The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
has described the ban on hijab by the University of Ibadan International School
(UIIS) as invitation to chaos and a threat to girl-child education.
MURIC in a press statement on
Tuesday pointed out that the ban provoked Muslim parents who protested at the
gates of the school on Monday.
The body condemned the principal,
Mrs Phebean Olowe, for the ban and lamented that at a time when the world was
struggling to boost girl-child education and reduce the number of out-of-school
children, UI school was issuing anti-girl-child education directives.
It said: “It is such a shame.
Britain and America are encouraging the wearing of hijab in their schools but
here we find a school administrator constituting herself into a cog in the
wheel of progress particularly in the area of girl-child education. Can this be
attributed to lack of exposure? This principal is in dire need of a sabbatical
leave outside Nigeria.
“She should have known that UIIS
is an elitist academic environment where all the parents (Christians or
Muslims) know their rights. Many of the Muslim parents are staff of the
university. Why must she chew more than she can swallow? Why must she bring an
alien, parochial and archaic agenda to an academic setting? This is obviously a
failure in administration.
“A good administrator will
consult parents before taking such a sensitive decision and there are a lot of
opportunities for her to do that. Religion is a sensitive matter. She must have
a hidden agenda otherwise she would not have made such an attempt in view of
the proliferation of hijab stories in the news. No school administrator worth
the salt will issue an anti-hijab instruction in view of recent events around
the country unless such a principal is from Mars or Mercury”.
“We hail the Muslim parents of
UIIS for standing up in loco parentis. These parents have refused to abdicate
their responsibilities. They have a duty to educate their children and to
monitor their progress as prescribed in Qur’an 2:233. They have successfully
done that. They also have a duty to protect their children from abuse, stigma
and religious discrimination. They have proved that they are capable of doing
that. We are proud of them.
“We are particularly happy with
these parents for the peaceful manner in which they conducted their protest.
They have proved beyond any iota of doubt that they are true ambassadors of
Islam. The adherents of the religion of peace cannot afford to eschew the path
of peace. We assure them of our full support. MURIC will keenly monitor the
progress of this matter.
“We appeal to the management of
the University of Ibadan (UI) to intervene in this matter. It should not be
allowed to escalate. UI is a center of academic excellence. The authorities
should not allow administrative shenanigans and educational charlatans to turn
its International School into a center for religious apartheid. It is high time
UIIS realized that Nigerian Muslims have come of age.
“We call on the school principal
to face reality. Nigeria belongs to all of us. We should learn to coexist.
Muslims will no longer accept a situation whereby everything is designed to
suit Christians and Muslims are left to choose between accepting the Christian
way of life or abandoning education. The Nigerian school uniform was designed
by Christian colonial masters.
“It is therefore a manifestation
of neo-imperialism cum totalitarian dictatorship to force Muslim children to
wear Christian uniforms. It smacks of lack of religious tolerance. Mrs. Phebean
Olowe should resign if she cannot tolerate the sight of female Muslim children
in hijab because she is going to be seeing quite a lot of them these days.
“Finally, we appeal to Muslims in
the city of Ibadan and Oyo State in particular as well as all over Nigeria to
remain calm and law abiding. We should give the UI management the benefit of
doubt and the opportunity to wade into the matter. However, all Muslim parents
are advised to remain alert because eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Aluta continua because it is not yet Uhuru”.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
This MURIC man.....are we now a confused people? School uniform should be "uniform" in nature regardless of race and religion. If this is allowed, then Traditional religion worshippers to should be allowed to wear their traditional attire to school in the name of religion!!!
ReplyDeleteTheses confused ELITES should better leave children to face their future instead of confusing them with non-issues!
What a wasted generation of elders!!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGeneration of elders in Nigeria, please let focus on weightier matters and avoid what will may have effect on the future of this children. Is it not the same HIJAB that is being employed in detonating bomb?
ReplyDeleteSave our future generation please please please!!!