Kwara is caught in the eye of a storm as airs of unrest continue to fester over the right of the Muslim girl-child to wear the Hijab in public schools in the North-Central state.

While the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) tries to stand its ground on the need for the state government to hold off its fiat decision to allow the wearing of Hijab by willing Muslim students, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has come out to warn CAN against doing what it calls illegal and illegitimate.

MURIC is blaming CAN for the unrest in Kwara claiming the body, “called its members to occupy the troubled schools,” and insisting that CAN should, “be held responsible for whatever happens in those schools.”

The standoff, with very young students caught in the middle of it, continues.

It begs the question, who really is responsible for this fracas?

More than though, it forces every right-thinking Nigerian to wonder when religious tensions will become a thing of the past in Nigeria.

This wouldn’t be the first time that a poorly handled religious matter precipitates into a tense standoff between the two bodies, with the government who bungled the issues to begin with, standing on the periphery and stepping in to save the day when things come to a head.

The blame game, however unproductive it may seem considering the party responsible is far from difficult to ascertain, is harmful not only to religious cohesion in the long run but also to the students in the interim.

It is worth mentioning that this unproductive back and forth is what sows and feeds the embers of hate in the hearts of innocent children who later grow into unthinking adults fixated on group loyalty strictly rooted on religious lines.

Whoever is to blame, CAN as well as MURIC have a responsibility to think about the children caught up in this needless back and forth.

Ado Aminu

Ado Aminu writes to expand human stories. When not reading, writing or arguing about how the patriarchy has and continues to ruin everything, you’ll find him daydreaming about his next cup of coffee. You can follow him on Twitter @PettyMuse.