There
are two clearly defined frontiers of war going on in Africa which assumed much
more broader perspective since the beginning of the year. These are the war on
terror being waged in West and Central Africa and lastly the cultural cum legal
war against persons with same sex orientation otherwise known as gays.
We
are concentrating our intellectual focus on the second leg of these twin
wars-war on gays.
Nigeria,
unarguably the largest black nation globally, in the first quarter of this year
signed into law the anti-gay legislation prescribing 14 year jail sentence for
offenders convicted of same sex relationship.
After
two years of intense international pressure, both the Nigerian National
Assembly and President Jonathan proceeded with the mechanism which resulted in
the signing into law the anti-gay legislation.
On
validity and recognition of marriage, the then draft bill which has now
culminated into a national law affirmed thus: “For the avoidance of doubt only
marriage entered into between a man and a woman under the Marriage Act or under
the Islamic and Customary laws are valid and recognized in Nigeria.”
The
prohibition of same sex marriage in the bill covers the following; marriage
between persons of the same sex and adoption of children by them in or out of a
same sex marriage or relationship is prohibited in the Federal Republic of
Nigeria; a licence issued by another state, country, foreign jurisdiction or
otherwise shall be void in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The
law further affirmed that marriage between persons of the same sex are invalid
and shall not be recognized as entitled to the benefits of a valid marriage and
that any contractual or other rights granted to persons involved in same sex
marriage or accruing to such persons by virtue of a license shall not be
enforceable in any Court of law in Nigeria.
The
Courts in Nigeria, according to the anti-gay law, shall have no jurisdiction to
grant a divorce with regard or rule on any of their rights arising from or in
connection with such marriage.
On
non-recognition of same sex marriage, the draft bill states that marriage between
persons of same sex entered into any jurisdiction whether within or outside Nigeria; and other
state or country or otherwise or any other location or relationship between persons
of the same sex which are treated as marriage in any jurisdiction, whether within
or outside Nigeria are not are not recognized in Nigeria; all arms of government
and agencies in the Federal republic of Nigeria shall not give effect to any
public act, record or judicial proceeding within or outside Nigeria, with
regard to same sex marriage or relationship or a claim arising from such
marriage or relationship.
The
bill also provides for the prohibition of registration of gay clubs and societies
and publicity of same sex sexual relationship and affirms that; registration of
Gay Clubs, Societies and organizations by whatever name they are called in
institutions from Secondary to the tertiary level or other institutions in
particular and, in Nigeria generally, by government agencies is hereby prohibited.
In
what some of us consider as the most drastic aspect of the anti-gay law, the
new law in Nigeria criminalizes media reportage of gay sexual ceremonies thus; “publicity, procession and public show of same
sex amorous relationship through the electronic or print media physically,
directly, indirectly or otherwise are prohibited in Nigeria; and; any person
who is involved in the registration of gay clubs, societies and organizations,
sustenance, procession or meetings, publicity and public show of same sex
amorous relationship, directly or indirectly, in public and in private is
guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a term of 5 years imprisonment”.
The
law in Nigeria also states that any person who performs, witnesses, aids or
abets the same sex marriage is of an offence and liable on conviction to a
five-year prison term.
The
legislation states that jurisdiction for the trial of alleged offenders of the
law banning same sex marriage lies with the High Courts in the states and the Federal
Capital Territory.
Since
that bill that bans same sex marriage came to the public domain, controversy
has trailed it, with some people condemning the action of the Federal Government
and defending the “right” of gays and lesbians to marry in Nigeria.
Prior
to the coming into being of the Nigeria’s variant of anti-gay law, both the
British and United States governments threatened to deal diplomatically with
Nigeria should it proceed with what they considered as draconian law.
But
the more the Western powers wielded the big stick or issued verbal threats
against Nigeria over the anti-gay law the more the Nigerian government gets
public acclaim locally for standing by what is right.
Coming
at a time that the frightening dimension of the destruction and violence
unleashed by terrorists has created terrible image problem for the Nigerian
government, the signing into law of the anti-gay law was a major coup de grace
which won popular acclaim for the government among the largely religious
communities scattered all over Nigeria.
After
accepting the reality on the ground in Nigeria, the focus of the western powers
shifted to Uganda where the government was said to be working on a piece of
legislation that would even be more punitive than the Nigerian version.
Yoweri
Kaguta Museveni whose ascension to political power through rebellion as far
back as January 1986 was heavily aided by the United States government, came
under unprecedented gale of pressure from the United States government not to
sign the anti-gay law which will send any same sex practitioner convicted to
life Jail.
In
the case of Uganda, the United States President Mr. Barack Obama personally
appealed to the Ugandan strongman to discard the anti-gay law but the overwhelming
public opinion of Ugandans favoured the signing into law of that legislation.
Dramatically, the Ugandan government sought and obtained scientific reports
which goes to show that same sex orientation is congenital and not hereditary.
By
1 pm on the dot, on February 24th 2014, a friend called me to give me the
breaking news that Uganda President has indeed defied the Western powers by
proceedings to sign the anti-gay legislation into law.
The
news of the signing into law of the anti-gay legislation in Uganda immediately
became the hottest story in most global media with the British Broadcasting
Corporation through one of is reporters Catherine Byaruhanga in Uganda said the
government made a public show of the signing ceremony which is rare in the history
of Uganda.
A government spokesman said
President Yoweri Museveni wanted to assert Uganda's "independence in the
face of Western pressure".
Like in most African
societies, even before the idea of making a body of legislation against same
sex orientation, homosexual acts are already illegal.
The new law in Uganda punishes
first-time offenders with 14 years in jail, and allows life imprisonment as the
penalty for acts of "aggravated homosexuality".
Homosexuality is just bad
behaviour, that should not be allowed in our society”, MP David Bahati, one of
those law makers that championed the new legislation reportedly told the media.
Like the Nigerian version,
the Ugandan anti-gay law also makes it a crime not to report gay people - in
effect making it impossible to live as openly gay.
The law criminalises the
"promotion" and even the mere "recognition" of homosexual
relations "through or with the support of any government entity in Uganda
or any other non-governmental organization inside or outside the country".
This action by Uganda is
perhaps one more step in the widening battle and cultural war against gay
sexual orientation which most people in Africa believe is targeted at
destroying the cultural fabric of African continent.
The debate and public
conversations around the issue of gay sexual orientation have only just
intensified. Government is obliged to prevent the breakdown of law and order
and lynch mob jungle justice against perceived gay sexual practitioners. What
is certain is that the last has not being heard regarding the anti-gay law as
many groups are threatening to challenge the legal validity of the law just as
the Western powers may provide heavy funding support for these legal
challenges.
* Emmanuel
Onwubiko; Head Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria; blogs@www.huriwa.blogspot.org;
www.huriwa.org.
24/2/2014.
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