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Author: Saminu Musa
Posted to the web: 4/20/2007 2:49:09 PM

Same sex in nigeria has come a long way .It has being in inception in africa since the 18th century.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights similarly affirms the equality of all people. Its article 2 states: “Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group, color, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status.” Article 3 guarantees every individual equality before the law. And its article 26 prescribes that: “Every individual shall have the duty to respect and consider his fellow beings without discrimination, and to maintain relations aimed at promoting, safeguarding and reinforcing mutual respect and tolerance.” 
With this in mind several same sex advocates have stuck to this , trying to push the government into respecting that bill.
Organisations in Nigeria  have nothing to do but to challenge the bills to be imposed by the federal Government. The Independent project and other gay independent organisations campaigning against the Bill includes the Alliance Rights Nigeria, the changing attitude nigeria,the gay church and the  House of rainbow just to name a few....
In spite of the previous protests and the international pressure exerted onto the Nigerian government since the infamous Anti-gay bill, every effort now seems to have come to a standstill pending the federal elections on 21 April this year.

President Olusegun Obasanjo introduced the bill that would ban homosexuality which was intended to be concluded before the elections take place. But it appears that the deadline has been missed, and all focus now is on the elections.

Government including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activists in that country are now a bit reticent about the Same-sex Marriage Prohibition Bill, and they suspect it will only start all over again after the elections with new parliament representatives expected to occupy office on 29 May.

According to claims, the new government may reintroduce the Bill, however, which is likely to baffle the lives of gays in Nigeria.

On the contrary, gay organisations in Nigeria, including a gay Christian movement – Changing Attitudes Nigeria, were not happy about the way in which the bill was being handled. But most believe that the Bill might have been thrown out of debates and even parliament. This has driven away many from the country due to several prosecutions they face with the authorities in nigeria on this issue . The activities of these associations have come to a standstill with the likes of ibrahim Iliyasu , mohammed ahmed, Salisu isah, mamuda Ahmed, gaiya Sulieman , Garba Habila , mammam maazu now at large due to stagmization and several prosecutions ..

“Because of the continuing uncertainty, Changing Attitudes Nigeria will not celebrate the defeat of the Bill publicly until after May 29”, conceded Davis Mac-Iyalla of Changing Attitudes Nigeria.

Before the silence on the Bill, the House of Representatives had earlier expressed condemnation on the Bill despite that it was largely supported by conservative groups such as the Church of Nigeria, and Christians and Muslims.

Two months ago, Ibrahim Mantu of the Senate House told a Lagos publication, Vanguard, that the leader of the house also did not support the Bill.

Should the elections take place as scheduled, the present House of Representatives will be dissolved, and hand over to the new government will take place in May.

“We are quietly confident and feeling more happy, but there is still the potential for lobbying in favour of the Bill by the Church of Nigeria and for the government to spring a surprise,” concluded Mac-Iyalla. A week before these activists denounced us, we halted our Nigerian campaign. We have not campaigned on Uganda for five months. ¡°This is a vendetta. It has nothing to do with advancing gay rights. Certain groups seem more interested in fighting other activists than in fighting homophobia. Their petty jealousies and political sectarianism is undermining the campaign for gay equality in Africa,¡± he concluded. If the national assembly can strip one group of its freedoms, then the liberties of all Nigerians are at risk,” said Long. “The secrecy and speed with which this law is being forced forward suggests lawmakers want to hide its threats to Nigeria’s democratic progress.”   The proposed law violates Nigeria’s commitments under international human rights law. These commitments include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Nigeria acceded without reservations in 1993, and which protects the rights to freedom of expression (article 19), freedom of assembly (article 21) and freedom of association (article 22). The ICCPR affirms the equality of all people before the law and the right to freedom from discrimination in articles 2 and 26. In the landmark 1994 case, Toonen v. Australia, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which monitors states’ compliance with the ICCPR, held that sexual orientation should be understood to be a status protected from discrimination under these articles.   Saminu musa is a member of changing attitudes , kaduna ,  Nigeria .