CANDID RANTS ON HOMOSEXUALITY AND GAY TREATMENT IN NIGERIA

Ade and Mike have been great buddies since their high school days. Both are in their late 20's, living together in the US and are known homosexuals. Ade's family reunion that is scheduled to hold in Nigeria happens to be a problem for the two of them because they stand the risk of serving jail term or even getting lynched by a mob for their sexual preference.

The Nigerian government signed the anti-gay rights bill into law and this law could be summarised as follows: That anyone found/caught carrying out homosexual acts would be liable to 14 years in prison and also that any person that supports or is a member of gay organisations, associations or club is liable to 10 years in prison. The law became effective this year and since then there have raids in which gay people are apprehended mostly in the Northern part of the country. There have also been cases of suspected gay people being lynched. I saw a clip sometime last year in which three University students suspected to be lesbians were stripped and forced to perform sexual acts on themselves in public. The International community have frowned at this step taken by the Nigerian government while there are even rumours of some countries threatening to stop giving aids to Nigeria. Many Nigerians are of the opinion that homosexuality is unafrican or to be specific 'unnigerian' and some religions frown at it and that is why gay people in this part of the world seems to be ill-treated. 

A couple of weeks back, former boxing champion Evander Holyfield stated that being gay is not normal and can be fixed and a greater number of the American population started sounding their trumpet of criticism. As criticisms keep pouring in and as more world citizens continue to add their voice to the subject, I think this is like a clarion call to behavioural scientists to conduct experiments on the possibility of psychotherapy as a means of checking homosexuality. Some Nigerians believe that homosexuality is more spiritual than physical, although I am not disputing their view, I believe homosexuality is more behavioural than spiritual. They shouldn't be locked up like the Nigerian government is doing at the moment or lynched as have been witnessed in some areas but rather they should be HELPED. 

Homosexuality is not a medical condition or like some would say 'I was born this way'. No, not that at all. I believe it is more of a mindset thing, more like an experiment carried out by a young child or an adolescent which later turns into a habit and then is forming or has formed the person's character. Someone argued that just like alcohol and drug addicts undergo rehabilitation and become free, gay people should be rehabilitated too.(The prison could be said to be a form of rehabilitation but I don't think the same could be said of Nigerian prisons) As dumb or silly as that argument is to some, I believe there is an iota of truth in it and that just like Holyfield opined, it can be fixed. I am of the opinion that if those 'gay moments' are noticed in a child early, some form of psychotherapy put in place, it could be checked and then maybe the child would grow up to be 'normal'

Let's put a stop to gay lynching and imprisonment and look at the possibility of psychotherapy as a means of helping this set of people.

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Twitter: @victorikeji

JUDAS' KISS, JESUS' BETRAYAL & THE REST OF US

Judas' kiss on the cheek of Jesus which gave him out to the roman soldiers have several applications nowadays.

A kiss to the cheek had been known in certain cultures to signify greeting, to confer congratulations, to comfort someone or even as a sign of affection but Judas used it with an evil intent -- to betray Jesus Christ, a case of using something that is designed to be advantageous for a bad purpose. When you take a look at our world today, you find that the same thing keeps repeating itself only in different forms. The government for example is meant to better the lives of the citizens through formulation of policies geared at making things better but this same government would formulate policies that would help them fill their pockets, that of their cohorts and family members without being questioned while the initial purpose a government is meant to serve is overlooked. Public funds are taken oversees, institutions that are meant to make life better for the masses lay in shambles rather wars are being endorsed with billions of taxpayers money.

What about the Internet? This happens to be one of the most important tools of the 21st century as it made everything easier since its advent and this was the initial intent. Deals are being closed virtually, Job interviews are being conducted without the need of physical presence or over the phone, people get informed without the need for the traditional radio or television set, plus its other usage or importance. The same internet is used today for wire fraud, all sorts of scam and even 'cyber wars' as have been witnessed globally. Stories have been told on how unsuspecting people were swindled by criminals posing as men of God, businessmen, politicians and even potential husbands/wives online.

