Tag: lgbtq

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Heated Rivalry among LGBTQ People in West Africa

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

By Nana Davis Mac-Iyalla

Introduction

The LGBTQ struggle in West Africa is not only against oppressive laws and hostile societies but also against internal fractures that weaken our collective power. Rivalries within the movement—between organizations, leaders, and even communities—have become a pressing challenge. As someone who has lived, worked, and fought in this space, I believe it is time to confront these divisions head-on. Our liberation cannot be delayed by ego, competition, or mistrust.

The Roots of Division

– Funding Politics: International donors often unintentionally fuel rivalry by favoring certain organizations over others. This creates hierarchies where some groups thrive while grassroots activists are left scrambling for survival.  

– Leadership Ego: Too many leaders see themselves as the “face” of the movement, forgetting that no single person can embody the diversity of LGBTQ lives in West Africa.  

– Strategic Disagreements: Some advocate for bold visibility, others for cautious survival. Both strategies are valid, but when they clash without dialogue, they breed resentment.  

– Colonial Legacies: Language and cultural divides—Anglophone vs. Francophone, Christian vs. Muslim contexts—make regional solidarity harder to sustain.  

The Cost of Rivalry

Every time we fight among ourselves, governments and religious extremists gain ground. Rivalries:  

– Undermine credibility, allowing opponents to dismiss us as fragmented.  

– Drain energy that should be directed toward resisting criminalization and violence.  

– Alienate younger activists, who see infighting instead of inspiration.  

Example of Constructive Work: IDNOWA

The Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA) demonstrates how unity and collaboration can counteract rivalry.  

– IDNOWA has consistently advocated against rising anti-LGBTIQ legislation, emphasizing that human rights are universal and must protect all individuals.  

– In Ghana, IDNOWA engaged with the Centre for Religion and Public Life to explore inclusive pastoral care for marginalized people, especially LGBTQ communities. They presented documented evidence of human rights violations to parliamentarians, strengthening the case against the anti-gay bill.  

– By building bridges across faith traditions and national borders, IDNOWA shows that solidarity is possible even in hostile environments. Their work is a reminder that collaboration, not competition, is the path to progress.  

Toward a Movement of Solidarity

We must remember: our enemy is not each other. Our enemy is the system that criminalizes love, denies healthcare, and silences our voices. To move forward:  

– Build Accountability: Leaders must be held accountable to the communities they claim to represent. Transparency in funding and decision-making is non-negotiable.  

– Center the Marginalized: Trans people, lesbians, bisexuals, and grassroots activists must not be sidelined. Their voices are essential to a truly inclusive movement.  

– Regional Networks: We need stronger cross-border alliances to resist divide-and-conquer tactics. West Africa’s LGBTQ struggle is interconnected; Nigeria’s fight is Ghana’s fight, Sierra Leone’s fight, and beyond.  

– Collective Vision: Let us unite around shared goals: decriminalization, healthcare access, protection from violence, and dignity for all.  

Conclusion

The heated rivalries among LGBTQ people in West Africa are real, but they are not insurmountable. They are symptoms of growth, of a movement finding its voice under immense pressure. But if we allow them to fester, they will become obstacles to liberation. Our future depends on solidarity, humility, and courage—not just against external oppression, but against the divisions within.  

Liberation will not come from donors, governments, or charismatic leaders alone. It will come when we, as LGBTQ people in West Africa, choose unity over rivalry, and collective struggle over personal gain.

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PUBLIC STATEMENT

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

On the Scheduling of the Anti‑LGBTQ+ Bill in the Parliament of Ghana

The Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA) notes with deep concern the decision of the Parliament of Ghana to schedule the Anti‑LGBTQ+ Bill for debate and consideration. As an interfaith body committed to human dignity, justice, and peaceful coexistence, we affirm that no law should strip any human being of their safety, freedom of conscience, or right to exist without fear.

Across our region, people of diverse faiths—Christian, Muslim, traditional, and others—share a common moral principle: every human being is created with inherent worth. Criminalizing individuals on the basis of identity or perceived identity violates this shared moral foundation and threatens the social harmony that our faith traditions seek to uphold.

We respectfully urge Ghana’s lawmakers to consider the far‑reaching implications of this bill, including its impact on:

  • Human dignity and fundamental freedoms  
  • Religious liberty, especially for faith communities who reject violence and criminalization  
  • Public health and community safety  
  • Ghana’s longstanding reputation as a leader in democracy and human rights in West Africa

IDNOWA stands firmly against any form of violence, discrimination, or state‑sanctioned harm. We call for dialogue instead of punishment, understanding instead of fear, and compassion instead of criminalization.

