Delta state Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has aired his view over anti-gay bill which was passed into law last week. The governor likened gay marriage to pedophilia, a psychiatric disorder, in which an adult has sexual interest in children and hence a taboo. He insisted that gay marriage offends the cultural norms of Nigerians and that it can be likened pedophilia. According to Uduaghan, the way it is viewed as taboo for an adult to sleep with a 10 year old girl in Ireland,is the same way Nigerians view gay marriage.
 
In Nigeria marriage between two people is usually between a man and a woman and not just between them but between their families too.

“Whenever a couple come together, they are not coming together by themselves, it almost involves their different families and if it is known that in that family there are married gays, the danger is that the taboo emanating from that might even affect others who are straight and that is not right,” Governor Uduaghan emphasized.

Giving a personal example, he said: “In marrying my wife, it was the coming together of her family and my family and the blessings of the two families that made it happen.”

Governor Uduaghan said that he was surprised by their reaction, saying: “there was a public hearing by the National Assembly and we are not aware of their opposition to this bill. What happened was that a lot of Nigerians appeared and made submission in favour of it. So it is a surprise that after the bill has been passed, we are now facing this opposition by the international community.”

The Governor insisted that anyone who wishes to be married to a gay is free to migrate to the country, where it is acceptable.