The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Alhassan Doguwa, has railed against threats of US sanctions over Nigeria’s anti-gay stance.
Recall that President Joe Biden had in a memo recently directed US agencies operating in foreign jurisdictions to work to promote LGBT rights.
“When foreign governments move to restrict the rights of LGBTQI+ persons or fail to enforce legal protections in place, thereby contributing to a climate of intolerance, agencies engaged abroad shall consider appropriate responses, including using the full range of diplomatic and assistance tools and, as appropriate, financial sanctions, visa restrictions, and other actions.
“All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love.
“The United States belongs at the forefront of this struggle – speaking out and standing strong for our most dearly held values,” the memo read.
Majority Leader, Hon. Alhassan Doguwa said homosexual relationships were against natural law and would not be permitted in Nigeria.
He drew attention to the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act of 2014, warning that the National Assembly would never pass any contrary bill.
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“It will definitely not work here. It can’t work in Nigeria because as an institution, we must respect the peculiarities of our own setting here. This is Nigeria. This is not America. This is not England. This is Nigeria where we must have to respect some of our traditions. We must also respect some of our religious bodies.
“We have Christians, we have Muslims and I thank God that both Christianity and Islam which are the two major religions are all against the disposition of such kind of legislation. I don’t think that in the near future that the Nigerian legislature as an institution will entertain anything like gay here in country.
“We will not entertain that and it is going to be blasphemous if we can begin to consider such laws. It is against our culture and against basically the provision of the two major religions. I don’t we will begin to contemplate that. It is obnoxious as far as I am concerned,” Doguwa told Vanguard.