What I think has happened is that when the Europeans arrived in Africa, they brought with them their religious beliefs and moral values as baggage. On their arrival there were numerous accounts of homosexual practices amongst the ‘natives’, but because these reports were filtered through the eyes of prudish, (for want of a better word), colonialists and/or missionaries, the true extent and colour of it was lost. The African has always been close to nature, and homosexuality is a part of nature.

Homophobia was part of the package that our ancestors acquired from the Europeans. In my view, Africans have too readily accepted the ideas and idiosyncrasies of the Western world. The same can be said of our Islamic brothers and sisters in relation to the Arab world. The result is a confusion, an uncertainty and a disunity among Africans that belies resolution. It is perhaps the main reason why Africa remains stalled in underdevelopment.

Today the Western world had seen the light. They have now reached the place where ancestral Africans were hundreds of years ago. In the West, it has been recognised that in Mother Nature’s diversity, it is inevitable that there would be some members of society whose sexual proclivity would differ from that of the majority. They have taken the appropriate steps to correct the mistake of homophobia, and introduced appropriate legislation to protect homosexual people from discrimination.

What I find hard to understand is why the African is failing to come to his senses, and accept that homophobia is wrong. It saddens me that a person like Prof. MaCaulay is still steeped in prejudice, because homophobia is prejudice just like racism.

Archbishop Akinola says that I have acquired my sexual orientation from the Westeren world. What he needs to understand is that, it is his homophobia that came from Europe. Homosexuality comes from nature.

We pretend to be very moral but when it comes down to matters concerning basic universal rules like honesty and helping others, fall far short.