Nigerian 37-37

I found this posted over at Walking With Integrity I especially love the derisive story told about the lawyer by the politician - a little like the pot calling the kettle, well, black.

Should same-sex marriage be allowed in Nigeria?
By Taiwo Olanrewaju

From THE NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

In Nigeria, same-sex relationship has been banned, but many Nigerians are still practising the act. Should it be encouraged, asks Abdul Musediq.

HOMOSEXUALITY has always been in existence from time immemorial, but was rarely an issue to generate public reactions especially in Nigeria until recently. It started generating impulse for the first time in Nigeria a few years ago when a Gay Bishop was to be consecrated within the Anglican Communion in the United States of America (USA). The bulk of old generation Christians in Nigeria belongs to the orthodox setting of which Anglican is a prominent sect, therefore elite Christians who wield influence in the society are many in the Anglican Church of Nigeria.


The issues bordering on same-sex marriage and Gay priests were stiffly opposed by the church authority. This eventually led to the break-away of many African Anglican Churches from the world order, dissociating selves from same-sex marriage which they classified as unholy and ungodly, unfit for existence.


Subsequently, when homosexuality in South Africa became a public issue and many gays and lesbians came out to assert their rights, their counterparts in Nigeria became more confident, but before they knew, a bill had been passed criminalising same-sex relationship. All these notwithstanding, one can’t rule out the fact that homosexuality is very much among us, and those that practise it want to be heard. Speaking with some members of the public, the question the Nigerian Tribune put across was: Should gays and lesbians be given freedom to marry (same-sex marriage) in Nigeria?


Comments

Personally, I don’t think the act should be encouraged. However, there are many of them now in secondary schools, especially big secondary schools. In fact, I met one of them recently who told me she decided to become a lesbian after she had committed several abortions. She claimed she has not regretted it, since she was not doing it for money. Though, everybody should have a right to choose what they want to be and how they want to live, I don’t think it is godly, so it must not be encouraged. –Miss Lara Olawale

How can people of same sex engage in love affair? It is unacceptable, how would they procreate? It is totally ungodly. God who created man and woman has a purpose for them. I can never imagine such a thing in Nigeria. –Busayo, legal practitioner

It simply means that the world is coming to an end. God is not happy with it, therefore government should make a law against it with very stiff punishments. Of what benefit or profit is same-sex marriage? That would have defeated the purpose of reproduction as ordained by God.Those who I know were doing it while I was in school were doing it for selfish reasons either economic reason or mad thinking. –Yemi, sales executive

It is uncalled for, it is ungodly, it is against the law of nature. If they legalised it in Nigeria, it means the world is coming to an end. The developed countries which legalised an such act have reached their peak in terms of development and good things, and now they have started diminishing or retrogressing, more like the law of diminishing returns setting in. In our own case we are not even developed, so, we must not talk of diminishing returns. Such laws must not be passed. Many of those gays or lesbians were influenced by foreigners, and in most cases such foreigners took advantage of endemic poverty in the country and lured Nigerians into it by enticing them with money and gift items. I remember a white man (professor) who came to live in my home town some years back. He, indeed, had love affairs with so many young boys working for him and gave them stipends, but only one of his domestic workers refused his advances and today, the guy is a lawyer.-Hussein, politician

It is pure evil act. I don’t want to know why some people engage in it, all I know is that Nigerians must not allow it to happen, otherwise, the nation would soon perish. Such an act must not be enshrined in the fundamental human rights of Nigerians. -Samuel, student

A lesbian, who spoke under anonymity with the Nigerian Tribune, said she was happy dating a female friend but she was not ready to dare the odds and discrimination against homosexuality in Nigeria . “Even as a nurse, none of my colleagues knows that I am a lesbian but some of them may be suspicous. How I wish government can make laws giving us leverage to marry,” she said.


Also, investigation showed that many famous secondary schools now have many gays and lesbians among the students, though unknown to their parents due to the societal discrimination and consequences that may follow.


In some famous girls’-only colleges, lesbians are nicknamed 37-37 . The name was derived from Lele (short from Lesbian). However, to make sure the name is not easily suspected, the word LELE was turnded upside down. Only insiders would understand.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/15052007/features.html