We remain committed to working with religious leaders, civil society, and policymakers to promote peace, protect the vulnerable, and uphold the values that strengthen our communities. Our doors remain open for constructive engagement rooted in respect and shared humanity.

Human dignity is not a debate. It is a sacred obligation.

Signed,

Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA)

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Becoming Whole: Why Spiritual and Sexual Identity Development Must Be Fought for Together

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

By Nana Davis Mac‑Iyalla

Across West Africa and throughout the diaspora, I have witnessed a truth that too many institutions still refuse to name: our spiritual lives and our sexual identities do not grow on separate branches. They are intertwined roots of the same human tree. When one is starved, the whole person suffers. When one is nourished, the whole person rises.

For LGBTQ+ people—especially those raised in deeply religious environments—this truth is not theoretical. It is lived in our bodies, our prayers, our silences, and our rebellions. It is lived in the long nights when we try to negotiate with a God we were taught to fear, and in the bright mornings when we finally meet a God who loves us without condition.

The Violence of Forced Fragmentation

Too many of us were taught that to be spiritual, we must amputate our sexuality. That to be faithful, we must lie about who we love. That to be accepted, we must shrink ourselves into theological closets built by other people’s fears.

This fragmentation is not accidental. It is a tool of control.

When a society demands that LGBTQ+ people choose between their faith and their identity, it is not protecting morality. It is protecting power. It is preserving a hierarchy where some bodies are deemed holy and others are treated as theological mistakes.

But we are not mistakes. We are not contradictions. We are not spiritual exiles.

We are whole.

The Courage of Integration

The journey toward integrating spiritual and sexual identity is not easy. It requires unlearning shame that was never ours. It requires confronting religious leaders who weaponize scripture. It requires rebuilding a spiritual home from the ground up—brick by brick, truth by truth.

But integration is also liberation.

It is the moment a lesbian woman in Ghana prays in her own language and realizes God never stopped listening. It is the moment a bisexual man in Nigeria stops apologizing for existing. It is the moment a queer youth in the diaspora discovers that their ancestors walked with spirits long before colonial doctrines arrived.

Integration is not about choosing between God and self. It is about refusing to believe they were ever in conflict.

Why Activism Must Embrace Both

Activism that focuses only on sexual rights but ignores spiritual trauma is incomplete. Activism that celebrates pride but avoids the wounds inflicted by churches, mosques, and temples leaves our people half‑healed.

We must build movements that understand:

  • Sexual identity development is a journey of truth-telling.
  • Spiritual development is a journey of meaning-making.
  • Both are essential to human dignity.

When we create spaces where LGBTQ+ people can explore both without fear, we are not just supporting individuals—we are dismantling systems that depend on our silence.

A Call to Faith Leaders

To my fellow faith leaders across Africa and the diaspora: neutrality is no longer an option. Silence is not compassion. Ambiguity is not pastoral care.

If your theology cannot hold the fullness of LGBTQ+ lives, then it is your theology—not our existence—that needs transformation.

A Call to Our Communities

To my LGBTQ+ siblings: your journey is sacred. Your questions are holy. Your desire to belong—to God, to community, to yourself—is not a weakness but a sign of your spiritual strength.

You do not need to choose between your faith and your identity. You deserve both. You were born for both.

Becoming Whole Is an Act of Resistance

In a world that profits from our fragmentation, wholeness is revolutionary. Every time we claim our sexuality and our spirituality in the same breath, we disrupt centuries of oppression. Every time we refuse to hide, we expand the possibilities for those who will come after us.

This is the work. This is the calling. This is the liberation we are building—one integrated life at a time.

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Spiritual Violence Against LGBTIQ People in West Africa

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

By Nana Davis Mac‑Iyalla

Across West Africa, many LGBTIQ people are not only fighting for their human rights—they are fighting for their spiritual survival. As an activist, a ceremonial leader, and someone shaped by both African tradition and global faith communities, I have witnessed how deeply spiritual violence wounds our people. It is a form of harm that is often invisible, yet its impact is profound and lasting.

Spiritual violence happens when religion, culture, or sacred authority is used to shame, silence, or erase LGBTIQ identities. It appears in sermons that condemn us, in families who pray for us to “change,” in traditional leaders who deny our place in ancestral narratives, and in laws justified by distorted interpretations of scripture. It is the quiet violence of exclusion, the loud violence of public humiliation, and the structural violence of institutions that refuse to see our humanity.

