The situation is getting worse for homosexuals in Nigeria by the day. The country has been taken over by a violent homophobia that led a few years ago to the enactment of a draconian law criminalizing homosexuality. Police recently have been arresting homosexuals and torturing them to name others for prosecution under the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, which allows for ten years in jail. The law is not just about marriage. Called the “Jail the Gays” bill, it criminalizes homosexuality and threatens AIDS programs in the country. The question is that, as the recipient of a great deal of U.S. aid, why is it appropriate for us to indirectly support a nation that is abusing, and in some cases killing, gays and lesbians?
President Goodluck Jonathan supports this hateful law and signed it last week. It goes further than virtually any other African nation but criminalizing not just same-sex marriage, but homosexuality, gay organizations and even associations with them.
Some of the worst abuses came in Bauchi where rumors spread that the United States gave gay activists $20 million to promote same-sex marriage. That led to a spasm of violence and police abuse with dozens of arrests.
Local Muslim leaders are also fueling the attacks and the arrests. Chairman Mustapha Baba Ilela of Bauchi state Shariah Commission, which oversees regulation of Islamic law, said that Muslim were helping police “fish out” the homosexuals and their associates. He proudly said that “We are on the hunt for others.” Bauchi enforces Sharia law in a breakdown of separation of mosque and state as well as a deprivation of basic civil liberties inherent in such systems.
President Jonathan’s spokesman, Reuben Abati, also defended the law and the crackdown, saying “[t]his is a law that is in line with the people’s cultural and religious inclination. So it is a law that is a reflection of the beliefs and orientation of Nigerian people. … Nigerians are pleased with it.”
Well, not all Nigerians. Not those homosexuals . . . or their associates . . . or anyone who values the most basic notion of human rights and civil liberties. Besides those people, it is quite popular.
Source:
bigfatmike and Personanongrata – I’d go with Persona’s numbers which are more recent. I just grabbed the first eia page google hit and I believe it was about 2 year old data. In any event, while Nigeria was in the top 8 or so importers then, Persona’s link shows they’re a much smaller player through most of 2013 and even trending downward from there.
Thanks much for the link, by the way.
If American Evangelicals (including politicians, The Family, Catholics) are working to bring down hatred and death for homosexuals in other countries then the United States is morally obligated to moderate that damage by putting gays from those countries on a super-fast track to immigrate to this country.
I thought it was against the law for private citizens and politicians to conduct foreign policy. ?
@ bigfatmike,
Nope using the 9672 Nigerian barrels number it would be roughly .000018% of the roughly 540 million barrels used per month in the US.
Insignificant less than an rounding error.
Darren Smith
I would agree with Larry et al, but an unfortunate reality is the US imports a large portion of its petroleum from Nigeria so it remains to be seen how silent the US gov’t will be.
Hi Darren,
FYI the US actually imports very little oil from Nigeria. In October 2013 the US imported 5,600 barrels of crude oil from Nigeria out of the roughly 18 million barrels used in the US daily on average in 2013. So the US government shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind the oil inaction fig leaf.
Source(s):
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTIMUSNI1&f=M
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323339704578173502317182238
@Personanongrata ” In October 2013 the US imported 5,600 barrels of crude oil from Nigeria out of the roughly 18 million barrels used in the US daily on average in 2013.”
Help me with the math here. Earlier we read the US imports about 5%. But the data cited suggested the average for the first 10 months of 2013 is 9672 which is more like .05% of 18,000,000 not 5%. Or did I slip a decimal somewhere?
“…an unfortunate reality is the US imports a large portion of its petroleum from Nigeria so it remains to be seen how silent the US gov’t will be.”
While I agree oil considerations can mute an official U.S. response here, it might give readers a bit more context to understand that Nigeria accounts for less than 6% of imports. That’s still a lot and Nigeria is always in the top 10 of countries for oil imports, but “large portion” would seem to make one think of a much greater amount than 5-6%.
““large portion” would seem to make one think of a much greater amount than 5-6%”
That is a good point. But I think I think a term ‘elasticity of demand’ leads to the right appreciation.
The important question is not the actual quantity imported but rather what will a shortage of that magnitude do to prices.
My guess (without any documentation) is that a shortage of 5% would drive prices very high leading to real disruption.
That does not mean we are powerless in this situation. But there are many implications – not the least of which is that the sooner we wean our economy off imported oil (as much as possible) the better for all of us.
MikeA, I really do believe Putin is a self loathing homosexual.
Yes, Let the US be a sanctuary for all the gay Muslims, Russians, etc. in the world. What about Muslim women, they’re persecuted. Midgets, they get persecuted in Africa. Gypsies, yes, definitely Gypsies need asylum. I could go on.
I just stopped in Vail this afternoon on my way to the west coast. They too have steep “slippery slopes.” But they are fun.
Anyone who’s read Sharlet’s “The Family” saw this coming. As for Russia, it should be remembered that the Russian Orthodox Church remained a powerful force among ordinary Russians throughout the Soviet regime and has rebounded since communism’s collapse. I doubt that Putin believes in much of anything other than power, and he knows that aligning himself with the Church is a no-brainer. Thus a crackdown on homosexuality makes political sense. That is also why Pussy Riot was so harshly prosecuted.
sharon writes:
“According to Roger Ross Williams, Jon Stewart’s guest on Monday night and the director of the documentary God Loves Uganda, this movement is being fueled and financed by American evangelical/fundamentalists who recognize that they have lost the culture wars in the United States and so are taking it to Africa, where pesky things like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights won’t get in their way. I guess they’re hoping that they can convince Jesus to stage his Second Coming in Africa instead of Israel”
Sharon, you took the exact words from my mouth. There is one more horrible fact which is how the Christian missionaries like Rick Ross and others who have refused to empower women/ teen girls by not distributing the contraceptives. What kind of god they worship, one should ask. Melinda Gates through her charity is trying her best to change this.
As far as gays in Africa are concerned, it is god rush rather than gold rush and as you aptly said, all is being funded by the Taliban Christians from the US, many of them get funding from the federal govt in the guise of NGO’s.
Anyone who wants to see the interview of Roger Ross Williams on Jon Stewart’s, here it is. It starts at 13.55:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/mon-january-13-2014-roger-ross-williams
Here is one more juicy bit from Joel Osteen, the Christian preacher who preaches how to be wealthy in the name of Jesus:
Joel Osteen Tells Larry King ‘Scripture Says Homosexuality Is A Sin.. But I Don’t Want To Preach About It’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/joel-osteen-larry-king-homosexuality_n_4591090.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
The sooner these people haters in the name of their gods come to grips with the stark naked reality that all humans are equal and their needs should be the first things fulfilled rather than Bible/Quran thumping, the more harmonious the world will become.
Then they say I am dreamer….