The controversy that surrounded the surreptitious signing of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan a few months ago in Samoa Island by the Nigerian government has hardly died down when another one not unconnected with the contentious group that caused the first controversy, is rearing its head in the country again.
By Abdu Labaran
This time it is the topic for the 2024 National Schools Competition, which is ‘SAME SEX MARRIAGE SHOULD BE LEGALISED IN NIGERIA’, and which is fiercely opposed by many organisations and individuals.
There is an ongoing campaign against the 2024 National Schools Competition on social media called, ‘BOYCOTT THE 2024 NATIONAL SCHOOLS COMPETITION!’ The campaign is aimed at having the whole program cancelled, because of the topic, which is seen as a surreptitious way of sneaking in the infamous group, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) Individuals, into the country.
Even without the previous controversy around LGBTQ+, the topic of the 2024 National debate should have no connection with the suggested topic, but to allow it to pass and an official of the government to tell us that the ‘government is not aware’, amounts to the admission that those entrusted with the education of our children are incompetent people who do not deserve to hold the office.
If the competition is allowed to hold with the topic unchanged, the avoidable conclusion to be reached by most citizens is that the Government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is encouraging or trying to force the Western World culture, warts and all, on all Nigerians. But it is not the case whatsoever.
The President, his Vice, Senator Kashim Shettima, the First Lady, Senator Remi Tinubu, the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Honourable Tajudeen Abbas, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Gorge Akume, the Chief Justice, Justice Olukayode Oriwoola and majority of the ranking members of the administration are devout believers in God, and therefore not the supporters of the bad aspects of the culture of the Western World.
The problem is that many top people in positions of power in the federal government are not doing enough to disabuse the minds of the citizens that the present administration is not
supporting the West’s GODLESSNESS, which is more or less akin to worshipping the devil.
The first step, in the view of this writer, is to stop the National School Competition from holding if the contentious topic remains. This is the job of the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, himself a pious believer of one God.
It is not enough, and unacceptable to say that ‘the government was not involved in the programme’, as one federal official has claimed. The official does not deserve to remain in that office, maybe another one, because it shows the federal government in a bad light, which is fumbling its way, without knowing or caring about what is happening or what it is doing in the country.
The country has witnessed a rising number of groups in Nigeria who are advocating the ungodly ‘ideals’ of LGBTQ. Such groups include, but are not limited to, Women’s Health and Equal Rights Initiative (WHER), Women Health Empowerment, Emancipation Initiative (WHEEI) in Zamfara state and Intersex Nigeria, Youth Health and Right Initiative, Advocacy and Empowerment (YOHRIAE) and Initiative for Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Awareness (ISRHRA).
Others are The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERS), International Centre for Advocacy on Rights to Health (ICARH) and Advocacy for Justice and Equality, Nigeria, Women Initiative for Sustainable Environment (WISE), Bisi Alimi Foundation and ArewaMeToo.
Even though democracy has given the minority the right to say, the same democracy gives the majority the right to always have its way. In Nigeria, where the majority (95%) of its over 220 million people are believers in the existence of God, the issue of LBGTQ+ need not arise in the country in the first place.
Therefore, we on these shores cannot allow a very insignificant number of minorities to decide the direction for the country, essentially a satanic direction whose practitioners appear not to believe in the existence of, or obey, God, not to talk about obeying His commandments.
For those who do not know what LGBTQ+ stands for, it is simply the way of the devil. The full meaning is Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) individuals, which is tantamount to the worship of the devil.
The Western World is very good at doing the bidding of the devil while rejecting the injunctions of God, the Almighty. In addition to LGBTQ+, the West also supports the so-called ‘sex education’ for minors but opposes the marriage of teen girls, even if it is with their consent. The ‘sex education’ is said to include ‘safe sex’, abortion and other abominable acts not condoned by God-fearing societies. Nigeria is one of them, with the fear of God utmost in the minds of most of the citizens.
It is the understanding of most people that the supporters of LGBTQ+ are in two categories. They are either themselves members of the group who are still ‘in the closet’, or those who will worship the devil if doing so would get them money and or remain relevant in the society. There is a preponderance of very rich people on these shores whose sources of income are not known or well understood. There is also a penchant for the accumulation of money and its unnecessary celebration, regardless of how it was made.
It may be that the whole thing was contrived to embarrass, get even with or get some top officials of the Education ministry sacked by the President.
Thank God, the ministry has risen to the occasion to stop the unholy activity. The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, mni, NIPOM, FWACP, has written to the Director General of the Department of the State Services (DSS) requesting for the investigation of the origination of the letter for the same-sex marriage debate. The letter is also trending on social media like the proverbial ‘hot cake’.
Now is the time for the minister to act, since the topic of the National Schools Debate is beyond the realm of speculation. It is for real. The LBGTQ+ is trying to steal what the Nigerian government has rightly denied. It is trying to come into the country by subterfuge.
May they not succeed in this futile attempt, and may God protect all those who believe in Him from the LBGTQ+ and their devilish activities.
Labaran wrote from Abuja.
