by Joachim MacEbong
Trying to fit everyone in the same box is not education. Neither is it fairness. Babatunde Fashola needs to reverse this decision immediately.
Perhaps the key problem with balancing the various interests in a multi-religious, multi-ethnic country is trying to be ‘fair’ to everybody. This ‘fairness’ manifests itself in concepts like ‘zoning’, ‘rotation’, ‘federal character’, ‘catchment area’ and ‘quota’. It is supposed to make everyone feel welcome, but that really isn’t what happens. These concepts breed mediocrity instead of excellence. These concepts betray an inability to forge a national identity that would make such concepts irrelevant. Instead of making sure that everyone has equal opportunity, we rather entrench inequality and resort to tokenism to paper over the cracks, harming the country as a whole.
This peculiar idea of ‘fairness’ manifests itself in other forms, like the push for a false equivalence regarding religious practice, and the Lagos State government has given us a perfect example. The recent banning of Hijabs in state schools is supposedly to enforce a uniform dress code. This is total rubbish, of course, but let’s examine why.
I am not a Muslim, but just by observation, I can see that the garment covers the head, ears and shoulder area. Some variations include a covering of the face as well, but these appear to be a minority. Let us also note that a lot of Muslim females do not wear the Hijab. Essentially, it is an outward sign of an inner spiritual disposition, the way a Catholic – which I am – might wear a rosary on the neck or finger, a scapular. We must also note that very many Catholics do not wear any of these.
That is the beauty of religion. It is personal. It is a purely personal relationship with and interpretation of the Higher Power an individual communes with. So long as this external expression is not offensive – and the Hijab isn’t – government should not interfere. Wearing a Hijab that identifies a person for administrative purposes in no way interferes with a school uniform, and should not be banned.
A good middle ground could be that all Muslim females leave their faces uncovered while in school, to enable interaction with fellow students and teachers, and can cover their faces after school if they so wish. This move by Lagos state education officials smacks of a lack of imagination and sensitivity, not to mention an all too familiar obsession with majoring in the minor, that in no way helps improve educational outcomes in the state.
Those who hate government point to its needless meddling as a key reason for this dislike. This easily falls into such a category. Trying to fit everyone in the same box is not education. Neither is it fairness. Babatunde Fashola needs to reverse this decision immediately.
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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
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One, the commissioner for education has refuted such rumour. It was only a rumour and even before this was confirmed a rumour, i knew it had to be one because covering of the hair is a religious obligation of a muslim woman. And Fashola as a muslim knows the importance of this and I doubt if such emanated from his government.
Secondly, i’m also a catholic but you must understand that unlike our rosary and scapular wearing which is optional, the hijjab is a must for a muslim woman. Ask a muslim or google, only her husband, if married; or siblings are allowed to see her hair. I thinks that the obvious westernisation of Lagos has somehow affected such practise in Lagos but in other parts of Nigeria where Islam is predominantly practised, it is a norm. It is simply an islamic practise. So your words ‘alot of muslim women don’t wear the njjab is a fact’ isn’t a fact. Rather, i would say it is disobidience to laid islamic injunctions or a lifestyle decision or westernization. So we can conclusively say, it is wrong for a muslim woman not to cover her hair. Its just that as non-muslims, we want things to be civilised and not based on religion. On that note, i understand.
Good words and your intentions and article is great but you must get your facts right, religion is very sensitive and important. Some people do not understand some salient points, thus it is our responsibilities as writers and journalists to really be sure of our facts and information. People are watching…
God bless
One, the commissioner for education has refuted such rumour. It was only a rumour and even before this was confirmed a rumour, i knew it had to be one because covering of the hair is a religious obligation of a muslim woman. And Fashola as a muslim knows the importance of this and I doubt if such emanated from his government.
Secondly, i’m also a catholic but you must understand that unlike our rosary and scapular wearing which is optional, the hijjab is a must for a muslim woman. Ask a muslim or google, only her husband, if married; or siblings are allowed to see her hair. I thinks that the obvious westernisation of Lagos has somehow affected such practise in Lagos but in other parts of Nigeria where Islam is predominantly practised, it is a norm. It is simply an islamic practise. So your words ‘alot of muslim women don’t wear the njjab is a fact’ isn’t a fact. Rather, i would say it is disobidience to laid islamic injunctions or a lifestyle decision or westernization. So we can conclusively say, it is wrong for a muslim woman not to cover her hair. Its just that as non-muslims, we want things to be civilised and not based on religion. On that note, i understand.
Good words and your intentions and article is great but you must get your facts right, religion is very sensitive and important. Some people do not understand some salient points, thus it is our responsibilities as writers and journalists to really be sure of our facts and information. People are watching.
God bless
First, nigeria is not a secular but a multireligious country. Two, if their hijaab is dirty, which is a big lie and malicious, then tell them to make it clean, afterall they ar able to make their uniform clean. Third, who decides what is standard and what is not? If God who created u sets a standard of dressing, and u a bloody mortal created from a single despicabble sperm has d effrontery to say no to dt standard, who are u then to talk of stansard? Hijaab does not affect any standard. So stop bein inconsiderate, malicious and selfish!
Thank u so much for your genuine and unbiased statement even though u ar not a muslim. Nigeria is not a secular but multi-religious country. God bless u.