What makes spiritual violence particularly painful is that it strikes at the core of who we are. In West Africa, spirituality is not a separate part of life—it is woven into our birth, our names, our families, our communities, and our understanding of purpose. When someone tells an LGBTIQ person that they are “not of God,” they are not simply expressing an opinion; they are attempting to sever that person from their cultural and spiritual roots.

Yet the truth—our truth—is older and deeper than these harmful narratives.

Long before colonial laws and imported doctrines, African societies held diverse understandings of gender and sexuality. Our ancestors honoured people with unique spiritual gifts, including those whose identities did not fit rigid categories. Many LGBTIQ people today continue to carry that same spiritual depth, resilience, and calling. We are not outsiders to African spirituality; we are part of its living history.

As Executive Director of the Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA), I have seen how reclaiming our spiritual dignity transforms lives. When LGBTIQ people hear affirming messages from faith leaders, when they encounter rituals that honour their existence, when they learn that their identity is not a curse but a gift—something shifts. Hope returns. Healing begins.

But healing cannot happen without truth‑telling.

We must name spiritual violence for what it is: a misuse of sacred power. No scripture, no tradition, and no deity calls us to harm one another. The weaponisation of religion against LGBTIQ people is not faith—it is fear. And fear thrives where knowledge is absent.

This is why our work is urgent. We must continue to educate, to challenge harmful narratives, and to create spaces where LGBTIQ people can reconnect with their spirituality without shame. We must support faith leaders who are courageous enough to stand for inclusion, even when it is unpopular. And we must remind our communities that human dignity is not negotiable.

As we approach IDNOWA’s 10‑year anniversary and our Human Rights Conference this August, I am reminded of how far we have come—and how far we still must go. Our movement is growing. Our voices are stronger. Our stories are being told. But the struggle continues, and we cannot do it alone.

Spiritual violence may be powerful, but so is our resilience. So is our truth. So is our collective determination to build a West Africa where every person—regardless of sexuality, gender identity, or faith—can live with dignity, safety, and spiritual belonging.

Our liberation is not a question of if, but when. And together, we are bringing that “when” closer.

Nana Davis Mac‑Iyalla

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Statement: The Power of Visibility in the Fight for Inclusion and LGBT+ Human Rights in West Africa  

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

Visibility is not a luxury—it is a lifeline. In West Africa, where LGBTQ+ individuals are often forced into silence by religious dogma, cultural stigma, and punitive laws, being seen is an act of resistance. It is also an act of truth. Visibility affirms that queer Africans exist, contribute, lead, and love. It challenges the myth that LGBTQ+ identities are foreign or shameful. It reclaims ancestral wisdom that once honored diversity before colonial doctrines taught us to fear it.  

Today, visibility is more urgent than ever. We are witnessing a troubling rise in religious and traditional homophobia, often weaponized by national parliamentarians who act not as protectors of their people, but as instruments of repression. These lawmakers—some emboldened by Western collaborators who export anti-LGBT+ ideology—are pushing harsh legislation that criminalizes identity, advocacy, and even compassion. Their goal is not morality—it is control. Their method is fear.  

In this climate, the work of the Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA) is not only relevant—it is indispensable. IDNOWA stands at the intersection of faith, tradition, and justice. We engage religious and cultural leaders in dialogue, educate communities, and amplify the voices of those who have been silenced. We do not import activism—we reclaim it. Our work is rooted in African values of Ubuntu, dignity, and spiritual resilience.  

IDNOWA’s presence reminds the region—and the world—that inclusion is not a Western agenda. It is a human imperative. It is a return to truth. As anti-LGBT+ forces grow louder, we must grow more visible. We must show that queer Africans are not outsiders—we are part of the continent’s story, its spirit, and its future.

To every LGBTQ+ person in West Africa: your visibility is sacred. Your existence is not a threat—it is a gift. And to those who seek to erase us: we will not disappear. We will organize, educate, and rise. Because visibility is not just about being seen—it is about being free.

Signed, 
Nana Davis Mac-Iyalla 
Executive Director
 Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa 
(IDNOWA)  

Press

IDNOWA Condemns Burkina Faso’s Anti-Homosexuality Law as a Grave Violation of Human Dignity

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

PRESS STATEMENT FROM IDNOWA September 2, 2025

IDNOWA Condemns Burkina Faso’s Anti-Homosexuality Law as a Grave Violation of Human Dignity

  IDNOWA stands in unwavering solidarity with LGBTQ+ communities across Africa and strongly denounced the recent passage of a law in Burkina Faso criminalizing homosexuality. This legislation, which imposes prison sentences of two to five years for consensual same-sex relations, is a direct assault on human rights, spiritual dignity, and the principles of justice that should guide any legitimate governance.  

