Hijab: OSSG must obey court – MUSWEN …says CAN “is challenging Allah’s directive”

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By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan.
The Muslim Ummah of South West of Nigeria (MUSWEN) has tasked Osun State Government to order immediate wearing of Hijabs by female students to public primary and secondary schools in the state in compliance with the order of the state High Court sitting in Osogbo.
MUSWEN made the call in Ibadan at a press conference addressed by its Executive Secretary, Professor Dawud Noibi on the drama over the wearing of Hijab by female students in the state.
Professor Noibi declared that the stiff opposition of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leadership in Osun State to Muslim students wearing Hijab to public schools originally owned by Christian Missionary proprietors in the state is inappropriate.
According to MUSWEN, there was no basis for such opposition to wearing of hijab to public schools by the CAN, saying, “what the CAN leadership are doing in this case “is challenging the directive of Allah.”,
“We believe that barring any attempt to frustrate the enforcement of the court order, the government has adequate machinery to enforce the order.  Indeed, only the government possesses the power to enforce all laws. To this end, we will be glad to see the Osun State Government do the needful on the court order.  Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done,” he said.
Professor Noibi added that “how does a Muslim girl’s wearing of Hijab offend Christians? If CAN still feels strongly about the judgment, they should follow the commendable example of the Muslims of Lagos State by following the path of law.”
“Let the CAN leadership learn from the fact that Nigerian Muslims have demonstrated tolerance in the face of the imposition of the vestiges of Christian colonial legacies such as the observance of Sabbath on Sunday (and later on Saturday for Seventh Day Adventists) as well as the Gregorian calendar”.
The MUSWEN scribe emphasized that there is the need for every Nigerian “to adopt the spirit of give and take and accord our judiciary the respect that it deserves”.
“Resort to self help will ultimately help nobody.  It does not cost much for us to live together in peace and harmony. In our multi-religious, not secular nation, the peculiarities of the groups that make up the Nigerian State must be respected within the limits of the law. This is the only way by which we can all make progress together and in peace”.
While appealing “to all Muslims to remain calm and not to be provoked in spite of the challenging situation,” Professor Noibi frowned at a section of the Nigerian media for purportedly allowing “primordial sentiment to becloud their sense of impartiality by joining the fray in their editorial comments on the issue of the wearing of Hijab by Osun Muslim students” saying, “the media should always take notice that a huge responsibility goes with the enormous power that they hold over the health of the nation”.
It will be recalled that a judge of the Osun State Judiciary, Justice Jide Saka Falola, had on June 3, 2016 ruled that the use of Hijab by female Muslims is their fundamental human right to freedom of religion, conscience and thought, and as such no female student should be molested or sent out of school for wearing it, premising his judgment on Section 38 of the Nigeria Constitution and Article 8 of the 2004 Policy published by the state Ministry of Education.

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