As a prominent president of an African nation once explained to then US President Barack Obama, there are lines that Africans should never cross regardless of what the international community thinks. One of such lines is sexuality. While the rest of the world considers the pairing of a man and a woman to be conventional and can be flipped in the name of homosexuality, most of us are not having it. Even so, not everybody has been brave enough, like that African President, to speak out against the rising tide of this behaviour. But the Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Segun Runsewe, is leading the conversation.

Not long ago, there was a viral video that almost turned social media on its head: the video of Bobrisky (real name Idris Okeneye) in his female façade during his alleged housewarming ceremony. In the beginning, Bobrisky received knocks because he claimed that he bought the house for N400 million.

During the ceremony, however, Bobrisky was not the main attraction, rather the Islamic clerics who attended the housewarming ceremony took the spotlight.

The clerics were not at Bobrisky’s party to renounce his cross-dressing lifestyle. They were there to pray for him, which is the norm on this side of the world whenever one accomplishes something worthwhile. Even though Bobrisky was dressed, spoke, and acted as a female, the clerics had nothing to say except to smile and bob their heads in the face of his aberrant behaviour.

What Runsewe predicted not long ago is gradually taking root. According to him, if the Nigerian government does not take a firm stand on the matter of homosexuality and its associated lifestyles (including cross-dressing), it is only a matter of time before it becomes accepted. And if clerics can ignore it, who will have the courage to fight against it?

And so Runsewe is vindicated. His vision, needless to say, is on point, as is his counsel on the matter.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.