unimportant. Pointing out that homosexuality was one of those issues being characterised as unimportant, I wrote: “As someone would have put it, what has homosexuality or nudity got to do with the price of fish, or garri? For effect, he would have added, “make we hear word, jare” which is street lingo for, let’s get serious”. 

As I wrote then, “they would be dead right, if the gay challenge wasn’t getting dead serious, as a recent newspaper report demonstrated. The report headlined: ‘Gay Church Arrives Nigeria’, had two riders: ‘Christian, Muslim clerics declare: it’s evil!’ ‘National Assembly must fight it.’”

The report was published by Sunday Sun then read in part like this: “For the first time in Nigeria, men who openly declared themselves as homosexuals gathered penultimate weekend at a church in Ojodu, a Lagos suburb. Under the auspices of a yet-to-be registered church - House of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church - the men held a seminar and night vigil. The heavily guarded event paraded men who wore necklaces, rings, conducted themselves and spoke softly like women”.

Continued the report which carried the bylines of Jossy Idam and Paul Omo Obadan: “Ironically, the homosexuals held the fiesta in the hall of United Bible University, Yakoyo Road, Ojudu, Lagos. The venue also serves as a place of worship for Christian Pentecostal Mission (CPM). The event, Sunday Sun learnt, was championed by a lawyer and theologian, Rev. Roland Babajide Macaulay. On the days of the event, a retinue of mean-looking, ill-tempered security men barred our reporter from entering the venue and meeting the men…”  

“House of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church is reported to have been in existence since 2006 and is said to be affiliated to other metropolitan community churches in America and Europe. Its “mission and vision”, according to the Sunday Sun report, quoting a public statement by Rev. Roland Macaulay is “to transform hearts, lives and history and especially, to help people reconcile their sexuality and spirituality.” 

As I wrote then, the report simply shows “the international gay movement is gaining inroads into our nation while we ‘get serious’ with those seemingly urgent issues ‘that has to do with the price of fish and garri.’ 

In that column, I also quoted a Time magazine online story which demonstrated how  “within the space of 43 years, homosexuality and same-sex marriages had transformed from being a sin, a crime and a mental illness, to become an orientation to which human rights apply, a social preference and is increasingly being de-listed as a sin in many parts of the United States of America”.

I warned then that “homosexuality might fare better in Nigeria sooner, if Nigerians do not move against it now!  Thank God, the Senate has risen to the challenge. Will both the House of Representatives and the President join in dealing this blow for righteousness?  

Still on the the Anti-Gay Marriage Bill (2): THOSE WHO NEED TO SPEAK UP!

Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, Founder, HURILAWS
Does HURILAWS support Senate Bill 05?

"Also prominent among the NGOs, with influential connections, listed as signatories to the AI 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)."

As I said here last time, there are some influential Nigerians who can be seen, rightly or wrongly, as supporting the position, canvassed by Amnesty International (AI) that homosexuality is a human right that should be protected, not criminalised. These are men and women of impeccable public record, but who serve on the boards of or are otherwise associated, with NGOs listed as signatories to the AI petition against House Bill 150 otherwise known as “A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage between Persons of Same Gender, Solemnization of Same and for other Matters related therewith” in 2009.

The bill, which never went beyond the public hearing stage, was sponsored by 49 members of the House including the current Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha. There is no knowing what led to its quiet death, but as I have pointed out here before, its fate was similar to that of Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, 2006, presented by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.   

Now here’s “An Act to Prohibit Same Sex Marriages” (Senate Bill 05), which just went through a public hearing. It must not be allowed to go the way of its predecessors. That means all hands must be on deck. We must utilise the patriotic and nationalistic instinct aroused in many members of AI’s traditional constituency by David Cameron’s gay-for-aid bully tactic to push through this new initiative. We must enlist every possible person; including the influential Nigerians whose silence may be wrongly seen as acquiesce.

Among these influential people are members of the Nigeria Bar Association, listed through its Human Rights Institute. As I said in closing last time, the institute was 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,” and its 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 on human right matters? If it does, would it be right then to conclude that Nigerian lawyers, a preponderance of whom would claim to be Christians or Moslems, support the Al statement in support of gay marriage? Any which way, the NBA needs to speak up.

The last time I checked, Rev Father Matthew Hassan Kukah and Dr Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili were on the board of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD). The centre 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 (emphasise added), it would be interesting to hear the position of the highly respected Kukah now Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto and Ezekwesili, a World Bank vice-president, and a committed Christian married to a Pentecostal pastor.

Also prominent among the NGOs, with influential connections, listed as signatories to the AI 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 does he explain HURILAW’s place on AI’s list of signatories?

