1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

 The word homosexuality has become in household name in most of the developed countries of the world. Homosexuality is simply defined as a kind of romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender.

        According to (Reddy 2001, 2002; Potgieter 2006; Canavera 2010) stated that the common view is that African countries are some of the most homophobic in the world. Although the statistical data on the various attitudes towards homosexuality in Nigeria and other African countries are scarce; this could be as a result of culture and religious background of most of the societies in Africa (Pew Research Center 2013).

Religion is as an important factor has been found to influence the formation of attitudes towards homosexuals (Berkman and Zinberg, 1997; CottonHuston and Waite, 2000; Hinrichs and Rosenberg, 2002). Studies done in both Western countries and non-Western countries have all revealed that religion serves as one of the strongest predictors of attitudes towards homosexuality (Adamczyk and Pitt, 2009; Arndt and De Bruin, 2006; Schulte and Battle, 2004; Tan, 2012

The Nigeria societies see homosexuality as evil and the various cultural beliefs forbids it. Accumulating evidence has shown that homosexuals have historically experienced negative attitudes from people in Nigeria and all over the world (Herek, 1994; Herek and Glunt, 1993; Harper and Schneider, 2003; Lewis et al., 2003; Schope and Eliason, 2000).

According to (Bunting, 2010; Dionne, 2013; Mabvurira, 2012; Mellstrom, 2012) stated that in most of the African countries, including Nigeria, there is a strong negative societal attitude towards homosexuals.

The level of tolerance of same-sex in Nigeria and most of the African countries in minimal compared to most of the Eurpean and American countries of the world. Recent scholarship studying public attitudes on same-sex relations has focused on acceptance of pro-gay policies in industrialized nations (Loftus 2001; Brace et al. 2002; Brewer and Wilcox 2005; Ellis et al. 2008; Lax and Phillips 2009), a sharp distinction from the African context, where most proposed policies are anti-gay.

Western contexts has sufficient data to explore determinants of attitudes toward homosexuality, limited data from Africa only cover a handful of the continent’s 54 countries. The existing, western-centric literature identifies multiple demographic correlates with attitudes toward homosexuality. Studying U.S. opinion, Herek (2002) found women held more favorable attitudes toward homosexuals than men. Survey data from 23 countries in the Americas show greater tolerance of homosexuals among women, more educated respondents, younger people,1 and urban residents (Seligson and MorenoMorales 2010). The study in this regard wishes to examine the role of religion and culture in shaping attitudes about homosexuality in Nigeria

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

What really instigated the study was due to outbreak and continuous growth of same-sex (homosexuality) in most of the developed countries of the world. It is unclear whether findings from European and American samples can be generalized to the Nigerian context. The current study seeks to determine whether variables such as gender, religion, and students’ year of study in the university influences Nigeria attitude towards homosexuality.

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The main aim of the research work is to examine the role of religion and culture in shaping attitudes about homosexuality in Nigeria. Other specific objectives of the study include:

1. to examine the effect of culture on the tolerance of same-sex in Nigeria
2. to determine the effect of religion on the perception of the Nigeria societies towards the acceptance of homosexuality
3. to determine the effect of environment and peer group on the practices of homosexuality in Nigeria
4. to examine the relationship between culture, religion and morality in Nigeria

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The study came up with research questions so as to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

1. What is the effect of culture on the tolerance of same-sex in Nigeria?
2. What is the effect of religion on the perception of the Nigeria societies towards the acceptance of homosexuality?
3. What is the effect of environment and peer group on the practices of homosexuality in Nigeria?
4. What is the relationship between culture, religion and morality in Nigeria?

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