Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in Dublin, Ireland, likened gay marriage to pedophilia, a psychiatric disorder, in which an adult has sexual interest in children and hence a taboo.

Dr. Uduaghan, who was in Ireland to receive the International Leadership Award, stoutly defended the law forbidding gay marriage in Nigeria signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Delta State Governor while receiving the award given to him on Saturday (January 18) by Metro Eireann, Ireland’s major multicultural newspaper, told his audience, which included Ireland’s Minister of Trade and Foreign Investment, Mr. Joe Costello, that gay marriage offends the cultural norms of Nigerians.

Reacting to comments during the ceremony, Governor Uduaghan maintained that the anti-gay law is popular and that Nigerians accept it. “I am sure no one here in this country would accept a condition in which an adult can sleep with a 10-year-old girl. If that situation is not acceptable, we in Nigeria view gay marriage as such,” he said.

Uduaghan, who received thunderous applause for his strong position on this issue by a large Nigerian audience, explained that marriage in Nigeria is viewed as union between families. His words: “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.”

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.”

Accusing the international community of double standard, 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.”

Concluding his remarks, Uduaghan insisted that anyone who wishes to be married to a gay is free to migrate to any country where it is acceptable.

•Photo shows Governor Uduaghan.