Video: Gay rights activist Bisi Alimi speaks to CNN’s Amanpour
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour speaks with Nigerian gay rights activist Bisi Alimi about the recently passed Nigerian anti-gay law. Watch the video…
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The recent law against homosexuals signed by President Goodluck Jonathan has continued to generate criticisms all around the world.
Gay rights activists, human rights activists and even entire nations have voiced out their concern at the harsh law. Canada, on the other hand, may have decided to do more than just talking.
The nation was expected to receive Nigeria’s president on a state visit slated for February but is said to have cancelled the visit in a bid to show its displeasure at the new law
A state visit being planned by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to Canada for February has been canceled by the Canadian Government.
The cancellation happened in the same week it was revealed the President secretly signed a controversial law banning gays, lesbians, and sexual minorities in Nigeria.
Sources in Abuja say the Nigerian Ambassador to Canada, Ojo Madueke, was told to inform President Jonathan that the state visit to Canada scheduled for February 13 and 14th 2014 has now been canceled.
Commentaries:
I abhor every form of discrimination, including those based on sexual orientation.
From the moment the Nigerian National Assembly passed the anti-gay bill in 2011 to the very moment President Goodluck Jonathan signed it into law this month, I vigorously campaigned against criminalizing sex between two consenting adults, no matter who’s involved in the act.
There are more things the government can do to be seen to be working than snooping around on Nigerians, checking out whom they are sleeping with in their bedrooms.
I understand, though, why Jonathan had to sign the bill into law: 99.9% of Nigerians wanted him to.
Democracy is a game of numbers. In it, the majority carry the day. But it’s hypocritical for those who taught us democracy to be bitter about the decision of Nigerians to the point where they want Jonathan to rescind the law to please the minority of Nigerians.
Between Feb. 13 and 14, President Jonathan was supposed to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other Canadian officials in Ottawa. No sooner had Jonathan signed the homophobic law than the Prime Minister’s Office cancelled the trip.
Russia did the very same thing Nigeria has done. Yet Canada is still sending officials and athletes to the forthcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Why is Canada not boycotting the games? And the Canadian Prime Minister even arrived today in Israel, a country where African migrants are being forcibly confined in concentration camps before being deported. What can be more discriminatory than what Israel is doing to Africans? And why are Canadian officials not speaking out against that?
Isn’t this the same thing the West did to Palestinians when they voted for Hamas overwhelmingly in 2006?
So, what manner of democracy is the West teaching the rest of the world?
Photo: President Jonathan arriving for the 2010 G8 and G20 Summits in Canada...
By ..Kanayo Nwachukwu
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour speaks with Nigerian gay rights activist Bisi Alimi about the recently passed Nigerian anti-gay law. Watch the video…
- See more
The recent law against homosexuals signed by President Goodluck Jonathan has continued to generate criticisms all around the world.
Gay rights activists, human rights activists and even entire nations have voiced out their concern at the harsh law. Canada, on the other hand, may have decided to do more than just talking.
The nation was expected to receive Nigeria’s president on a state visit slated for February but is said to have cancelled the visit in a bid to show its displeasure at the new law
A state visit being planned by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to Canada for February has been canceled by the Canadian Government.
The cancellation happened in the same week it was revealed the President secretly signed a controversial law banning gays, lesbians, and sexual minorities in Nigeria.
Sources in Abuja say the Nigerian Ambassador to Canada, Ojo Madueke, was told to inform President Jonathan that the state visit to Canada scheduled for February 13 and 14th 2014 has now been canceled.
I abhor every form of discrimination, including those based on sexual orientation.
From the moment the Nigerian National Assembly passed the anti-gay bill in 2011 to the very moment President Goodluck Jonathan signed it into law this month, I vigorously campaigned against criminalizing sex between two consenting adults, no matter who’s involved in the act.
There are more things the government can do to be seen to be working than snooping around on Nigerians, checking out whom they are sleeping with in their bedrooms.
I understand, though, why Jonathan had to sign the bill into law: 99.9% of Nigerians wanted him to.
Democracy is a game of numbers. In it, the majority carry the day. But it’s hypocritical for those who taught us democracy to be bitter about the decision of Nigerians to the point where they want Jonathan to rescind the law to please the minority of Nigerians.
Between Feb. 13 and 14, President Jonathan was supposed to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other Canadian officials in Ottawa. No sooner had Jonathan signed the homophobic law than the Prime Minister’s Office cancelled the trip.
Russia did the very same thing Nigeria has done. Yet Canada is still sending officials and athletes to the forthcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Why is Canada not boycotting the games? And the Canadian Prime Minister even arrived today in Israel, a country where African migrants are being forcibly confined in concentration camps before being deported. What can be more discriminatory than what Israel is doing to Africans? And why are Canadian officials not speaking out against that?
Isn’t this the same thing the West did to Palestinians when they voted for Hamas overwhelmingly in 2006?
So, what manner of democracy is the West teaching the rest of the world?
Photo: President Jonathan arriving for the 2010 G8 and G20 Summits in Canada...
By ..Kanayo Nwachukwu
1 comment:
I abhor every form of discrimination...I vigorously campaigned against criminalizing sex between two consenting adults...I understand, though, why Jonathan had to sign the bill into law: 99.9% of Nigerians wanted him to...Democracy is a game of numbers. In it, the majority carry the day...it’s hypocritical for those who taught us democracy to be bitter about the decision...Between Feb. 13 and 14, President Jonathan was supposed to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other Canadian officials in Ottawa. No sooner had Jonathan signed the homophobic law than the Prime Minister’s Office cancelled the trip...Yet Canada is still sending officials and athletes to the forthcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Why is Canada not boycotting the games?...Read more..
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