SERAP was established in 2004 to promote transparency and accountability in the public and private sectors through human rights. It’s 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 at the University of Lagos. How opposition to HB 150 promotes “transparency and accountability in the public and private sectors through human rights” is beyond me. Makes you, wonder, doesn’t it, 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, Governor of Ekiti State, endorse this – being one of the Nigerians on INCRESE’s Board of Trustees?

Where do the following respected Nigerians stand of this issue: 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; retired Police Commissioner Frank Odita, former public relations chief of the Nigeria Police Force, and currently producer of Security Watch on television (all members of the Board of Trustees of CLEEN Foundation, also a signatory); Innocent Chukwuma, secretary of the foundation; and Festus Okoye, another icon of human rights struggles, whose NGO, Human Rights Monitor, was also on the list. 

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, over to you. 

STILL ON THE ANTI-GAY MARRIAGES BILL (1)

Joseph Daodu, President, NBA
Is the NBA against Senate Bill 05?

“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."

In How Cameron Can Help Nigeria’s Anti-Gay Marriage Bill (November 3, 2011), I made the point that Senate Bill 05 otherwise known as “An Act to Prohibit Same Sex Marriages”, has a very good chance of pulling through, thanks to the bully tactics of David Cameron’s government.

My argument was that in its brazenness and its timing, the threat by Cameron to withhold budget support aid from African nations who do not legalise homosexuality, and the backlash can only help the bill. At this point, I wrote “not even the motley crowd of ‘politically correct’ foreign grant dependent Nigerian human rights and civil liberties activists, usually mobilised by Amnesty International”, can afford to be seen as anything but nationalists.

Since that piece some readers have wondered about my characterisation of some NGOs as “the motley crowd of ‘politically correct’ foreign grant dependent Nigerian human rights and civil liberties activists, usually mobilised by Amnesty International.” It is in direct response to this class of readers that I return to this subject today.

In returning to the subject, I shall be quoting from an earlier article on the subject, “Who’s who Against HB150” (April 12, 2009). It was written in the heat of the debate on “A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage between Persons of Same Gender, Solemnization of Same and for other Matters related therewith” in 2009, sponsored by 49 members of the House including the current Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha. That bill, as I pointed out two weeks ago, simply fizzled out right after the public hearing; a same fate suffered by an earlier executive bill, Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, 2006, presented by the then Obasanjo administration.  This was why I warned that “proponents of the bill, particularly the church should go to sleep. We need to step hard on the throttle and get the bill fast-tracked before momentum is lost.”

A brief backgrounder is in order here. When House Bill 150 went for public hearing, Amnesty International wrote a memorandum, dated January 26, 2009, strongly opposing it, arguing that same-sex attraction was a human right that must be protected, not criminalised. That of course did not surprise any close watcher of that international body’s position on the subject globally. What surprised, even shocked many, including yours sincerely, was the long list of Nigeria-based and Nigerian-run NGOs listed as co-signatories to the pro gay-marriage memorandum. 

On that list were such NGOs as: Centre for Democracy & Development, (CDD); Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD); Centre for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN Foundation); Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Nigeria; Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Nigeria; and Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS). Human Rights Monitor (HRM); International Centre for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights (INCRESE); Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) and Legal Resources Consortium (LRC).

Others are: Nigerian Humanist Movement; Partnership for Justice (PJ); Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA); Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP); The Independent Project for Equal Rights; Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC); Girls' Power Initiative (GPI); House of Rainbow Metropolitan (HRMCC) and Youths 2gether Network.

The shock became even deeper when, a little online check revealed those connected with these NGOs, and who are at least vicariously, linked to the gay marriage support campaign.

I made the point then and I wish to reiterate that “…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, if one were to be associated with a position on any issue merely by default…”

And as I stated then, the gay issue wasn’t just any issue. It was and remains one “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?’” 

Continuing, I wrote: “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, in my opinion, have 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.

Space will permit me to close-up on only one of them today, The Nigerian Bar Association, 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! (CONTINUES).

THE CHURCH AS LION AND PUSSYCAT

These, in his opinion, include: Pride, Insecurity, Suspicion, Ambition, Competition, Immaturity, Independence and Fear. He defined independence as that state of mind where a church leader feels so complete in himself that he requires help from nobody. Fear on the other hand feeds on what a leader thinks he might lose in the place of unity, such as, position, fame, pre-eminence

From Left: Pastor Wale Adefarasin, Archbishop Magnus Atilade
and Monsignor Gabriel Osu at the IFCU Symposium 

Rev Dr Moses Iloh was at the International Foundation for Christian Unity annual symposium the other day. He wasn’t the keynote speaker. Nor was he one of the discussants. In fact, he came late, pleading traffic and the pressure from other duties. But the octogenarian founder and senior pastor of Soul Winners Chapel was his usual self. In his very brief contribution, he illustrated one of the most debilitating effects of disunity in the church – weakness.

