Again, capital ‘No’ to Theresa May’s offer
The British Prime Minister, Mrs. Theresa May, has renewed her country’s call on Nigeria and all other nations within the Commonwealth to legalize gay marriage. Speaking at the first joint forum of the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Westminster on Tuesday April 17, 2 018, Mrs. May said there should be no laws […]
The British Prime Minister, Mrs. Theresa May, has renewed her country’s call on Nigeria and all other nations within the Commonwealth to legalize gay marriage. Speaking at the first joint forum of the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Westminster on Tuesday April 17, 2 018, Mrs. May said there should be no laws criminalizing same-gender relationships across the Commonwealth.
Mrs. May said she understands that most of the laws against same-sex marriages in the Commonwealth were made by the United Kingdom; adding that those laws were wrong then, and are wrong now. The laws, she explained, were passed under British rule and are still being used in 7 of the Commonwealth’s 50 member nations. She said, “Discriminatory laws made many years ago continue to affect the lives of many people, tens of millions of young people; criminalizing same-sex relations and failing to protect women and girls”.
She also said “Nobody should face discrimination or persecution because of who they are or who they love and the UK stands ready to help any Commonwealth member wanting to reform outdated legislation that makes such discrimination possible”. No matter how attractive the conditions or incentives offered to Nigeria on this issue might be, Nigerians and Nigeria as a people and country are ready to resist all the apparent and covert intimidations meant to pressurize us to adopt what is not only extremely alien to our culture but also bizarre to nature.
Mrs. May’s attempt to compromise “respect for one another’s culture” with “Equal Rights” was a bid that obviously failed to appeal to the conscience of right thinking persons. She said “As a family, we must respect one another’s cultures and traditions, but we must do so in a manner consistent with equality”. The question for Madam Theresa is: “Where is the respect for other people’s culture when she is calling on others to legalize that which, in the latter’s culture and religion, is a taboo?
If British authorities have forgotten, we are inspired by our conscience to remind them that Nigeria had since 2011 criminalized same sex marriage. In obvious defiance of the pressure mounted then by western countries especially the United Kingdom, which at that time threatened to stop its financial assistance to any country that legislates against gay marriage, the Nigerian Senate courageously passed the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill and was signed in to law by former President Goodluck Jonathan. The bill provides that persons found guilty of indulging in same sex marriage risk a jail term of 14 years with no option of fine. Law enforcement agencies in Nigeria must be vigilant to nip in the bud any attempt by persons or group to directly or indirectly promote the hankerings of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) individuals.
In 2013, the then Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke who led the Nigerian delegation to the presentation of the country’s report at the 17th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva reaffirmed and reinforced Nigeria’s position against same sex marriage. Indeed, Nigeria has certainly come a long way with a decisive position on this matter. Mrs. May would, therefore, be doing her country good by putting this repeated call to final rest.
The two major religions (Islam and Christianity) practiced in Nigeria forbid gay marriages. Reacting to Mrs. May’s offer, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in a statement issued in Abuja by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji who is the Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the CAN President, Dr. Olasupo Ayokunle, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to disregard Theresa May’s counsel on same sex marriage. The statement noted that “the position of May is ungodly, satanic, reprehensible, condemnable and should be rejected by all right thinking people globally especially in Nigeria”.
The statement by CAN added that same sex marriage contradicts the Scripture and any human law that contradicts the Bible cannot stand. CAN affirmed that marriage, according to God’s law, involves a man and a woman; adding that “the fact that British authorities or all countries of the world allow it does not make it right. Whatever that is ungodly is unacceptable to CAN and to Nigerians”.
One of the fundamental objects of marriage in Islam is procreation. However, this divine purpose becomes ruined under gay marriages. The illicit act of homosexuality or lesbianism as the case may be, is the ultimate desire of gays. Such is a synthetic, pretentious and useless practice that is lacking even among animals. Allah (SWT) condemns this barbaric act in Qur’an 7:80-81 “We also sent Lut: He said to his people ‘Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: Ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds”.
Those who engaged in the act in the past were destroyed by the Allah (SWT) who made creation into male and female. Inhabitants of the city where Prophet Lut (AS) lived who indulged in the unwholesome act of homosexuality suffered destruction at the instance of Allah’s divine command. Allah (SWT) mentions in Qur’an 54:34 “We sent against them a violent tornado with showers of stones, (which destroyed them) except Lut’s household: Them we delivered by early dawn”.
Besides, the social and health consequences of this irregular relationship among persons with maladjusted personality are tragic enough to scare right thinking persons. For instance, studies have shown that children raised by homosexual parents experience more psychosocial challenges than children fostered by heterosexual parents. In 2011, Singapore’s health ministry revealed that the number of homosexual men diagnosed with HIV was higher than that of heterosexual men. May Allah (SWT) guide us against all forms of human and satanic temptations, amin.
MTN: Stop this scam
Without requesting, MTN sends SMS to subscribers that they have been surcharged for a particular facility which they never subscribed to. I recently received two of such messages: (1) “Congratulations! Your Hellotune service is now active. You have been charged N50 for 15 days. Next renewal is on 10-05-2018. To deactivate send STOP to 791”. (2) “Congratulations! Your Hellotune service is now active with Song Take Away for 15 days. You have been charged N25. Send STOP to 791 to deactivate”. I have sent STOP several times but the code number 791 refused to accept it. MTN must stop this scam before customers join forces with NCC against it.