  This law is not only inhumane—it is a dangerous distraction. At a time when citizens are calling for transparency, economic stability, and peace, the government has chosen to scapegoat LGBTQ+ individuals to deflect from its own failures. Such tactics erode public trust and deepen social divisions.  

Davis Mac-Iyalla, Executive Director of IDNOWA, affirms:

“LGBTQ+ people are not outsiders—we are part of Africa’s story, its spirit, and its future. Criminalizing our existence is a betrayal of our shared humanity and a denial of the continent’s rich diversity.”

  We call on the transitional government of Burkina Faso to repeal this unjust law and to redirect its energy toward inclusive governance, protection of civil liberties, and the healing of its nation. True leadership does not come from repression—it comes from courage, compassion, and accountability.  

As an interfaith and ancestral justice network, IDNOWA affirms that every human being carries divine worth. We reject any attempt to criminalize love, identity, or existence. We urge regional and global allies to speak out, to protect those at risk, and to ensure that Africa’s future is not built on fear, but on freedom.

Let it be known: silence is complicity. We will not be silent.

For media inquiries, contact: 

interfaithdiversitynowa@gmail.com

END

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Sitting Tall: Gay Chief Davis Mac Iyalla’s Queer Leadership in the Heart of Ghana

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

Article by Nompilo Gwala – Mamba Online.com

Davis Mac Iyalla, a queer spiritual leader and out gay chief in Ghana, embodies defiant visibility and ancestral wisdom in equal measure

Ghana’s Parliament has reopened debate on one of Africa’s toughest anti LGBTQ+ bills, just a year after the previous version expired without presidential assent.

The reintroduced Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill seeks to raise prison terms for same sex intimacy and criminalise “promotion” of queer rights.

Yet even as legislators press ahead, a very different story is unfolding in the fishing town of Yamonransa on the country’s Cape Coast.

There, Nana Kwaku Gyasi, Chief Davis Mac Iyalla, who is also Executive Director of the Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA), is teaching that visibility itself can be an act of love.

“I came out the day I was born”

Mac Iyalla rejects western notions of a single, dramatic “coming out.”

“I came out to the world the day I was born,” he tells MambaOnline. “My concept of coming out is about speaking out, using your voice to challenge injustice.”

That conviction first catapulted him into headlines a quarter century ago, when he confronted the Anglican Church of Nigeria over its homophobia.

Today he carries the same fire into Ghanaian life, defiantly testifying before Parliament against the anti-LGBTQ+ bill and preaching inclusion from pulpits across West Africa.

Chosen by the ancestors

Three years ago, Mac Iyalla was lifted onto a traditional palanquin (also known as a litter, used to carry chiefs, kings, and other important figures during ceremonies and festivals) and installed as Amankorehen (development chief) of Yamonransa.

Some rival chiefs tried, literally, to topple him; the palanquin collapsed and tabloids declared that “the gods had rejected” a gay chief.

The activist tells a very different story: “I was chosen by the ancestors,” he says. “If homosexuality were truly a taboo, I would never have been allowed to sit on the stool.” (In Ghanaian chieftaincy, the stool is not just a seat but a central symbol of leadership and authority.)

His stool still stands. So do his community projects: youth apprenticeships, widows’ micro grants and IDNOWA’s dialogue circles that bring imams, pastors and traditional priests to the same table.

Chief Davis Mac Iyalla being carried on a traditional palanquin used during ceremonies and festivals

An out gay chief changing hearts at village level

While urban activists tweet and rally, Mac Iyalla works face to face with local “gate keepers”, chiefs, queen mothers and clan elders whose word shapes daily life.

“Most people don’t care about my sexuality,” he explains. “They care about the development I bring.”

That pragmatism is paying off. Elders who once kept silent now greet him publicly; church women volunteer at IDNOWA food drives; parents ask how to protect queer children rather than punish them.

“Changing attitudes takes time,” the chief says, “but conversations have begun, and that is huge for West Africa.”

Faith without fear

For Mac Iyalla, queer joy is inseparable from spirituality. IDNOWA’s credo is simple: “All humans are born free and equal.”

Founded in 2016, the network spans 11 West African countries, equipping clergy and activists to confront religiously framed homophobia with scripture, history and Ubuntu ethics.

