A Nigerian writer who was forced to leave the country to go live in the US after receiving death threats has warned that Nigeria’s anti-gay law is forcing the country’s gay community underground.
Novelist Jude Dibia penned controversial 2005 novel Walking with Shadows, which is thought to be the first Nigerian novel that has a gay man as its central character. And in a new interview with Voice of Africa, Dibia said Nigeria's anti gay law is having a profoundly chilling effect upon the gay community. He told VOA:
“Being gay in Nigeria is so funny because you cannot admit to it. You have to pass as something else and create a different persona and live that persona. And, sometimes for some people, they end up being married and they have families and they try to suppress
who they are. But, there is a lot of depression and struggles there.
People have gone further underground, but they still are trying to survive. And, I think maybe that is why online now on the Internet and on blogs you are seeing more stories coming out. There is a lot of anger festering in the underbelly. But, more stories are popping out there because of this law. And, I think it is a good thing. In its own way, it is a good thing.”Dibia’s novel was one of the first to deal with the taboo subject of homosexuality in Nigeria. Bookstores in Nigeria refused to stock the book but, according to Dibia, the book sold by word of mouth and has become his best-selling novel in the country.
Currently, Dibia lives in exile in the United States. He says he would like to come back home, but it is not safe for him to do so. That he would rather continue his work outside the country, than go back and lose his right of freedom of expression. Dibia also added that he does not expect the Nigerian government to change its attitude toward homosexuality overnight. But, he is sure some change eventually will come.
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