₦airaland Forum

[size=14pt]Nigerian Muslims Welcome Court Ruling on Hijab[/size]

By Khedr Abdel Baki, IOL Correspondent
ABUJA, November 20
(IslamOnline.net)

Nigerian Muslims hailed a court ruling against a decision by the Lagos state government banning hijab in state schools under claims of inciting sectarian division in the country.

The verdict deals a serious blow to continued attempts to ban hijab in Nigeria, especially in southern areas, Abdul Wahab Baba Nafae, a Muslim activist, told IslamOnline.net Saturday, November 20.

“Some fanatic Christians have been resorting to such attempts [to ban hijab] after failing to contain the growing Islamic tide in Nigeria,” he said.

“They should abandon their provocative schemes and respect the rule of law. We are only exercising our constitutional rights."

The activist recalled that similar legal actions has been taken in several Nigerian states to ban hijab in public schools.

Baseless Claim

[b]The Lagos High Court ruled on Thursday, November 18, that no party or person can force Muslim girls to take off their hijab which, it maintained, is part and parcel of personal freedoms.

In October, the Lagos National Institute of Health and Technology banned Muslim students from entering classrooms, a decision backed by the state government.

Students Fatimo Abidemi Razak, Titilayo Sanni, Idiatu Asabi Ayinde and Sunbo Bada challenged the decision with the high court, asking that the ban be declared illegal and a breach of their rights.

Judge Olubunmi Oyewole of the High Court ruled that the ban was a breach of articles 38 and 42 of the Nigerian constitution.

He further said the institution failed to prove how hijab could spark a religious conflict.

The judge underscored that the institute, a public school funded by tax payers and owned by the Lagos state government, cannot operate outside the provisions of Constitution.

Refuting arguments that the students ought to abide by the institute’s regulations expressed in their admission letters, Oyewole said they did not waive their rights to their religious beliefs and practice merely because they accepted the admission letters.[/b]

According to official statistics, 55% of Nigerians are Muslims while 40% are Christians.

However, other estimates indicated that Muslims make up some 65 percent of the country’s 133 million population.

Twelve of Nigeria’s 36 states have gradually applied the provisions of Shari'ah since the return of democracy to the country in 1999, despite the fierce opposition from the federal government.

Hijab

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

The issue of wearing hijab caught world attention after France adopted a controversial law banning hijab in public schools, which came into effect in September.

The decision, branded as “discriminatory” by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), left many Muslim school girls tormented between religious obligation and education needs.

In October, Cennet Doganay, 15, took off her hijab as she was entering the Louis Pasteur Lycee high school in Strasbourg, eastern France, only to reveal a bald head.

[size=14pt]'Stop Ban On Religious Attires in Schools'.[/size]

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire | November 17, 2004

(From P.M. News (Nigeria) - AAGM)

An Ikeja High Court has ordered the Lagos State Government not to ban the wearing of hijab by female Muslim students of the Lagos State School of Health Technology. Hijab is a piece of cloth female Muslim faithful use to cover their heads down to the shoulders.

Also restrained over the said act are the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Attorney General of the State, and Director Lagos State School of Health Technology, Dr. E.K.O. John.

Four female students of the school, Fatimo Abidemi Razak, Titilayo Sanni, Idiatu Asabi Ayinde, and Sunbo Bada, dragged the school and other restrained personnel to court …

juleze: I hope you quote this to Ile-kewus (school where Koran is taught) who flog little children mercilessly for missing out on any of †ђξ Koran.
All of you complaining, whoilf you stop your children from attending †ђξ school if you saw how †ђξ Alfas beat them?
♍Ɣ dad faced this and I don't envy him one bit. Beating children like malu (including †ђξ principal, I'd she really beat †ђξ young girl), yet if they're beaten that way, they'll cry like babies *hiss*

To those who say majority of Lagosians are Muslims, you must be kidding!!!
Is it because of all †ђξ Kamorus, Lukmans and Shakirus you hear at †ђξ bus-stops that gives you such beliefs? I'm a Lagosian and I can categorically tell you this is false.

naptu2: It's one of the sad things about Nigeria that we need to change. The constitution protects the rights of all, but how many people know the contents of the constitution? How many people know about the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy as enshrined in the constitution? How many people are ready to go to court to enforce their rights?

Luckily, those students were prepared to go to court to enforce their rights and the court ruled in their favour.

shanktang: i have not seen that right anywhere on the pages of the law i'm afraid and i'll be so glad if u could make some ref. posts on nairaland are not the law.
using of christian hym book the songs of praise was banned in public schools long ago, why would the government pass law to support one and discard the other, if they truly support the use of hijab in public schools.

mbhs139: we don't even know what to believe as regards this case anymore

shanktang: as much as i do not agree wth the principal's flogging of the student which i think is absolutely wicked, inhuman and an abuse of her person, and should be cautioned very strongly for that, though i think 43 strokes of cane must be a high exagiration, i still want to point out the fact dat the country is a circular state and is runned as such and anything religion is detatched from management of its institutions, thats the reason singing of songs of praises were stoped in all public schools in lagos, the schools have regulations on dress code which i think all parents should ensure they make thier wards abide to, whatever the student have done i'm sure must have come from the high ignorance of the parent to the school's dressing regulations and i think they should have been informed first about it rather than take to floging of the student, based on that alone the principal should be very strongly cautioned.

wirinet: It is good general knowledge to know the meaning of Jewish names, but what of the meaning of our own names. Would it not make better sense to provide the meaning of such name like Osewa, Osotimehin, ikechukwu, chidinma, and thousands of other names our forefathers were called. Why the obsession with Jewish, Arabic, Greek and English names. Do the Jews bother to know the meaning of our own names?

