By James Tillman
In Anglican Archbishop Nicholas Okoh's first press conference on July 14, he addressed the controversy that is sweeping the global Anglican communion and condemned homosexual behavior as well as other Anglican provinces that have adopted an unbiblical acceptance of it."In this matter silence can be detrimental to public well-being," he said. "The issue at stake of human sexuality is not an Anglican prerogative and it is by no means limited to the Anglican circle as ... is clearly shown all over the world."
"Same sex marriage, paedophilia and all sexual perversions should be roundly condemned by all who accept the authority of Scripture over human life."
Archbishop Okoh succeeded Archbishop Pete Akinola as primate, or head archbishop, of the Anglican Church of Nigeria on March 25. With roughly 18 million members, the Church of Nigeria is the largest province in the Anglican Communion.
Okoh said that he had spent his first months as primate touring all 14 internal provinces of the Church of Nigeria, and that the conversations and feedback from Anglicans throughout the country had informed his address to the press.
The archbishop said he was alarmed that western churches "had vowed to use their money to spread the homosexual lifestyle in African societies and churches."
Western churches “are pursuing this agenda vigorously and what is more, they now have the support of the United Nations," Okoh said. "We therefore call on parents to ensure that their children obtain their first degree in Nigeria before travelling abroad. Parents and guardians should closely watch and monitor the relationships that their children or wards keep so that deviant behavior can be [corrected]."
He warned that "the sin of homosexuality, it must be re-emphasized, destroyed the communities of Sodom and Gomorrah."
Archbishop Okoh has said previously that Nigeria should consider pulling out of the UN because of the UN's promotion of homosexuality.
“If the UN has made itself an agent for the propagation of homosexuality globally, then it is time for us to pull out of the organization,” he said.
He continued: “This is because the UN has no right to determine for or impose moral standards on us. Let us stand firm and refuse to be bought over by the West."
Other international organizations have also tried to coerce Nigeria into accepting homosexual relationships: the European Union's Intergroup on "gay rights" demanded that foreign aid to Nigeria be suspended after Nigeria's House of Representatives prohibited "gay marriage."
At the recent press conference, Archbishop Okoh also pointed out that the Nigerian Church had recently been categorized as dissenting from the whole Anglican Communion, like Anglican provinces that had ordained gay bishops or approved same-sex "marriages."
The Episcopal Church of the USA, or EC(USA), consecrated the openly homosexual Gene Robinson as bishop in 2003; it consecrated the lesbian Mary Glasspool bishop in 2010. To help those Anglican laymen who disapproved of the EC(USA)'s approval of homosexual behavior, the Nigerian Church has begun missionary activity in America through the Nigerian-sponsored "Convocation of Anglicans in North America" (CANA).
Such intervention in the jurisdiction of other Anglican Churches was condemned by the Anglican Communion's 2004 Windsor Report, which also called on churches not to ordain openly homosexual individuals or bless same-sex "unions."
"We reject being put in the same category with churches conducting gay ordination and same-sex marriage, and the equating of our evangelical initiative (for which we should be commended) with those who are doing things unbiblical," Archbishop Okoh said.
"But for the Nigerian initiative and others like her, many of our faithful Anglican American friends who cannot tolerate the unbiblical practices of the Episcopal Church in America could have gone away to other faiths. The great commission to go in to all the world to save souls is our compelling [consideration]."
Archbishop Okoh congratulated the Pentecostal Ayo Oritsejafor on his appointment as president of the ecumenical network Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
"We invite him and all denominational leaders to protect Christian interests and our cherished way of life, including speaking out against ... homosexuality, lesbianism and bisexual lifestyle[s] under any guise," Okoh said.
Nigeria's population is for the most part Muslim or Christian; roughly 11% of the population is Anglican. Homosexual activity may be punished by death in states that have adopted the harsh Shari'a law (athough in practice the death sentence is rarely, if ever, carried out), and may be punished up to 14 years in prison across the nation.
According to a 2007 Pew Global report, 97% of Nigerians think that homosexuality should be rejected.
