When Nigerians do stupid shit!!

While it is true that Nigeria is a rather homophobic country, attempts are being made to rebrand it as a country of the daft, lazy and incurably addled. I suppose that this is slightly preferable to being homophobic. In fact, all of those things make homophobia excusable. Now, I'm not pulling all of this straight out of my arse.

This week, Thisday, the premier Nigerian Newspaper, published an interview/article hybrid. You can read it here: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/science-of-gay-marriage/158265/ if you're so inclined. In the article, Charles Ajunwa interviews an up and coming scientist called Chidubem Stanley Amalaha.

Chidubem Stanley Amalaha, is a postgraduate student at the Universtity of Lagos. He studies Chemical engineering. I cannot say if he is studying for a masters or a doctorate degree because the very good, Charles Ajunwa didn't report it. But that's neither here nor there.

The first thing that the article says, or the first thing that Charles Ajunwa writes is that, Chidubem has scientifically proven that gay marriage is wrong. He does it like this:

Scientifically proved that gay marriage is wrong

Well, there's something wrong with that sentence. It just reads wrong. Anyone with half a mind, will ask, "Who is that tired looking man in that shocking blazer, labcoat combination that takes fashion faux pas to a whole new level?" But I'm just nitpicking. We find out on the next line that he is Chidubem Stanley Amalaha. Apart from the fact that the sentence is awkward, it's also untrue. Gay marriage cannot be proven to be wrong scientifically because marriage is a social construct not a scientific one. It's the same as someone saying that someone has scientifically proven that being rude to your parents is wrong. It can't be done. Also scientists don't  use words like right or wrong, because they mean nothing. They are completely subjective. They are social constructs.

The article basically goes on to say, gay marriage is wrong because, similar magnetic poles repel and opposite poles attract. He says that in different ways three times. This is what he thinks has proven that gay marriage is wrong. He doesn't even distinguish between homosexuality and gay marriage really, he just ploughs on with subheadings like, "The Physics of Gay Marriage."

How is this journalism? I know that journalists aren't paid well in Nigeria, but this isn't excusable. You don't present the baseless ramblings of a madman as fact.

It's sad, because in one fell swoop, the two of them have shown that;

•  Unilag isn't a very good University
• Thisday is a fairly shit newspaper

I'm sorry if this is a little stilted, and if the flow of it is funny. I'm really too disappointed to care. Thisday, please take the article down. It speaks poorly of us as a people. It is understandable to be against gay marriage, or homosexuality because it isn't supported by your religion or your culture, but I don't know that anyone can read this article and not cringe at how stupid it is. I dare say, Captain Reginald, my possibly retarded 6 year old rottweiler could do a better job.

I'm not very happy today,
Afam