InHim4Him: My interest has been drawn to the emphasis on the constitution in this matter. So, the constitution should protect the rights of ONLY one section of society? Then that constitution is worthless for the generality of the public. If the tenets of public schools (mind you, NOT RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS) cannot be respected, then the constitution that grants institutions statutory rights should be reviewed. NL and members should not use the forum to fan embers of cheap popularity and baseless sympathies..

shadrach77: Lagos Parents May Go To Jail For Flogging Their Children
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Author: Date: Jul 7th, 2010. | Category: Metro, News. | Follow comments: RSS 2.0. | You can leave a response below. |

If the Criminal Law Bill currently being deliberated by the Lagos State House of Assembly sails through, then many parents in the state would face various prison terms for beating up their kids.

The bill has prescribed prison terms for various offences including the beating or flogging of children by their parents.

The bill also sees the maltreatment of animals as a criminal offence while the culprits are liable to imprisonment.

It also seeks to legalise abortion but this is limited to incidents of rape and incest.

This was made known at a public hearing on the bill for a law to enact rules on criminal conduct, regulate public order and for other connected purposes with the title: “The Criminal Law of Lagos State 2010”.

The bill, if passed into law, would also promote an orderly society, foster collective obligation and duty towards the preservation and protection of life and property.

It would also discourage and deal with conducts that unjustifiably and inexcusably inflict or threaten substantial harm to individual or public interests.

The bill also seeks to look at persons whose conducts indicate that they are disposed to commit offences.

The bill which is divided into nine parts, 48 chapters and 414 sections, classifies offences into three types namely: felony, misdemeanours and simple offences.

Section eight of the bill defines felony as “any offence which is declared by law to be a felony, or is punishable, without proof of previous conviction with death or with imprisonment for three years or more.

“All offences, other than felonies and misdemeanours are simple offences.”

However, some Lagosians who attended the public hearing advocated for the abolishment of capital punishment, life imprisonment, and called for the legalisation of abortion in cases of incest, rape, HIV/AIDS and other unusual circumstances.

According to them, the maximum prison sentence for offenders should be put at 20 years since criminals could be reformed and make meaningful contribution to the society after serving their prison terms.

Professor Adedokun Adeyemi of the University of Lagos, while commenting on the issue said, “death penalty does not affect the rate of criminality and Lagos in the 21st century should not adopt it.”

—Eromosele Ebhomele

Sissie: This is a sad case, and has a muslim female, I know my experiences with the hijab, people generally have no respect for other peoples religion, the Nigerian institutional system doesn't help matters, when I was in NYSC camp, the christian lady assistant camp director called out one of my friends in public and told her to untie her veil, (which was white colour) and use the cap that was provided, she refused, the lady threatened decamping my friend. The camp director had to intervene. I had similar experience when I went for clearance. My whole point is, hijab for the Muslim female is compulsory evn thou we don't all adhere to it, but telling people to behave like Romans when in Rome, and I should remove my hijab or the girl in question should remove her hijab is just wrong, you can't tell someone to remove their cloths in public, just the same way you can't tell me to remove my hijab just to conform with the norm. we really need to learn to be civil with each other, considering the fact that Muslims are passionate bout their religion, I won't tell a Hindu man to eat cow meat when he comes to Nigeria just because i eat cow meat. Besides their should be law against flogging children more than 5 strokes of cane irrespective of the crime in schools.

pendy79: Bros it is silent hour not quiet hour and it is not for religious purpose. Silent hour is a private and personal reading period in the evenings after dinner. We never had any religious time out at Mayflower School. @ post the wave of islamaphobic tendencies in the western media is being brought home by peeps especially Easterners. Pls all Muslims are not Hausa/fulanis. I work in the south south and I witness the discrimination even at work. It is high time the Lagos State Government call all non indigenes head of institutions in lagos that we are a multi religious state. You can never have a yoruba heading a public secondary/primary school in any place in the south south or south east. I am a Muslim and infact a proud one.

debosky: Unbelievably stoopid reporting. So because I say something is the cause then it's true? Or some 'pictures' are responsible for Ocean tides?

Usual rubbish from Sahara Reporters.

edoyad: This Sahara reporters could be rubbish sometimes, do they have any scientific findings to back their report?

naptu2: Magnitude 5.2 earthquake @ Central Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc000c1np.php

naptu2: False! Actually, the sea wall at Bar Beach and Eko Atlantic City helped to reduce the impact of the tsunami. Back in the '80s and '90s, when this sort of ocean surge was common, Ahmadu Bello Way and a large part of Victoria Island would have been taken over by the ocean.


However, this particular tsunami is likely the result of the off-shore earthquake that occurred almost 24 hours earlier.