There are a greater number of charity organisations today than is obtainable about a decade ago and the number keeps increasing. From musicians and actors floating charities to businessmen and politicians starting foundations cum charities. A charity organisation as we all know is a non-profit organisation usually started to cater for people with special needs or even the less privileged but most charity organisations today do just the opposite. There have been cases of diversion of funds and other forms of fraudulent practices within charities and all these rubbishes the purpose for which they were started in the first place.

One would've been able to argue logically that the number of churches around Nigeria today would mean little or no vices or at least a morally upright society but that argument would be rebuffed as soon as it is started. It even looks like the increase in the number of churches is proportional to increase in immorality and now the question remains, 'why is this so?' Churches are meant to bring people together, preach the gospel without bias, emphasise salvation and good works etc. All these, if in place would mean that the society would be a little saner and free from vices but the reverse is the case and this is due to the fact that most churches are profit-making enterprises or companies. In a previous article - THE RELIGION INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA, I wrote: "It is no longer a question of if one has the anointing or not(as a pastor) but rather it is how to get members because, the more the 'customers', the more income is generated. I have watched closely as the theme of most sermons graduated from Salvation to Prosperity simply because a good number of church goers would come back each sunday to listen to the Our-God-is-not-a-poor-God, His-children-must-prosper sermon rather than the boring Accept-Christ-and-be-saved-or-refuse-him-and-perish sermon." All of these boils down to the fact that churches are not being used for what they were established for in the first place but for other ungodly purposes.

There are several other examples and a closer look would show that every one of us is directly involved in or is a party to this using-something-that-was-meant-to-be-good-for-something-bad syndrome.
Most of the time, the blame is being put on the society as the cause of things like this but the same society is made up of you and me and if that is the case, correcting this condition that have been eating up the society or reducing it rather should start from an individual and then to his immediate family, friends and then to neighbours, the community he lives in, state, province, country and then to the world at large. Even the biblical Judas knew this and punished himself for his wrong rather than blaming anyone or the society (Although I am not advising this).

When we begin to see ourselves as the cause of most of the problems in the society and not putting the blame on the word - society - then profer solutions to these problems, maybe just then we would put a stop to or reduce some of these vices thereby making our country and in turn the whole world better.

Twitter: @victorikeji

VICTOR IKEJI'S BLOG IS ONE!

Hurray! Today marks the 365th day since the first article was published on the blog.

The blog started when I was looking at archiving my write-ups and that was after my article COHABITATION IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES hit over 8000 views and made front page on Nairaland. I thought about archiving my write-ups for reference and other purposes and then the idea came, 'why not get a blog for that purpose and also get to share these thoughts, analysis and opinions with others there' and that was how we started Victor Ikeji's Blog. Each time I look at the Blog's dashboard and see the number of page views per day, per week, per month, I feel very happy knowing that someone somewhere assessed the blog that day, week and month.

And so, to mark this 'Blogversary' and also to reward our readers for their loyalty, support, patience and feedbacks (both positive and negative). We'd be giving out free e-books that covers the following areas: Business, Entrepreneurship, Relationships, Motivation/Inspirational, Novels and Writing. All you have to do is just use the comment box below or send an e-mail to slymwhte@yahoo.com indicating the type(s) of e-book as mentioned above that you would want to get from us. You can also follow @victorikeji on Twitter and then mention along with your e-mail address and the type(s) of e-book you want. We would send you an e-mail ASAP.

Knowledge they say is power, so keep knowing, keep learning and keep reading VICTOR IKEJI'S BLOG.

PS: You can visit (HERE) for a plethora of news stories around the world from over 50 channels including BBC, FOX, MSNBC, DAILYMAIL, CNN, ALJAZEERA, FRANCE 24, NYTIMES, REUTERS etc (The good thing about this site is that you are redirected to all these different sites from a single page)

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