Very succinct! I schooled in a public secondary school in the north and nobody clamored for hijab. These folk should something else to gripe about.
maybe Lagos statet government will prefare wearing skippy and beach wear to school, is that the most important issue for Fashol agovernment to deal with now, please concentrate on issue that will better the citizen life. Who is complaining about hijab wearing, Lagos state government you guys are loosing it, please seat up
I tink d govt should incooporate d wearing of hijabs in d armed forces n oda security agencies as well…Mtchewwwww dem no know where islamic schools dey?rubbish…
Wats foreign in hijab that you say? Islam has laws and as a Muslim you are bound to follow them thats the beauty and distinction from other faiths and we are seeing the masters of secularism abolishing moral laws and introducing ungodly medieval age laws such as gay marriage even in churches. secularism is a dead end if we want to be secular as you say why don’t we make Mondays and Tuesdays our weekends instead of Sunday which favours the Christian alone. pls let’s learn the true meaning of tolerance
…only friday… i meant to write
I want to stress that the decision of the Lagos State Government is spot on. I do not agree with the sentiments shared by Mr. Joachim. Firstly, you must understand that if we are to cohabit freely in a secular state devoid of preferential treatments to a particular sect or religion, we must expunge anything that would foster such. The issue of wearing Hijabs in public schools is something that is sickening in the first place. It not only isolates some group of students and sends the wrong signal that they are “different” from the rest of the pack; it also undermines the whole essence of wearing a “uniform.” If you’ve seen most of these female students in state schools, you would observe that their hijabs are often drab, dirty, and sometimes too long, making a mockery of their uniforms and making the wearers look scruffy.
On the point that religion is a personal thing and so people must have the right to practice their religion as they see fit, I totally disagree. Yes everyone has a right to their religion and a good democratic society as ours must permit such, but there are limits and boundaries.
Now, let’s look at this scenario: how will it feel if Ifa boys(adherents) decide that they will start adding their worship garbs to their uniforms, or wear a funny hair cut, or even plait their hair to school because “it is an outward sign of an inner spiritual disposition?” Or if other Christian girls start covering their hair with assorted scarfs because their tenets demands so? I leave to your imagination the pandemonium that would ensue. The analogy of the rosary as in the case of Catholics doesn’t hold water because not only do Muslims have their own version of rosaries, the rosary does not interfere with the uniform of schools, and the Hijab clearly does.
It is instructive that Nigerians must learn that religion is a beautiful spiritual force that molds us to be a better person, not a tool for segregation or showmanship. The beauty of religion is best displayed when the adherents are able to “internalize” the virtues of their doctrines and “manifest” it publicly by a renewal that is characterized by decorum, civility, and most importantly, love for one another. Hijabs or any other religious tokens don’t change the individual, or in this context, society. Anything short of this will be sheer hypocrisy.
I have often suggested that parents who feel their daughters must put on the Hijab to stress their “spiritual identity” can freely do with good private Islamic schools where it is even a standard to put on Hijabs! But in “public” schools, there must be uniformity and standards that are practically acceptable to all. To say that the Hijab is not offensive is subjective, because what is offensive to me may not be offensive to you and vice-versa, which lends credence to the saying that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”
And I believe it’s in lieu of the reasons that I have hinted upon that the Lagos State Government, which is headed by a Muslim, decided to ban the Hijab. Let’s not be more catholic than the pope by making unnecessary fuss out of this; I believe it is a good decision.
secular state indeed! purportedly secular state government school, we pray in xtian way four out five times in a week; those times morning assembly r conducted as though we r in church. only is left for muslims. wat is seculiarism in this?
Islam is ways of life which mean very thing u do in totality, however, let me educates you people with the knowledge of islam.islam make it conpulsory for girl child or women to dress decent and 1 of it is to wear hijab. I am surprise with babatunde who is a muslim and I believed he knows the importats of hijab.
To be frank with you, I think Fashola is right, hijab or no hijab, religion should be practice at home. We run a secular government. Hijab should be done a way with, a couple of hours won’t kill you.
Nigeria is a not a secular country. It is a multireligious country. Secularism is a way of sayin dt we dont want God to interfere in our affairs. If u dont want God in ur live, do u hav d right to stop others from having God in their own lives? Pls dont be inconsiderate and selfish in ur opinions. And why should we be running a secular govt in d first instance? If u think u dont want God in ur live, is it possible for u to live at any other place other than God’s earth?
As usual, he missed the point!
At issue is not the right to wear the Hijab; it is whether the Hijab was necessary in the first place.
Public schools in Lagos have never included the Hijab as part of their uniform so these attempts to slip it in through a backdoor is not only deceitful but also puerile.
School uniforms promote equality and teach egalitarianism to school children. Introducing a foreign clothing will hinder that. If you want your children to wear hijab, send them to Islamic schools where they will be able to hide their face from the public behind the garb.
Leave public, secular schools to those who want to be public. And secular.
Nigeria is a not a secular country. It is a multireligious country. Secularism is a way of sayin dt we dont want God to interfere in our affairs. If u dont want God in ur live, do u hav d right to stop others from having God in their own lives? U ar just bein inconsiderate, selfish and malicious in ur submission. If u dont want God in ur live, then leave God’s earth nd go live somewhere else!