Washington is offering to wean itself and some other countries from Nigerian oil by arranging supplies from Saudi Arabia and Iran if Nigeria refuses to repeal the anti-gay law.
The Obama administration is threatening to impose sanctions on Nigeria over its recent passing of an anti-gay law amid disagreements between Washington and Abuja over the measure, which prohibits same-sex marriages and vastly restricts the rights of gay and lesbian citizens to hold public meetings. The law which was signed earlier this month by President Goodluck Jonathan drew an angry response from US Secretary of State, John Kerry. “It is inconsistent with Nigeria’s international legal obligations and undermines the democratic reforms and human rights protections enshrined in its 1999 constitution,” Kerry said.
Nigeria has “failed” to live up to its obligations under “international human rights standards and norms, including those affirmed in a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011 which clearly states LGBTI rights are human rights and must be observed as such” and if it doesn’t repeal the law, President Barack Obama may be “forced” to impose sanction, State Department officials, who elected anonymity, told Huhuonline.com. A decision in this regard could come as early as March, they added, implicitly offering Nigeria a ten- week window to show a determination to repeal the law. US Administration officials are said to have informally informed the Nigerian embassy in Washington DC that sanctions are on the way.
“Nigeria has enough time to take significant steps to show compliance with the US request to repeal the obnoxious law which has engendered a violent crackdown in Nigeria, where the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community has already been forced underground,” the State Department source noted. Huhuonline.com learnt that the US was very pissed off and felt betrayed that despite repeated personal assurances given by President Jonathan that “he will veto the bill”, Jonathan went ahead and signed the measure into law.
After the bill passed by the Nigerian House of Representatives on May 30, and cleared the Senate, the highly organized LGBT lobby in the US rallied to pull out all the stops for the Obama administration to bring pressure to bear on President Jonathan to veto the bill that banned same-sex marriage and prohibited organizations from advocating for same-sex rights. As part of the quid pro quo horse-trading deal reached with the US, Jonathan agreed to veto the bill in exchange for US support for Nigeria’s quest for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
International human rights organizations like Freedom House and Amnesty International had opposed Nigeria’s membership, citing the country’s abysmal human rights record. Nigeria is rated Partly Free in Freedom in the World, Freedom of the Press, and Freedom of the Net. “The election of Chad and Nigeria to the Security Council will allow these countries to have influence over human rights issues that come before the Council. Freedom House calls on UN member states to take into consideration a country’s domestic human rights situation when voting on Security Council membership” the organization said in a statement. But the US backed Nigeria’s candidacy, and Nigeria was elected to a two-year mandate which officially began on January 1, 2014. On January 13, 2014, Jonathan signed the anti-gay bill into law, to the utter dismay and anger of American officials; who felt shortchanged by Jonathan.
The anti-same sex marriage bill includes punishments of up to 14 years imprisonment for violators and up to 10 years imprisonment for anyone who witnesses or supports a same-sex wedding. The avalanche of international condemnation was swift. “By encouraging discrimination against LGBTI persons, Nigeria’s government has sunk to a new international low in the blatant rejection of universal human rights principles,” said Chloe Schwenke, vice president of global programs at Freedom House. “Nigeria is undermining its democratic progress, deeply undercutting its human rights commitments, and jeopardizing its status as a respected regional power.”
“Any person, who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organizations or directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationship in Nigeria commits an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a term of 10 years in prison. Beyond even prohibiting same sex marriage, this law dangerously restricts freedom of assembly, association, and expression for all Nigerians,” Kerry said in a statement.
US administration officials told Huhuonline.com that the impetus behind President Jonathan’s move is to whip up nationalist sentiments amongst Nigerians to help mobilize public support for his embattled 2015 ambitions after a series of political setbacks, including the break-up of the PDP into factions. “The country is more splintered than ever and Jonathan’s grip on power is weakening. General elections are next year, and the President seems to have lost his way. Barring any massive rigging, with all the attendant risks, he [Jonathan] cannot win any free and fair election in Nigeria,” noted the source.
Asked why the Obama administration has chosen to sanction only Nigeria whereas there are other countries with the same anti-gay laws, the source replied that: President Obama and his administration have condemned anti-gay laws as they crop up around the world, including the “gay propaganda” law in Russia and a bill passed by the Uganda parliament that makes homosexuality a crime punishable by life in prison. The Nigerian law is indicative of growing pan-African push-back against the efforts of African activists to assert the human dignity of LGBTI persons…The Nigerian government, like all governments everywhere, must actively protect the human rights of its LGBTI citizens and residents, and support those members of the LGBTI community who face harassment and intimidation as a result of their sexual orientation or gender identity. But since international condemnation has done little to slow the advance of anti-gay laws in Africa, the US decided to take a stand on Nigeria.”
The anticipated sanctions will target oil exports from Nigeria, which is the fifth supplier of oil to the US. In effect, following the lifting of partial sanctions on Iran, Washington has offered to wean itself and some other countries from Nigerian oil by arranging supplies from Saudi Arabia and Iran. That process may take some time to kick in since annual crude contracts with Iran are April to March, so the reduction will start to show from next April. Nigerian embassy officials in Washington DC were not available for comments.
