A cross section of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), religious groups and other stakeholders have expressed frustrations over what they say are provisions that support the Lesbians, Gays, Bi-sexual, Transexual and Queer (LGBTQ) community in a loan agreement signed by the federal government.
A Lagos State based lawyer and Chairman, Human and Constitutional Rights Committee, African Bar Association (AfBA), Sonnie Ekwowusi, raised an alarm on the development on Wednesday, in an article.
He described the development as nauseating, occurring despite several meetings held with Nigerian officials, and memoranda sent to them.
“The Samoa Agreement, named after the Pacific Island, Samoa, where it was signed on November 15, 2023, is a celebration of perversity. Certain Articles of the Agreement especially Articles 2.5 and 29.5 legalize LGBT, transgenderism, abortion, teen sexual abuse, and perversity in African countries. The signing of the Agreement by Nigeria constitutes a threat to the sovereignty of Nigeria and Africa. It further debases our democracy.
“I can wager that neither Minister Atiku Bagudu nor the Nigerian officials or diplomats who signed the Samoa Agreement on our behalf, understand the import of the agreement to Nigeria’s sovereignty, let alone the destructive impact of the Agreement in Nigeria. This explains why many African bodies including the AfBA have condemned the agreement and respectfully urged African countries not to sign it.
“Not infrequently, Nigerian officials in Geneva, New York, and other places sign international agreements or treaties over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine with little or no knowledge of their contents,
“Were the Nigerian officials who signed the offensive Samoa Agreement representing their own interests or the interests of the Nigerian people? Having refused to sign the Agreement earlier, why did Nigeria change its mind and proceed to sign the Agreement?”
Also reacting, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), said that the council’s stance on same sex marriage or LGBT remained unchanged.
The Administrative Secretary of the council Abubakar Akande said “We (NSCIA) would not welcome such agreement. Our stance remains the same since the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. We cannot agree to what is against the injunction of our Creator, Allah, on this matter, and which also disrespects Nigeria’s sovereignty.”
Barrister Richard Kakeeto, a Kenyan lawyer with Family Watch International, Africa Region, said “Many African countries, people of goodwill, were hoping that Nigeria will remain in that situation of not signing and probably even withdrawing from the Samoa Agreement totally.
“However, we have received information that on the 28th day of June 2024, the Ambassador of Nigeria in Brussels was given a go-ahead but we don’t know who signed the Samoa Agreement.
“As a result, Nigeria has committed itself to the human rights agenda of the European Union that involves the mainstreaming of sexual and reproductive health and rights, a term or a euphemism that is used to talk about abortion on demand, the sexualization of our children through comprehensive sexuality education, and the proliferation of reproductive sexual and reproductive health services, including hormones to sustain the homosexual lifestyle and transgender practices.
“The word LGBTQ++ that Nigerians have been contesting is now part of our law because Nigeria has decided to sign it. So, Nigerians should be very bitter with what is going on. They should challenge their legislators and policy makers to explain why they chose to commit to this dangerous agreement.”
Government officials, however, deny signing such deal. The media assistant, to the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Bolaji Adebiyi, said the documents signed by the federal government, were strictly for economic development of Nigeria.
He said nowhere in the documents were LGBT or same sex marriage mentioned even remotely, and emphatically stating that it would be wrong for anyone to imply that Nigeria had accepted those tendencies.
He insisted that what Bagudu signed was in relation to $150 billion trade component.