He reminded everyone about how a young brilliant man has taken on the whole church of 80million people. That “young brilliant man” is Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and of course you know the subject, Islamic Banking! Describing the Nigerian church as 80 million impotent people, he said “we are lions in church on Sunday; but outside the church, we are pussy-cats.”

You could have heard a pin drop momentarily, but then a thunderous applause soon followed. People like to applaud those who speak truth to power, even if they wouldn’t dare attempt it from a distance.

This year’s edition of the symposium with the theme, “That They May Be One”, like the three before it, never lacked moments of such home truths. Indeed, if we were to match action with only a small percentage of what was said at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs venue of the event, we would be well on our way to achieving the much needed unity.

The Guest of Honour who doubled as Keynote Speaker, President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor was no less forthright in his presentation on the topic, “Exploring A New Way To Christian Unity.”

Represented Pastor Wale Adefarasin, National Secretary, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) of which Oritsejafor is also still President, he said “God expects us to surmount the challenges posed by our difference - the differences of gifts, the differences of denominations; the differences of doctrinal positions and all other differences and recognise that despite our differences, we are one body.”

He argued that individual results could only increase when the exponential power of agreement is allowed to free rein, and went on to itemise a number of obstacles to unity in the body of Christ.

These, in his opinion, include: Pride, Insecurity, Suspicion, Ambition, Competition, Immaturity, Independence and Fear. He defined independence as that state of mind where a church leader feels so complete in himself that he requires help from nobody. Fear on the other hand feeds on what a leader thinks he might lose in the place of unity, such as, position, fame, pre-eminence etc.

He identified immaturity as the major culprit because virtually all else result from spiritual immaturity, pointing out that it was the same immaturity that led Apostle Paul to write in his epistle to the Corinthians thus: “Let me put it this way: each one of you says something different. One says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’, another, ‘I follow Peter’; and another, ‘I follow Christ’, Christ has been divided into groups! Was it Paul who died on the cross for you? Were you baptized as Paul's disciples?” (1Corinthians 1:12-13, GNB).

He went on to counsel that the true Christian attitude must line up with these words: 

“I don’t care what church you belong                                                                                             

If in Christ by faith you are saved                                                                                                

Then you are my brother; you are my sister                                                                                       

So give me your hand…”

Leading the discussion segment of the event, Rev Felix Meduoye, General Overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church Nigeria warned that disunity has no basis in Christianity. Quoting from the Bible, he said Christian unity was a necessity because the Lord Jesus, founder and head of the church says it will help the world know that the Father sent him. Unity, he pointed out, conforms to the pattern in heaven, where the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit are so united that they are one. Add to that the truth that we have so much in common united as we are by one Lord, one faith, and one hope of salvation.

He, however, cautioned against mistaking unity for uniformity, stating that denominations are not necessarily evil. Church splits, he said have historically even been known to help expand the church. He also posited that unity is at two levels, the spiritual and the practical, submitting in the words of St Augustine that our attitude ought to be, “In the essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all else charity.”

Another discussant, Monsignor Gabriel Osu, Director of Social Communications Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos said disunity in the church has become the scandal of Christianity. He noted that it was commonplace for churches to be located on the same street and have no contact whatsoever, just because they do not belong to the same denomination. This is scandalous, he said.  No amount of talk will help if we do not begin at such practical levels, he suggested.

Archbishop Magnus Atilade, Chairman, South West Zone of Organisation African Instituted Churches (OAIC), one of the five constituent organisations within CAN, was also his usual candid self. He pointed out that disunity in the church was a direct disobedience to the will of the Lord Jesus who repeated prayed that we may be one, in John 17. He warned that church leaders must avoid using “our minds to interprete the Scriptures. Jesus did ask for one church. Our attempt to convert the world to Christianity has been futile because of utter disunity.”

He then identified some practical areas of action from which efforts in unity can begin: “We must agree to undertake rescue effort to save the perishing and the dying souls. Let the church in spite of denominations be united in mission efforts of evangelism.”

Apostle Alex Bamgbola, Chairman, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Lagos State, which co-sponsored this year’s event, was moderator at the symposium, presided over by Mr Chidi IIogu, chairman of the Foundation. Surveyor Cyprian Agbazue, President and founder of the group received series of visions which led him to write two books upon which the Foundation’s activities are based.

HOW CAMERON CAN HELP NIGERIA’S ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE BILL

"Undeterred, Mr Cameron told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that 'British aid should have more strings attached…Britain is one of the premier aid givers in the world. We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights…' In other words, 'Go gay or go broke'".

