Western governments and media around the world are attacking Nigeria’s Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013, which outlaws same-sex “marriage” as well as propagandizing by the homosexualist lobby. However, one of the few voices giving public support is that of the Nigerian Catholic bishops, who have issued a statement congratulating the government for the passage of the law.
The president of the Nigerian Catholic bishops’ conference, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos, wrote to the president saying that the government’s decision “not to bow to international pressure in the promotion of unethical and immoral practices of same sex union and other related vices” is “a courageous one and a clear indication of the ability of our great country to stand shoulders high in the protection of our Nigerian and African most valued cultures of the institution of marriage and protection of the dignity of the human person.”
The new law, signed January 7th by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, allows for up to 14 years in prison for attempting to create a same-sex “marriage” or civil union. The law makes it an offense to “perform, witness, aid, or abet” such a ceremony. It also specifies that gay “marriages” or civil unions contracted in other countries will not be recognised in Nigeria, and prohibits public displays of a “same-sex amorous relationship,” the operating of “gay clubs,” adoption of children by homosexuals, and curtails the work of the international gay lobby to agitate for changes in the law.
Archbishop Kaigama added, “We commend you for this courageous and wise decision and pray that God will continue to bless, guide and protect you and your administration against the conspiracy of the developed world to make our country and continent, the dumping ground for the promotion of all immoral practices, that have continued to debase the purpose of God for man in the area of creation and morality, in their own countries.”
This is not the first time the Catholic bishops of Nigeria has praised the government’s efforts to stem the influence of the homosexualist ideology. In 2011, the bishops praised a law outlawing same-sex unions and public displays of homosexual activity.
The law was also defended by Nigeria’s government AIDS prevention agency, which said, “Nothing in the same sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2013 refers to or prohibits programs targeted at Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support for people living with HIV or affected by AIDS in Nigeria. No provision of this law will deny anybody in Nigeria access to HIV treatment and other medical services.
“The Government of Nigeria remains fully committed to improving the health of Nigerians and preventing all AIDS related deaths, and therefore will continue to ensure that Nigerians have access to the requisite services that they may require as guaranteed by the constitution.”
The law was created in response to the growing number of countries that recognize same-sex unions. Homosexualists have long urged their activists to enter into legal unions in one country and then emigrate in order to demand legal recognition in countries without similar legal concepts.
However, the law has been blasted around the world by leading politicians and media outlets. US Secretary of State, John Kerry, said last month, “Beyond even prohibiting same-sex marriage, this law dangerously restricts freedom of assembly, association and expression for all Nigerians.”
Recently, a coalition of homosexualists at the EU demanded that Nigeria bring its laws into line with those of the Western world. The head of the powerful LGBT Intergroup at the EU addressed a letter to the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid to “evaluate” the financial support given to Nigeria. Nigeria was recently among the countries listed by the Intergroup as those against which the EU member states should “use all their power” to force the acceptance of homosexuality in law.
In the face of huge international pressure, including threats of sanctions from Commonwealth mother-country Great Britain, the bishops said at that time, “Far from being a denial of the fundamental right of some Nigerians who would engage in it, such a prohibition protects our society from the usurpation of its right to moral health and cultural decency.”
Nigerians are accustomed to resisting interference from Western powers, particularly on the ideology of “reproductive choice” and “gender.” In 2012, the Nigerian government issued a statement that they would rather refuse foreign aid than accept the requirement that they adopt the West’s sexual ideologies.
The country has long been a favorite target of population controllers at the UN. In 2011, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, special advisor to the UN Secretary General, demanded that the country adopt draconian population control measures, telling AFP news agency, “Nigeria should work towards attaining a maximum of three children per family.”
At the 2009 African Synod at the Vatican, Nigerian bishops were among who told the world’s press that the West must stop pushing “lethal ideologies” on many African countries. Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, Archbishop of Lagos in Nigeria said that family life in Africa is “disintegrating through divorce, unfaithfulness and Western ideologies that are incompatible” with African cultural values.
