The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield has stated, on Monday, that they would continue to pressurize Nigeria until it legalizes same sex marriage.

She made the pronouncement during a live-web chat with journalists in Washington.

She said, “As a government, it is one of the highest priorities and strongest values that discrimination against anyone based on their sexual orientation and gender identity is wrong. We believe human rights should be available to everybody. As a policy, we will continue to press the government of Nigeria, as well as other governments which have provided legislation that discriminate against the LGBT community.

“This is very much a work in progress, but I think you will agree with me that the law in Nigeria really went far in discriminating against this community but also people who associate with them.

“So, we will continue to press the government, to press the legislature to change these laws and provide human rights for all Nigerian people regardless of their sexual orientation. With what is happening in the US, you can determine how far we are willing to go.

We strongly believe human rights for all people and we are particularly opposed to legislation that actually targets the gay community for discrimination. So we are prepared to push this as a policy, not just in Africa but across the world.”

Ada Igboanugo