■  Bisi Alimi:  “The Bill is very political – it is expected to pass.”

COMMENTARY

LONDON, March 8, 2007 (updated and revised March 9)  –  The draconian Bill that effectively outlaws representations and advocacy of homosexuality in Nigeria could be on the statute book this month, a gay Nigerian activist said in London yesterday.

Bisi Alimi, the executive director of The Independent Project who is in London attending an HIV/Aids conference, said: “The Bill is very political – it is expected to pass.”

Mr. Alimi is one of the relatively few openly gay men in the country and was “outed” three years ago in a university newspaper.

The Nigerian Parliament will go into recess later this month as the country prepares for a general election in mid-April.

To stop the Bill, Nigerian and international gay groups are urging people around the world to get their governments to lobby the Nigerian government to withdraw the legislation.

This is an urgent priority, said Mr. Alimi.

As well as Mr. Alimi’s group, The Independent Project, other gay Nigerian organisations campaigning against the Bill include Alliance Rights Nigeria, Changing Attitude Nigeria, and the gay church, House of Rainbow.

It was just a year ago that the proposals for the Bill came to light following a press release from Human Rights Watch in New York.

Almost immediately, parliamentarians in the European Parliament condemned the Bill, calling for its withdrawal.  A number of individual countries also joined the protest.

Since March 2006, a host of articles have been posted on the internet by both the gay and mainstream press.

But it was not until a press release was issued in London by Outrage! that there were any rumblings of discontent and suggestions that the release was a ‘wake-up call’ for the Nigerian government. 

The press release in question was distributed only days after the Wall Street Journal in America had highlighted the Nigerian Bill, and three weeks after the Associated Press news agency had distributed a article, published in a number of highly-regarded newspapers such as the International Herald Tribune and even on some African gay websites, explaining the Bill and it’s ramifications through the eyes of Mr. Alimi and two of his activist colleagues.

About the same time, the Washington Post published a similar article by Katharine Houreld and headlined “Anti-Gay Legislation Considered In Nigeria”.

Despite these articles, there was no request from activists in Nigeria to “play down” the Bill and let them handle a low-key campaign from within the country.

It was the Outrage! press release that caused a furore, with a number of gay and lesbian ‘list-servs’ carrying items of condemnation – and defence – of the London group.

Outrage! immediately ceased their ‘Nigeria campaign’ with an apology and a note that no one had informed the group that the campaign should be stopped.

The big question is whether or not the Outrage! press release did any ‘damage’, as has been claimed, with some even suggesting that the Bill was ‘dormant’ until the press release was issued.

Mr. Alimi said that he felt the January press release issued by Outrage! had not, in itself, done any harm to the campaign against the Bill.

It was the aftermath, when the London-based gay human right group was accused of acting alone without the knowledge of Nigerian and American gay groups when the press release was issued, that was widely reported – especially an emailed statement from almost two dozen human rights groups on the African continent who were meeting in Nairobi, Kenya..

The email said: “Over the past ten months, Human Rights Defenders from the region and elsewhere have exercised a lot of formal and informal pressure on Nigerian law-makers to make sure the bill did not get passed into law.  Until Outrage!'s action was issued, the bill was dead.  By calling on people to begin a campaign at this stage, interest could be awakened in the bill.  Outrage! is acting irresponsibly and in direct contradiction to the advice of leaders of the Nigerian LGBTI movement.”

Mr. Alimi told UK Gay News that he feared the claim that the Bill was dead may have inflamed the situation.

“The Outrage! article did not do any major harm,” he thought; although he takes the view that there could have been closer liaison between campaigners around the world – everyone needs to talk together more often, he suggested.

“I don’t speak for anyone but myself,” he said.  “I do things my way.”

Some people in the international community are acting like superstars, Mr. Alimi suggested.  He expressed concern about the global controversy over the Bill.

We should all be working together, he reiterated.

Another Nigerian activist who was not a signatory to the ‘Nairobi Statement’ did admit by email that there could have been better communication between London and Nigeria before the Outrage! press release was issued.

Writing under conditions of anonymity, he said: “People have been saying so many things about this Bill and the strategy used so far, but my thinking is that, look, this is a very sensitive bill sent to the Parliament by the government in power.

“So the lawmakers couldn’t have just ignored it, appeal or no appeal, with or without Tatchell’s press release.

“Because it is a sensitive bill as I said, there is the tendency for people to pass the buck either by laying the blame on one party or the other or taking the praise depending on the outcome of the process.

“Peter Tatchell acted in good faith and didn’t intend any harm It made me sad to know he was portrayed [in such a] way, even though there could have been gaps here and there in terms of communication.  Nothing tells me that this bill couldn’t have come up even without Peter Tatchell’s release.”

■  Kizza Musinguzi, African affairs spokesperson for OutRage! and a Ugandan gay rights activist, said of the allegations that have been made about Mr. Tatchell and Outrage! in the past six weeks: “These are untrue, sectarian allegations.

“They are made mostly by people who have never had any contact with Peter Tatchell or OutRage!  Since we have not run any campaigns about their countries, how can they accuse us of treating them badly?  They have been fed lies about us by people who are jealous of OutRage!’s effective campaigns.

“OutRage! acted in good faith, with the sole intention of supporting our brothers and sisters in Africa.  Most African groups recognise this.  Only a small minority signed the letter.

“We continue to work with all the Nigerian gay groups and with two of the Ugandan gay groups on asylum and other human rights issues,” said Mr Musinguzi.

Peter Tatchell said that he had “worked in solidarity” with African gay groups for 20 years.

“Until now, none have complained or criticised me.  All have appreciated the support I have given their campaigns,” he said.

“These wicked smears have been orchestrated by political opponents who are trying to discredit me and OutRage!,” he suggested.

“A week before these activists denounced us, we halted our Nigerian campaign.  We have not campaigned on Uganda for five months.

“This is a vendetta.  It has nothing to do with advancing gay rights.  Certain groups seem more interested in fighting other activists than in fighting homophobia.  Their petty jealousies and political sectarianism is undermining the campaign for gay equality in Africa,” he concluded.

■ UK Gay News carried the January press release from Outrage!, virtually in full.  It was posted on January 19, some 18 hours after its arrival.  Not one ‘complaint’ about its publication on this site has been received, having had over 2,000 page reads.  Neither has any complaint, or request not to report on the Bill, been received after highlighting the Bill in 47 articles, either posted on this site or links to other publications. – Editor.

SEE ALSO

Denying Rights in Nigeria.  Editorial.  A poisonous piece of legislation is quickly making its way through the Nigerian National Assembly. Billed as an anti-gay-marriage act, it is a far-reaching assault on basic rights of association, assembly and expression.   (New York Times, March 8, 2007)

Nigerian National Assembly Advances Draconian Anti-Gay Bill.  By Rex Wockner. The Women Affairs and Youth Committee of Nigeria's House of Representatives held a hearing on February. 14 on an extreme antigay bill that some activists had believed was not going to see any action.  (UK Gay News, February 28)