A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bolaji Akinyemi has revealed how the United States and the United Kingdom tried to force same-sex marriage in Nigeria.
Akinyemi during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday said he informed US and UK that such is not acceptable in Nigeria.
According to Akinyemi, he advised foreign countries against pushing for the policy during former president, Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
He said, “I am not in favour of man and man marriage or woman and woman marriage and yet the supreme court had declared that under the constitution.
“I don’t buy into that and I think the supreme court made the wrong decision in picking on roe versus wade. If they had picked on this man-and-man marriage or woman-and-woman marriage, I suspect that the democrats might not have scored the victory they scored.
“Part of why I feel strongly about this man and man marriage or woman and a woman marriage is the fact that the Americans even tried to force it down our throat in Nigeria.”
Akinyemi disclosed that the Secretary General of the Commonwealth visited Nigeria when legislators stood against same-sex marriage.
The former minister noted that the Secretary-General reached out to him on how he should handle the development in his meeting with Jonathan.
Akinyemi disclosed that he advised him that his wish was a no-go area for Jonathan’s administration.
He added, “We don’t like being told the definition of marriage in Nigeria and that it will only heat up the system.”
In Nigeria, the same-sex marriage prohibition act was passed by the senate in 2011, while the house of Representatives approved it in July 2013, and the bill was signed into law on January 7, 2014.