Last September, Mac Iyalla preached in the Netherlands, urging Christians to “reshape the world by speaking out against all forms of injustice.”

A message to queer African youth

“You are not a taboo. You are not ‘un-African’. Same sex love existed on this continent long before colonial missionaries,” Mac Iyalla asserts.

“If God and your ancestors are with you, no weapon fashioned by anti gender movements will succeed.”

He urges young people who feel safe enough to “take the risk and be counted,” while reminding them that leadership also happens quietly, in classrooms, clinics and marketplaces where queer Africans already serve.

Why this story matters

Mac Iyalla’s journey does not erase Ghana’s political peril, but it illuminates a parallel reality: LGBTQ+ Ghanaians are farmers, teachers, chiefs and prayer leaders. They are “everywhere,” as he likes to say, and in many cases they are thriving.

In a season when anti queer rhetoric dominates headlines, Chief Davis Mac Iyalla stands as living proof that African tradition can coexist with and celebrate queer identity. His life invites us to imagine a future in which ancestral stools make room for every kind of child born to the continent.

Until that day arrives, he will keep doing what chiefs are meant to do: build, protect and speak the truth. And that, in itself, is queer joy.

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ILGA World Conference

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa

The Executive Director and Members of Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA ) participated at the ILGA (the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) World Conference 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The ILGA World Conference is the largest global gathering of LGBTIQ changemakers. They have held them since the early days of the organisation in the 1970s.

An ILGA World Conference is a chance to assess where our communities stand, share experiences and best practices, build alliances and partnerships, discuss the future of the movement, and collectively chart ways to advance equality worldwide.

ILGA World Conference is also where the life of the organisation is shaped. ILGA members elect their representatives, advance proposals and constitutional changes, and endorse new organisations to join our family.

ILGA World is queer democracy in action, and it all starts from ILGA World Conferences.

In his closing remarks, Davis Mac-Iyalla, IDNOWA Executive Director, said,

We can’t change the world in one week, but we can try to listen to each other and find strategies to change the negative attitude and discrimination towards us and our community.
We are stronger together in this struggle. Let’s not allow our enemies to divide us and set the ring for us to fight each other while they watch in jubilation.
As an African, my concepts for dialogue are always Ubuntu.”

About ILGA

On their website (ilga.org/) ILGA says,

ILGA World – the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association – is a worldwide federation of more than 1,900 organisations from over 160 countries and territories campaigning for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex human rights.

We want a world where the human rights of all are respected and where everyone can live in equality and freedom: a world where global justice and equity are assured and established regardless of people’s sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).

Established in 1978, ILGA World has ECOSOC consultative status at the United Nations.

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Nigeria-EU deal sparks false claims over LGBT rights

Interfaith Diversity Network Of West Africa
  • Global disinformation team
  • Originally posted on BBC News

LGBT people already live in fear in Nigeria, where same-sex relationships are illegal – now widespread misinformation about a European Union partnership pact has whipped up further hostility towards the community.

The Samoa Agreement – signed by Africa’s most-populous nation in June – is a co-operation deal between the EU and 79 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The 403-page pact does not mention LGBT rights or same-sex relationships at all – yet many Nigerians believe that by signing it the West African nation has automatically legalised same-sex relationships.

The claims went viral last week when a piece published by Nigeria’s Daily Trust newspaper falsely alleged that the agreement forced underdeveloped and developing countries to recognise LGBT rights as a condition “for getting financial and other supports from advanced societies”.

Even if the agreement referenced such rights, it would still be impossible for the provisions of any international agreement signed by Nigeria to automatically result in changing the law, Nigerian lawyer Ugo Egbujo explained

Under current legislation, adopted a decade ago, same-sex couples face up to 14 years in prison.

“The only way to domesticate a law is to bring it to the National Assembly, where members must deliberate and vote to adopt it. Without doing this, it isn’t a law nor is it justiciable nor enforceable,” Mr Egbujo told the BBC.

“We have clear legislation on same-sex marriage and since its establishment in 2014, it has not been touched. Signing a multilateral agreement will not automatically change that.”

Has the government reacted?

Yes, it says it would never compromise its anti-LGBT laws and that it signed the agreement to boost the country’s economic development.

The Nigerian Bar Association has also scotched rumours that there was a provision in the agreement requiring the country to accept LGBT rights as a pre-condition for a $150bn (£116bn) loan – adding there was no reference to any loans in the deal.

