As Buhari goes to Washington…

Fola Ojo

For about 72 hours, they will be locked down in a confabulation. Global terrorism, global economy, looted funds by corrupt Nigerian public office holders, and the strategic leadership role Nigeria is expected to play on the continent of Africa will be front-and-centre in the discussion President Muhammadu Buhari will be having with the United States President, Barack Obama, when the two leaders meet in Washington DC beginning from Monday.

I predict that the trip will be an overall success; but the necessity for more future confabulations will definitely be provoked over one issue that will end in a stalemate. That is the hot-button topic of same-sex marriage which is now the law in all 50 states of the land-of-the-free and the-home-of-the-brave.

As President Buhari goes to Washington, I hope he understands what he is walking into. He will be around the table with Americans breathing down his neck in their attempt to turn the whole world including Nigeria, into a same-sex universe. On this issue, the shots will be relentless and persistent especially from President Obama who is unambiguously passionate about men marrying men, and women tying knots in marriage with other women, if they so choose. Washington is ready for Nigeria, and there is an overt determination to flip Nigeria’s position and stand on the issue. The US has told the world what it wants:

“As a government, it is one of the highest priorities and strongest values that discrimination against anyone based on their sexual orientation and gender identity is wrong. We believe human rights should be available to everybody. As a policy, we will continue to press the government of Nigeria as well as other governments who have provided legislation that discriminate against the LGBT community…So, we will continue to press the government, to press the legislature to change these laws and provide human rights for all Nigerian people regardless of their sexual orientation.” The US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said recently. Thomas-Greenfield vowed that America will continue to put pressure on countries like Nigeria which have anti-LGBT legislation in place.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan signed into law the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2014 which criminalises same-sex relationships. Under the existing Nigerian federal law, sodomy is punishable by jail. The penalty is up to 14 years in prison.

The United Nations Chief Ban Ki-Moon was among the early bashers of the law when he asked Nigeria to review it fearing widespread prejudice and violence. Prejudice and violence are not good phenomena in any society, and I am sure this was not the intention of the Nigerian government when the law was signed. The Nigerian society will never erupt in violence because men are not allowed to marry one another and women are barred from doing the same. Nigerians have bigger fights to fight; they have Boko Haram to fight, they have poverty and corruption to wrestle with; and now they have to fight other countries who are trying to make Nigeria be like other nations where an abominable sexual act must now be exalted and hailed and made the law of the land.

While a handful of European countries offer same-sex couples the same legal rights enjoyed by heterosexuals, many African countries including Nigeria perceive it as a human error. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is on record as saying: “Surely, the Good Lord who created us male and female knew exactly what he was doing… Any other form of sexual relationship is a perversion of the divine order, and sin.” My Pastor, Enoch Adeboye, said, “Same sex marriage shows the end of time and level of degeneration. The same-sex marriage is from the pit of hell…”

The law banning same-sex marriage is now the law in Nigeria. Those lawmakers who made it happen received a “God-bless-you” from the majority of Nigerians. Nigeria as a sovereign nation still believes that marriage is a relationship between man and woman; and that may never change.

On the other hand however, it is uncalled for, barbaric and criminal for any group of people to mob or hurt anyone who chooses the homosexual lifestyle. This writer stands against any form of bodily attack or violence against any person who declares himself or herself homosexual. The message, however, that Nigeria is conveying to the world is that in the Nigerian culture, men don’t marry men, and women don’t walk down the aisle holding the hands of other women in marriage. The Nigerian nation will not dictate how others live their lives; and the sovereignty of Nigeria should also be respected when it comes to the collective decision that the citizenry has made against gay marriage. On this gay issue, Nigeria is straight. This is what Nigerians expect President Buhari to unequivocally present to the Americans on Monday, and he must not buckle!

The Director, Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, had during the presidential campaign alleged that Buhari, the then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, was promised a full backing from the Americans if he was prepared to repeal Nigeria’s anti-gay law. Buhari denied the allegation, but he is not on record to have spoken for or against same-sex marriage. The meeting with Obama in Washington DC will clearly position the President on either side of the discourse.

It is disheartening that in my lifetime, the world has got so bold and brazen about what God abhors. Before our eyes, this world has changed. Growing up in the Nigerian culture, friends held one another’s hands walking down the street and it did not mean a thing other than a show of friendly affection. There was never a suspicion of sexual perversion towards such a gesture. Boys grew up talking about girls-their gaits, their beauty, their looks, their voices- and it was refreshing to every young man to talk about girls. Girls were like ice cold water poured on a hot soul, dating one was a validation that a boy was accepted by all as a “real man”, or real boy growing up to be a man. Boys hung with boys playing football and when they took shower together after a soccer game or ping-pong play-out, no eyebrow was raised as to what the motive was. That was how to be a man, and it was a good time. These days, the definition of man and woman has become what the definer calls it. Nigerians are unanimous in the Anti-Gay bill signed into law by former President Jonathan. Anyone on the other side of this law is a perceived enemy of what Nigeria wants.

Britain and some Western nations which have threatened to cut their financial aid to Nigeria don’t understand the deep resolve of Nigerians around this issue. Many issues keep Nigerians divided; but at least two things will always keep Nigerians one and united- football and Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2014.

The US has said it loud and clear what it wants from Nigeria; and one of the parties will have to buckle eventually. We hope it will not be Nigeria; and it will not be President Buhari.