A number of local and international leaders in various fields, including the NUJ’s Irish secretary Séamus Dooley and Delta State Governor Dr Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, were honoured at Metro Éireann’s International Leadership Award ceremony in Dublin on Saturday 18 January.
During his acceptance speech, Dooley made note of the Nigerian government’s recent criminalising of homosexuality, and urged the country’s leaders to reverse their attitudes towards LGBT people.
Responding to Dooley’s remarks after receiving his leadership award, Gov Uduaghan made comments about homosexuality in which he compared gays to paedophiles.
Metro Éireann would like to state categorically that Gov Uduaghan’s opinions on homosexuality were unknown prior to this occasion, and do not in any way represent the views of this newspaper. We are currently engaging the governor on the matter.
Metro Éireann promises to continue to create awareness about issues facing gay people in Ireland, Nigeria and anywhere else in the world. This newspaper has previously published several articles on LGBT issues from a human rights perspective, reflecting experiences in Ireland and abroad. This is well within our remit as Ireland’s only multicultural newspaper, and there will be no change on that front.
