GAY MARRIAGE: We can’t be intimidated

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GAY MARRIAGE: We can’t be intimidated - FG tells US, others

Written by Leon Usigbe, Abuja Tuesday, 27 December 2011

NO amount of threats from Western countries over same-sex law would pressure Nigeria to discard its customs and tradition, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, has said.

Since the Senate passed the the bill recommending stiff punishment for same-sex marriage, Nigeria has come under various threats of sanction from Britain and America which have voiced their opposition to the move.

However, Ashiru said in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja that Nigeria would not be moved, as the country would do all that was necessary to defend its national interest, adding that if the National Assembly's move was not in the interest of Nigerians, there would have been internal opposition to it.

He said the law that was in the making in Nigeria was for Nigerians and had nothing to do with foreign countries, who, he said, also had the right to enact laws to protect their interests without interference from other countries.

According to him, “the country has the right to legislate on its national interest. They have the right to do it in their countries and nobody will worry just as we have the right to do what conforms with our values.”

While maintaining that Nigeria was a democracy, he added that, “it is against our culture to have same-sex marriage. Even animals recognise difference in sexes.”

Ashiru remarked that since the bill has not been passed by the House of Representatives, the Western interests could talk to the lower chamber of the National Assembly not to accept it but he added that if the countries insisted on imposing sanctions on Nigeria, the nation had enough resources to care for itself.

He said: “I don't see people demonstrating against the law because they know the culture is alien to us. This is democracy. The law has only been passed by the Senate. It will go through the same process in the House of Representatives. If they don't want it to pass, they can talk to the House of Representatives.

“All these threats and sanctions, if we manage the resources we have, we will be fine,” he declared.

On the ongoing move by the Federal Government to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry and the Western countries' disposition to it, the Foreign Affairs Minister noted that the countries understood Nigeria's position since they already run deregulated economies, saying, “other countries are already deregulating. They will just watch to see how we implement it.”

Contrary to fears that the removal of subsidy would lead to astronomical cost in transportation, he assured Nigerians that since trucks and large buses were already running on diesel, which had since been deregulated, there was not likely to be too much increase in transport cost when PMS was deregulated.

However, he added that any increase that would arise from the initiative would be temporary.

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Re: Gay Marriages
written by sharpiro, December 27, 2011

It is good to see Mr Ashiru defending his position on gay marriages.It could also be argued whether this view actually represents the entire views of all Nigerians. Good representation of people's views should categorically be convincing through 'evidence-based' but not in the way it's been potrayed as if some ministers can just read all our minds. Democracy can only be defined by the people of Nigerians and if they can invest power in an elected representative that will govern them. Many views can be hypocratic and I bet the minister should allow nigerians to determine their own destiny.

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The World Sees Nigeria As A Backwards Ignorant Country That Pushes Stupidity.
written by metta, December 27, 2011

So the Nigerian government is not embarrassed by pushing ignorance that harms their citizens and supports stupidity. Until the Nigerian government protects the individual human rights of all its people the Nigerian government does not deserve to be recognized as a legitimate government. Africa has a bad image around the world and it is things like this that stops Africa from moving forward and helping its people. Shame on all these governments that behave this way. Disgusted!

Gay marriage
written by Abdul moron, December 27, 2011

Why should the west influence others,with their perversion,what next?maybe josef frizl their daughters too.

The Insanity of The West
written by Deji Awosika, December 27, 2011

I don`t know the name of the man that made comment last,but what i will like him to do is to keep quiet,and not to display his insanity on the pages of our newspapers.Just has the honourable minister said,even animals can tell the difference between sex.Instead of you advocating on how the scientist will research on how to curb the menace,you are talking rubbish.What does ignorance has to do with custom and value.Olosi eniyan ni e!Foul!

Metta is Completely Wrong
written by Ikes, December 27, 2011

This is one area that I absolutely agree with the Foreign Affairs Minister and the Nigerian Senate. Metta, you should be disgusted by your own neo-colonial statement. If anything, you are the ignorant one on this issue. Contrary to your belief, apart from financial corruption, which we all see, what is stopping Africa from progressing is people like you who believe that we should succumb to Western indoctrination with their stupid Caucasian values. Gay conduct is unAfrican. Even more so, gay marriage is an attack on our marital ideals and values. Let me simply repeat what I wrote elsewhere on the type of statement that you, Metta, has made here:

You and other supporters of gay marriage fail to understand that marriage and sex are all about procreation, raising the family within the bounds of societal rules, and continuing the human race. Homosexuality is against those things -- it is certainly against procreation. There may be several reasons why homosexuals have sex (in my opinion, simply for pleasure and intimacy with their homosexual counterparts), but one thing we all know is not the reason for such conduct is procreation. I always hear homosexuals saying that they do not need to have children because they can adopt. Whose children are they adopting? If everyone were homosexual, who would produce the children to adopt?

The idea of having equal rights is nonsensical because you can make that same argument on every other conduct that individuals desire but must not be allowed to undertake if we were to preserve the integrity of the social contract that binds us as a society that functions differently from the animal kingdom. Should we also allow murder, stealing, rape, and pedophile because people (based upon fake science) believe that they are genetically predisposed to committing those acts or that they cannot help themselves? Ok, you may say that those acts are not victimless. What about prostitution, polygamy, or smoking marihuana, for that matter? The point is that the idea of upbringing, socialization (as Sociologists would call it), and nurture generally is to conform what may ordinarily be a genetic predisposition to societal ideals and values. After all, why do we train our children not to be prostitutes or marihuana smokers?

I do not have a problem with equal rights and all that, but the idea behind marriage does not hinge upon equal rights but upon what should be done to prevent the eventual end of the human race. There are simply rules in the society that some would not like and are not meant to affect everyone equally. I cannot in my wildest imagination understand how someone can be a homosexual and a Christian at the same time. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah, or the book of Leviticus in the Bible?

People such as the author fail to understand that gay rights in the U.S. are all about politics and the gay lobby, which is absolutely well-organized and spread across several areas of American institutional structure. It is all about votes for Democrats in their quest to defeat Republicans. So the U.S. needs to leave our society alone to determine what we respect as our culture. We should be tired of succumbing to Western indoctrination with Caucasian values. How come we have not sanctioned the West for destroying the institution of marriage with their quick-to-divorce, rights-infested, me-me and wayward attitude about marriage? My dear author, let’s stop this neo-colonial mentality!

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...
written by Buba, S. D., December 28, 2011

I wish to commend the foreign minister for such a courageous speech, in the same vein i also commend the Senators for passing the anti gay marriage bill. This clearly indicates that they are morally conscious, and responsible to their constituencies. It is indeed a job well done.

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You are contradicting yourself
written by metta, December 28, 2011

@ Ikes....you talk about Caucasian values and how they are unAfrican and then you try and support this statement with Christianity, a religion created by white men. You bring up marriage, which was also created by white men. Make up your mind.

In regards to homosexuality, it is natural and can be found every where, including many other mamals. You can't make it disappear. It is not going anywhere. You can't kill it off. And being gay has nothing to do with being a Democrat or Republican. That is just silly. Just because one party is more supportive to people living honest lives does not make homosexuality about politics.

People do not choose to be gay any more than you choose to be straight?

And then if you want to talk about the details in Christianity, what you probably don't know if the translation of the bible has been changed over time to manipulate people. The original bible never said anything about homosexuality. The word homosexual was not added into a bible until 1946. Religious leaders have changed the bible over time. Always remember that religious leaders are human beings and will make human mistakes. They feared people that are different from them and have encouraged others to do the same, even willing to change the scripture to do so.