CUTTING THE HEAD OF THE ROARING MONSTER": HOMOSEXUALITY AND REPRESSION IN AFRICA

This paper examines how a proposed conference of gays and lesbians in 2006 in Ghana created tensions and repercussions from the social, cultural, religious and political factors, which worked to repress same-sex discourse in the country. The new wave of homophobic expression that ensued is partly a product of the new globalization and also a manifestation of the clash between what is considered "African" and "un-African" social and sexual behavior. This study shows that the government of Ghana and religious institutions did not view homosexuality as a human rights issue as in the case of South Africa, but a form of "sexual colonialism" or Western imposition on Ghanaians. Africanists working on West Africa have yet to seriously place homosexuality on academic agenda. We fill this gap in the current stage of sexuality and African studies by looking at how the proposed conference of gays and lesbians in 2006 in Ghana integrated Ghana's experience of "unnaturalness" of homosexuality and homophobia into those of other parts of the world

Journey to Work: Transnational Prostitution in Colonial British West Africa

coming soo

Britain, Leftist Nationalists, and the Transfer of Power in Nigeria, 1945-1965

Note portant sur l’auteur Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani, Britain, Leftist Nationalists, and the Transfer of Power in Nigeria, 1945-1965, New York and London: Routledge, 2005, XV + 167 pp. Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani’s Britain, Leftist Nationalists, and the Transfer of Power in Nigeria, 1945-1965 is a pioneering study of the development, activities and failure of Marxism and other left-wing organizations in Nigeria during the decolonization period up to 1965. While the literature on nationalist movements ..

Balancing secular and religious politics: Sharia and the Nigerian Project, 1804 – 2010

No Abstrac

Sexualized nationalism : Lagos and the politics of illicit sexuality in colonial Nigeria, 1918-1958

textIn my dissertation, I argue that historians of Africa have overlooked the intersection between nationalism and sexuality, despite the fact that these two themes are related. In addition, instead of focusing on the now stale paradigm which emphasizes the importance of race and class in the discourse of sexuality, I offer a revisionist idea that stresses the importance of age. Hence, I contend that the contrast between underage and adult sexuality largely informed the pattern of reformist condemnation of casual sex work in colonial Lagos. A clash between tradition (crudely defined as African traditional customs, values and ethos) and modernity (the so-called ideals of “modernization” and “civilization” imported by the British colonialists) was inevitable as the reformists vied to establish favorable legislation and combated laws that threatened their belief system and practices. What is more, debates around prostitution went beyond casual sex work to involve more complex matters such as the protection of soldiers, marriage, and cultural nationalism; the place and role of women and children in African society; and African or colonialist conception of morality/immorality. Because of the complex nature of the politics of sex in colonial Nigeria, it was effectively impossible to reach common ground on dealing with the alleged medical and social nuisance caused by prostitutes. Indeed, while the ostensible subject of the popular debate was “prostitution,” the issues contested concurred with cultural nationalism and the protection of individual and group interests. Prostitution became a camouflage for negotiating issues that threatened the social, political, and sexual ideologies and orientation of a wide range of people—Africans and Europeans alike.Histor