•Says Nigerian gays free to migrate
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in Dublin, Ireland, likened gay marriage to pedophilia, a psychiatric disorder, in which an adult has sexual interest in children and hence a taboo.
Governor Uduaghan in Ireland to receive the International Leadership Award stoutly defended the law forbidding gay marriage in Nigeria signed into law by President Jonathan.
Dr. Uduaghan during the award ceremony given by Metro Eireann, Ireland’s major multicultural newspaper, told the international community, which had Ireland’s minister of trade and foreign investment, Mr. Joe Costello present, insisted that gay marriage offends the cultural norms of Nigerians and that it can be likened pedophilia.
Governor Uduaghan reacting to comments during the ceremony maintained that the law was popular and that Nigerians accept it. “I am sure no one here in this country would accept a condition in which an adult can sleep with a 10 year old girl. If that situation is not acceptable, we in Nigeria view gay marriage as such,” he said.
Uduaghan who received thunderous applause for his strong position on this issue by a large Nigerian audience, explained that marriage in Nigeria is viewed as union between families. “In Nigeria marriage between two people is usually between a man and a woman and not just between them but between their families too,” he said.
“Whenever a couple come together, they are not coming together by themselves, it almost involves their different families and if it is known that in that family there are married gays, the danger is that the taboo emanating from that might even affect others who are straight and that is not right,” Governor Uduaghan emphasized.
Giving a personal example, he said: “In marrying my wife, it was the coming together of her family and my family and the blessings of the two families that made it happen.“
Accusing the international community of double standard, Governor Uduaghan said that he was surprised by their reaction, saying: “there was a public hearing by the National Assembly and we are not aware of their opposition to this bill. What happened was that a lot of Nigerians appeared and made submission in favour of it. So it is a surprise that after the bill has been passed, we are now facing this opposition by the international community.”
Concluding his remark, Governor insisted that anyone who wishes to be married to a gay is free to migrate to the country, where it is acceptable.
