Love Offers No Safety: Nigeria's Queer Men Speak

by Jude Dibia (Editor), Olumide F. Makanjuola (Editor)

Love Offers No Safety: Nigeria’s Queer Men Speak tells the stories of a marginalized community in their own words. These collected narratives include stories of love, heartbreak, tenderness, and struggle, and show that there is no one universal queer experience.
Love Offers No Safety also serves as an exploration of what it is to be a man–how societal pressures foster toxic masculinity, and the barriers this creates for learning to understand one another, also challenges society at large to re-think its idea of what being a man entails and what this means for society itself and how such concepts limits men and women’s freedom to be, to live and to understand each other.

Genres: Queer, Audiobook, Nonfiction, LGBT, Nigeria, Anthologies, Africa

140 pages, Hardcover

Published June 20, 2023

About the author

Jude Dibia (born 5 January 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria)is a Nigerian novelist.

Dibia studied at the University of Ibadan, and earned a B.A in Modern European Languages (German). He is the author of three well received novels: Walking with Shadows (BlackSands Books, 2005), Unbridled (2007), and Blackbird (2011). His novels have been described as daring and controversial by readers and critics in and out of Africa. Walking with Shadows is said to be the first Nigerian novel that has a gay man as its central character and that treats his experience with great insight, inviting a positive response to his situation. Unbridled, too, stirred some controversy on its publication; it is a story that tackles the emancipation of its female protagonist, who had suffered from incest and various abuse from men. Unbridled went on to win the 2007 Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Prose (sponsored by NDDC/ANA) and was a finalist in the 2007 Nigeria Prize for Literature (sponsored by NLNG).

Dibia’s short stories have appeared on various online literary sites, including AfricanWriter.com and Halftribe.com. One of his short stories is included in the anthology One World: A global anthology of short stories, alongside stories by such critically acclaimed writers as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jhumpa Lahiri.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Solly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of testimonies from queer nigerian men. Delves into their relationships with their families, their sexuality, religion, and their country. Interesting to see how most of the men who leave Nigeria at some point seem to come back despite the oppression they face (some highlight that they'd rather marry a woman and hide their sexuality than face the racism they face in the US for example). I think there's a volume about queer nigerian women as well and I really want to pick it up as well.

[Uchenna (favourite_igbo_boy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m glad stories like this exist.

[Madison Leffler · Rating 5 out of 5]

To start, I give all true testimonials a five star rating. I do this because I haven’t lived their life and their story is something only they have lived and they can tell. The stories shared in this book were sad and I can’t imagine living my life hiding who I am from those who claim to love me the most. This was a book club book pick and I highly recommend!

[Gerson Mendes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Offers No Safety, Nigeria’s Queer Men Speak is a powerful and insightful collection that delves into the lives of queer men in Nigeria, offering a raw and honest glimpse into the challenges they face in a repressive society. The book is not only a reflection of the Nigerian queer experience but resonates with African queer men as a whole.

The stories within the book are both similar and different, showcasing the common theme of an urgent need to hide one’s true identity in order to survive. Many of the men featured in the book discuss the pressures of getting married to women and having children, a response to societal expectations and the desire to avoid persecution. Some men share painful experiences of being beaten or shamed, while others, though few, find some acceptance in their communities.


This book is a must-read for anyone curious about the realities of existing as a queer man in Nigeria, and by extension, in other African countries where repression runs deep. It’s an eye-opening exploration of identity, survival, and resistance. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to understand the queer experience in these contexts. I’d give it a solid four stars for its honesty, depth, and relatability !

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s impossible to look away from this book. This anthology of Nigerian queer men's stories is a movement.

The introduction is so great and well written. It sets the tone for what's coming: unapologetic, painful, and necessary. The stories are a necessary conversation. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll rage. You'll feel. I’m so glad books like this exist. It’s a mirror to the harsh realities of Nigerian queer men and definitely a call to listen, to understand and to act.

[Alysses]

Whoah. I need to come back to this review.

[Jellybean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A valuable light on the lives of queer men in Nigeria that are relegated to society's margins. Interesting to see how rampant infidelity and marrying women while carrying on a double life is, though, from the few accounts I've read, it sounds like this was essentially life for gay men in the US pre-gay liberation as well.