“You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened” (Gen 50:20, GNB).

Senate Bill 05, more fully known as “An Act to Prohibit Same Sex Marriages”, has a good chance of becoming law in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, thanks to British Prime Minister, David Cameron.

No, he has not changed camp. Far from it! It’s his relentless pursuit of the goal of expanding gay marriages, known in the UK as civil partnership, beyond his territorial control, that’s helping the cause, inadvertently. In the youthful premier’s desperation to please gay voters at home, he has resorted to bullying aids-receiving countries in Africa: behave or be starved of funds.

Early in October, it was widely reported that Britain, through its International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell cut aid to Malawi by £19million after two gay men were sentenced to 14 years hard labour and was threatening to impose similar aid ‘fines’ against Uganda and Ghana for hard-line anti-gay and lesbian measures. The policy announcement came on the heels of Cameron’s well controversial decision to legalise gay weddings in places of worship.

Cameron also took his campaign to the recently concluded Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in Perth, Australia. In his address he had described the Commonwealth as “a great organisation, a third of the world's population, 54 countries across six continents, a really great network” but one “that must have strong values.” He recommended that the body put in place “a charter setting out the rights, the freedoms, the democracy that we all believe in, and I think that is important."

An Eminent Persons Group, which included a former UK foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, had seemingly tried to oblige Mr Cameron, by including among its over 100 recommendations, “the appointment of an independent commissioner for the rule of law and human rights and a call for all member states to repeal laws banning homosexuality”. Both were among those overwhelmingly rejected. These proposals were said to have been designed to ensure that the organisation remains relevant in 21st Century global affairs.

Undeterred, Mr Cameron told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that "British aid should have more strings attached…Britain is one of the premier aid givers in the world. We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights…” In other words, “Go gay or go broke”.

Now, this bullying has increased patriotic fervour in the leadership of many of these countries and seems guaranteed to alienate his traditional allies, the so-called human rights community here in Nigeria.

Ghanaian President John Atta Mills did not mince words in his reaction:  “No one can deny Prime Minister Cameron his right to make policies, take initiatives and make statements that reflects his societal norms and ideals. But he does not have the right to direct other sovereign nations as to what they should do especially where their societal norms and ideals are different from those which exists in Prime Minister Cameron’s society…I, as President of this nation will never initiate or support any attempt to legalise homosexuality in Ghana. As a government, we will abide by the principles enshrined in our constitution. Let me also say that while we acknowledge all the financial assistance and all the aid that’s given us by our development partners, we will not accept any aid with strings attach if that aid will not inure to our interest”. The President’s position has since been backed by Parliament.

Ugandan presidential adviser John Nagenda, in reacting to the aid cut threat, accused Mr Cameron of treating Ugandans "like children". His words: “Uganda is, if you remember, a sovereign state and we are tired of being given these lectures by people…If they must take their money, so be it…'You do this or I withdraw my aid' will definitely make people extremely uncomfortable with being treated like children."

Malawi government spokesperson Patricia Kaliati, on her part, said it was “unfortunate” for Britain to have “pro-gay strings” attached to aid, pointing out that homosexual acts are illegal in Malawi and that” these laws are a legacy of British rule”.

Nigerian Senate President, David Mark, who spoke at the opening of a public hearing on SB 05 was very direct: “Nothing on earth justifies same sex marriage. My faith as Christian abhors it. It is incomprehensible to contemplate on same sex marriage. I cannot understand it. I cannot be a party to it. There are enough men and women to marry each other. The whole idea is the importation of foreign culture but this one would be freedom too much…It is offensive, it is repugnant. I will preach against it and we must stand up to reject same sex marriage in Nigeria."

Although David Mark made no reference to the British gay-for-aid threat, it is clear that Nigeria will not stand for it. And it is my firm belief that both in its brazenness and its timing, the threat and the backlash can only help the bill. At this point, not even the motley crowd of “politically correct” foreign grant dependent Nigerian human rights and civil liberties activists, usually mobilised by Amnesty International can resist the urge to be seen as “nationalists”.

It doesn’t mean, however that proponents of the bill, particularly the church should go to sleep. We need to step hard on the throttle and get the bill fast-tracked before momentum is lost. It must be remembered that President Obasanjo’s executive bill, Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, 2006 died at the public hearing stage. So did House Bill 150, otherwise known as, “A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage between Persons of Same Gender, Solemnization of Same and for other Matters related therewith” in 2009. It was sponsored by 49 members of the House including the current Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha.

David Cameron meant his bullying tactic for evil; we must, through “faith and works” turn it to good, in order to preserve the moral fibre of our society and the future of our youth.