Fun Fast Facts:
Updated: 2 Sep 2014 (Ruled by fear, not rights)
- According to the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 97% of Nigerian residents believe that homosexuality is a way of life that society should not accept, which was the second-highest rate of non-acceptance in the 45 countries surveyed.
- Homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria. Sodomy laws have been in place since the country inherited homosexual laws from its days as a British colony.
- In the largely Muslim northern states of Nigeria which operate under Sharia law, the penalty for same-sex sexual activity is death by stoning. In Christian southern Nigeria, the penalty for same-sex sexual activity is 14 years imprisonment.
- A new law signed by President Goodluck Jonathan in January 2014 also levels 10 years in prison for those found guilty of organising, operating or supporting gay clubs, organisations and meetings. It also prohibits supporting same-sex marriage, or displaying same-sex affection in public.
- Nigeria has passed legislation prohibiting same-sex marriage, with a jail term of 14 years for people found offending. People who witness, aid, abet or solemnise these marriages may be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
- None of the political parties in Nigeria has formally endorsed LGBT rights. Two of the most successful political parties in the National Assembly, the People’s Democratic Party and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, are overtly hostile to LGBT rights. Smaller, more liberal political parties have also spoken against LGBT rights.
- Nigeria has the third highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world.
- Nigeria is the most populous country is Africa, with 160 million people divided equally between the largely Muslim northern states, and largely Christian southern states.
Broadcast: 8 Sep 2015
Speaking up for those that can’t
LGBTIQ-friendly organisation: Bisi Alimi Foundation
Bisi Alimi is in the process of establishing a Foundation to support the advancement of LGBT rights in Nigeria. While the foundation is being formed, you can follow Bisi’s activities on twitter: @bisialimi.
W3JOY interviewed: Bisi Alimi – Nigerian gay activist living in exile in the UK of the Bisi Alimi Foundation
Listen to the podcast to learn about:
- what inspired Bisi to ‘come out’ publicly on television in a country where there are so many examples of public hostility against gay people
- how Bisi’s family responded to the news and how their relationship has changed since then
- small improvements in the level of acceptance in Nigeria of homosexuality
- the role of young people in changing society
- the difficulties of delivering safe sex and HIV services, particularly to at-risk populations including MSM
- the role of the international community and the need to look at different approaches in Africa
- quantifying the economic cost of homophobia
Listen to the podcast
Broadcast: 2 Sep 2014
Ruled by fear, not rights
W3JOY interviewed: Maheeda, Goddess of X
“I don’t want to fit in because I’m very controversial and it’s not good in my country because they are very religious. But I don’t really care because I read from history that if you really want to make a change, you have to be strong and stand for what you believe in.”
“I have interest in human [rights]… when I travel I don’t receive good comments about my country. I wish I could change it in my own little way, but I’m not in politics, so I don’t have a voice. But I’m trying to get my voice.”
“In Nigeria we are very scared, our citizens they train us in a way that we can’t really say anything, which is not good. We don’t really talk about it (the gay rights’ laws). We are scared. As soon as they put the law there, nobody says “No, we are gay, we don’t want it.” Nigerians, they just accept it. They accept anything the government throws at them.”
Are younger people more open minded?
“A few of us, really. Not many of us. Like me, also, I’m still really scared of the government. Even with all the education I’m getting, I still can’t say a lot in my country, and it’s not nice. I wish they would give us our own voice.”
“They (the government) should bring more education. Allow the people to get more educated so we can change stuff. We need education, I think.”
Listen to the podcast
Broadcast: 27 Jan 2014
LGBTI rights at the mercy of politics, evangelism & Islamic fundamentalism
LGBTIQ-friendly organisation: Human Rights Watch, Africa Office
- One of the world’s leading independent organisations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights.
- By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, HRW gives voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes.
- HRW makes use of rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy to build pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse.
- For more than 30 years, HRW has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.
W3JOY interviewed: Monica Tabengwa of Human Rights Watch’s Africa office
“If you look at some of the provisions of this new law, basically it says that anyone who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisations will be offending this law with a possible 10 years sentence. That really is very broad. That would include human rights defenders, strategy organisations, health care providers and anybody else who happens to work within the HIV/AIDS movement and that’s not just gay people.”
“We are not going to stop working. We will have to wait and see if this law is implemented first of all. If it is, we will have to make do with working from outside because they have no reach from people working outside the country.”
“I think this minority group has been used by Nigeria and many other countries for their own political gain. It’s a very populist position and people really don’t think about the consequences of such a law. What they are thinking about is how many votes it is going to get for them. And right now Goodluck Jonathan is coming up for election and right now he know and everybody knows he is not the most popular President.”
“On the ground, there is a lot of support (for the laws). Evangelism has taken root in Nigeria and then of course you already have Islamic fundamentalism so both of these have huge impact on how people react to what they call ‘un-African’.”
“There are many (LGBT human rights) organisations working in the country…but since the passing of this law, all of them have really, really cut down on how much publicity they are going to allow themselves. So they are going to sit and watch and see whether the government or law enforcers will come after them.”
“Everybody was blind-sided (by the laws being introduced); even the local organisations had no idea. When the news broke out we immediately contacted people in Nigeria and they had no idea. They had to run and scramble…it would seem that it was deliberate in the way that the President acted. There was no debate, there was not much publicity.”