Hijab: CAN Condemns Kwara Gov’s ‘Open Bias,’ Warns Against ‘Religious Overzealousness’

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has attacked Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for approving the wearing of Hijab by Muslim schoolgirls in Christian missionary schools in the state despite a pending court case on the matter.

THE WHISTLER had last month reported how the state government ordered the closure of 10 missionary schools in the state over irreconcilable differences on the wearing of Hijab by Muslim students.

CAN, in a statement sent to this website on Tuesday, slammed Governor AbdulRazaq for showing “open bias for one religion with his inability to wait for court process to be concluded” over the matter.

It described the governor’s action as “premature” and vowed to use all lawful means to reverse his directive.

The Kwara State Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development had on Monday postponed the resumption date of the missionary schools indefinitely, citing “safety reasons”.

Governor AbdulRazaq was also said to have ordered the deployment of security agents to the schools to forestall breakdown of law and order.

But CAN, in the statement signed by its General Secretary, Joseph Bade Daramola, criticized the governor’s ‘poor’ handling of the matter.

The association asked the governor if he was above the law that he could not wait for the outcome of the court case before directing the Muslim students to resume classes with their Hijabs.

CAN also accused Governor AbdulRazaq of “religious overzealousness”, warning that his failure to reverse the directive may threaten the state’s peace.

“This advice is necessary because we see the action of the Governor of the state as premature and equally prejudicial. It appears to be a contempt of the court because the governor is aware that there is a pending court case on this matter over which the court had earlier ruled that the status quo should be maintained. Is the governor now saying that he is above the law? What is going to spoil if we all wait for the court to pronounce judgement on the matter? Why this hasty action?

“We recall that some people took laws into their hands in the state by going from school to school to be enforcing the wearing of hijab in secondary schools including the schools owned by mission agents but are only grant-aided by the government. Instead of the government to caution such trouble makers and admonish them to wait for the court process to be concluded and judgement delivered, the government of Kwara State has shown its religious bias by the blanket approval of the wearing of hijab, even in Christian Mission Schools. This action of the government of Kwara State is not only discriminatory and divisive, but it equally suggests that the government was the one behind the earlier illegal enforcement of the wearing of hijab in Christian schools. While the government may give directive on its own schools, it ought to respect the schools it does not directly own nor started and respect the religious cultures of such schools as well.

“We urge the political elites to stop using their religious overzealousness in causing division in the society but rather treat all equally irrespective of religious and ethic affiliation. If we would all do pilgrimage together, there must be fairness to all, mutual respect and justice. No political leader should use his or her position to further the cause of any particular religion or ethnic group in order for peace to prevail,” it said.