Gay politics in Nigeria and international responses

Abstract

On 20th January 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan signed into law the same sex prohibition Act. 2014. The implication of the law was the automatic criminalization of same sex intercourse whether consensual or forceful, within the Nigerian enclave. The law aptly prescribes fourteen years imprisonment for those found guilty of the act. Consequent upon this, an action which was intended to be a domestic affair was turned into an international issue of discourse as western nations and gay activists in different parts of the world began to mount pressures on the Nigerian Government to revoke and reverse the sex prohibition Act. This study investigates the domestic and international reaction to the law as well as the implications it had on Nigerian nation building process. It found that while the law was largely promoted and accepted by the Nigerian citizenry, the United States; the principle champion of the gay right and its ultimate enunciators under Barrack Obama threatened to place economic sanctions on the Nigerian government. It is instructive to note that this display of events was instrumental in the strain in the U.S-Nigeria diplomatic relations. The study recommends the expansion of national interest in the domestic and foreign policy posture of the Nigerian State