Nigerians Reacts As Tinubu Signs $150 Billion Samoa Deal Promoting LGBTQ Rights

Many Nigerians on social media are expressing anger after President Bola Tinubu’s government signed the controversial $150 billion Samoa deal.

This agreement reportedly requires underdeveloped and developing countries to support LGBTQ rights in exchange for financial aid from developed nations.

The Samoa Agreement, signed on November 15, 2023, is gaining traction despite opposition from many countries with strong Islamic and Christian values.

News of Nigeria’s involvement in the deal became public on July 1 when Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, confirmed it at a European Union reception in Abuja.

But when contacted on Wednesday, Bagudu’s media assistant, Bolaji Adebiyi, clarified that the signed documents focused only on Nigeria’s economic development and did not mention LGBTQ rights or same-sex marriage.

Adebiyi clarified that the agreement was related to a $150 billion trade component, and not to support the agitations by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT).

When asked about the controversy, Kamarudeen Ogundele, spokesman for the Attorney General of the Federation, said he needed to investigate further but did not provide an update.

Lagos-based lawyer, Sonnie Ekwowusi had raised concerns in an article, calling the agreement a threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty and democracy.

Ekwowusi criticized Nigerian officials for signing the agreement without understanding its impact.

“The Samoa Agreement, named after the Pacific Island, Samoa, where it was signed on November 15, 2023 is a celebration of perversity.

“Certain Articles of the Agreement especially Articles 2.5 and 29.5 legalise LGBT, transgenderism, abortion, teen sexual abuse, and perversity in African countries.

“The signing of the Agreement by Nigeria constitutes a threat to the sovereignty of Nigeria and Africa. It further debases our democracy.

“I can wager that neither Minister Atiku Bagudu nor the Nigerian officials or diplomats who signed the Samoa Agreement on our behalf, understand the import of the agreement to Nigeria’s sovereignty, let alone the destructive impact of the Agreement in Nigeria.

“This explains why many African bodies including the AfBA have condemned the agreement and respectfully urged African countries not to sign it.

“Not infrequently, Nigerian officials in Geneva, New York, and other places sign international agreements or treaties over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine with little or no knowledge of their contents,” Ekwowusi said.

He further queried: “Were the Nigerian officials who signed the offensive Samoa Agreement representing their own interests or the interests of the Nigerian people? Having refused to sign the Agreement earlier, why did Nigeria change its mind and proceed to sign the Agreement?

Ekwowusi recalled that Nigeria and 34 other countries initially refused to sign the agreement on November 15, 2023.

According to him, the European Union later issued a threat on November 24, 2023, due to this refusal.

He also said that apart from Nigeria, 34 other African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, including the Republic of Benin, Senegal, Liberia, Botswana, Burundi, Jamaica, Mali, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Namibia, Grenada, Eritrea, Malawi, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the Republic of Maldives, Mauritania, the Republic of Nauru, the Republic of Palau, Saint Lucia, the Republic of Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Kingdom of Tonga, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Tuvalu, also refused to sign the LGBT Agreement.

“In fact, on that fateful November 15, 2023, Nigeria not only refused to sign the LGBT Agreement but was conspicuously absent in Samoa on the day of the signing.

“Frustrated by the refusal of these 35 countries to sign the Agreement, the European Union issued a significant threat dated November 24, 2023,” he said.

Ekwowusi urged Nigeria to withdraw from the agreement and called for the National Assembly to question the officials who signed it.

Many Nigerians including clerics, rights activists, and Civil Society Organizations are also questioning the government’s decision to sign the agreement.

See some reactions below:

KanyiDaily recalls that Delta State Police Command recently arrested LGBT suspects during a gay wedding at Teebulus Hotel in Ekpan, Warri.