GAY RIGHTS ARE NOT "A GUINEA PIG OF POLICIES THAT CANNOT BE IMPLEMENTED, NIGERIA!

Icheoku condemns the vote by Nigeria against the granting of human rights to gays, lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals as a religious driven bigotry that has no place in today's world. What the United Nations resolution seeks to do and will do is to protect the rights of individuals who were born that way and does not require countries to do much other than to treat these folks as persons and not some abstraction. So when a Nigerian foreign policy statement derides an effort to respect the rights of God's fellow creatures as "guinea pig of policies that cannot be implemented", Icheoku says it is indeed troubling. 

Nigeria, which could not even secure its police headquarters from miscreant Boko Haram terrorists and should use all the help it can get whether from gay or straight investors, is now busy urging discrimination against a people or group of people who are simply different in their sexual preferences. It is not a good foreign policy decision as the world have since moved on from being religion-controlled state-hoods to a much modern societies where every God's children, irrespective of religion, creed, sexual orientation etc are accepted as one enterprising one-world family and Nigeria should not be seen not to embrace such modernity of freedom for all God's children. What a pity this anti-rights vote by Nigeria is and another retroactive black-eye on Nigeria's not so stellar image; now to be known as a nation which discriminates against certain people who are different. Icheoku asks Nigeria, were the rights about racial equality would their votes have been any different and if yes or no; how about the present anti-discrimination resolution based on sexual preferences which passed without their input? 

Regrettably, these Nigerian foreign policy wonks forgot that so many LGBTs are multi-millionaire investors and directors in fortune 500 companies world-wide and will not be easily disposed to put their money in such clime that discriminates against people who are different. Icheoku asks Nigeria, how about now being known as an anti-gay country for attracting that mouth-watering foreign investments? A smart foreign policy position would have rather been to absent or abstain from voting, rather than acquiring the latest additional negative badge of a bigoted country that is not gay-friendly.