The EU confirmed to the BBC the deal did not include any dedicated funding for Nigeria but there was €150bn ($163bn, £126bn) available to Africa, under a scheme known as Global Gateway, aimed at boosting “smart, clean and secure links in the digital, transport, energy and climate-relevant sectors” and strengthening education.

Despite these clarifications, opposition supporters have weaponised the fake news to attack the government and to whip up anger around the contentious issues of religion, ethnicity and politics.

President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who are both Muslims, have been accused of betraying their religion.

The false story is trending across social media and has become the leading subject of debate for influencers and political commentators.

How has the LGBT community been affected?

Hate speech has increased, according to Bisola Akande, a senior programmes officer for a local LGBT group who requested her name be changed.

“We came under attack with our details posted online. We had to shut down our website and are trying to protect ourselves,” she told the BBC.

Wise, a human rights organisation based in the northern city of Kano, has been the subject of online attacks – forcing it to take down its website and lock its social media pages.

Social media accounts for staff have also been deactivated, protected or made private, one of its representatives told the BBC.

The fury against Wise has been prompted by footage resurfacing of one of its events held a few years ago at which an official belonging to the city’s Hisbah police, a unit which enforces Sharia or Islamic law, speaks in support of LGBT rights.

It has led to the official in question being arrested this week – despite his protestations that his remarks, made during an interview, were intended to be in support of women’s empowerment.

Female Nigerian TikTokers who post pictures of themselves with other women – even if a sister or friend – have also become the target of homophobic abuse with derisive comments condemning their supposed sexual orientation.

When were concerns about the deal first raised?

It can be traced back to lawyer Sonnie Ekwowusi, who wrote an opinion article in Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper last November urging the Nigerian government not to sign the Samoa Agreement, calling it “the deceptively and euphemistically crafted LGBT agreement between the EU and ACP [African, Caribbean and Pacific] countries”.

The EU admitted there were concerns about LGBT issues when about 30 countries, mostly African and Caribbean nations, including Nigeria, initially failed to sign the pact last year.

They had wanted to check whether the deal “would be compatible with their legal order, notably as regards same-sex relations and sexual health and rights”, the EU said.

“This move surprised several commentators, as the wording on these topics does not go beyond existing international agreements,” an EU parliament briefing document published in December said.

In fact “as a matter of compromise” it had been agreed that signatories would commit to the implementation of existing international agreements as some African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states had been “reluctant to see the foundation agreement mention sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBTI rights)”, it continued.

The Nigerian government went on to study the wording and agreed – saying in a declaration that it was consistent with Nigeria’s laws and other commitments.

Ambassador Obinna Chiedu Onowu represented Nigeria to sign the Samoa Agreement at the OACPS Secretariat in Brussels - 28 June 2024
Image caption,Nigeria’s ambassador to Belgium – Obinna Chiedu Onowu – signed the Samoa Agreement at the OACPS Secretariat in Brussels

Nigeria’s economic planning minister explained the Samoa Agreement had been signed on 28 June 2024 after being subject to extensive reviews and consultations by the country’s inter-ministerial committee.

Did this satisfy the critics?

No, Mr Ekwowusi reignited the flames of controversy several days later in his article published in the Daily Trust, which said that “certain articles of the agreement, especially articles 2.5 and 29.5, legalise LGBT, ‘transgenderism’, abortion, teen sexual abuse, and perversity in African countries”.

However, the content of these articles does not support this:

  • Article 2.5 reads: “The Parties shall systematically promote a gender perspective and ensure that gender equality is mainstreamed across all policies.”
  • Article 29.5 reads: “The Parties shall support universal access to sexual and reproductive health commodities and healthcare services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes.”

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Ekwowusi maintained his allegations.

“Gender equality” was a euphemism used by the EU to encompass sexual and LGBT rights and “reproductive health” was a euphemism for abortion and contraceptives, he said.

He admitted the pact could not override Nigerian legislation, but suggested tighter language was needed.

“We are advocating that they put a definition clause so that we know what the terms are. Define gender, define gender equality, define sexual reproductive health,” Mr Ekwowusi said.

What is the Samoa Agreement?

It is a legal framework for relations between the EU, a major provider of development aid, and 79 members of the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS).

It lays down common principles for around two billion people around the world to address global challenges together.

Respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law constitute an essential element of the agreement, but it also encompasses areas like sustainable economic growth, climate change and migration.

The EU briefing document admitted that in some areas the wording fell short “of the EU negotiators’ ambitions”.

It replaces a previous EU partnership deal – the Cotonou Agreement – adopted in 2000 which aimed to reduce and eventually eradicate poverty.