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Stopping Muslim Schoolgirls From Wearing Hijab Violates Our Laws, Says Kwara Govt
The Kwara state government has clarified its position on the use of hijab in public schools in the state, saying it didn’t impose use of the religious headgear on students in public schools.
Ekohotblog reports that the state has been making headlines in recent weeks over the contentious issue of hijab use in public schools, especially missionary schools that are sustained and run with grants and aids.
The state government had, on February 19, shut down 10 schools after an altercation ensued over the propriety or otherwise of use of hijab by Muslim female students in public schools.
What started as a verbal dispute on religious regalia snowballed into violence on Wednesday in Ilorin, where Christians and Muslims engaged in a confrontation following the decision of the state government to reopen 10 schools earlier closed.
Justifying its reopening of the schools and approval of hijab use in public schools, the state government in a statement on Wednesday, said permitting female Muslim students to use hijab in schools amounts to upholding their fundamental human rights.
In the statement signed by Mamman Jibril, the secretary to Kwara state government, the state said preventing Muslim female student from wearing hijab in public schools is a “violent contravention of provisions of Section 38 of the constitution”.
hijab School, Kwara
“It is important to clarify that the government is not imposing the hijab. It is not mandatory for all our schoolgirls to wear hijab,” it said
“Rather, the state government approves hijab for any Muslim schoolgirl who wishes to use it. The government is only respecting the fundamental human right of those schoolgirls. Nothing more.
“This has been communicated to all school heads via a circular of the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development.”
“Secondly, the law today is that any willing Muslim schoolgirl cannot be stopped from wearing hijab in public schools. Anything to the contrary will be in violent contravention of provisions of Section 38 of the Constitution,” the state government said.
The state government cited the rulings of the appellate Court to justify its stance, saying it cannot violate the provisions of Nigeria laws.
“The Court of Appeal has affirmed this position in at least three different declaratory judgments. The Government of Kwara State, a product of democracy and rule of law, cannot go contrary to the law.
“Besides, the hijab question has come under the concept of pluralism and multiculturalism in the global community, including in the western world. States like Ekiti, Osun, Oyo and Lagos have gone through this debate and they all resolved in favour of pluralism.”
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