am happy for u all my brothers and sisters. pls when, WHERE ANd how is the mainLANd edition WILL GO, PLS UPDATE US. Big jazakumullahu khaeran TO JARUS

@tbaba, may Allah (subhaanahu wata aala) preserve u for this ummah with good deeds. Always love ur quranic exegesis. Which tafsir book are u using. And I will love if u can send me ur mail to balogun_u@yahoo.com

mu2sa2: Let labour and civil society organizations mobilize people nationwide on this noble cause of no light, no pay. Gej and governors enjoy 24 hours` power supply that`s why they are paying lip service to the issue.

Suppoerted.

Some misguided youths that suppose to have flooded this and signed in favour will not come nw buh if na 'oga @d top' etc they will have time. Nigerian youthswake up

Good morning Esteemed Friends..Please read these words of M. D. Okodi...On Rethink; I support marrying out a girl "AS SOON AS SHE ATTAINS ADULTHOOD". Now am writing from common sense, because common sense is uncommon! Nigerian Youths today are the MOST STUPID & IGNORANT set of individuals on earth. A bunch of STAGNANT IDIOTS with no will of moving forward (I do not mean to be provocative). We waste our time on social networks creating confusion out of nothing. Months ago it was the OGA @ THE TOP saga! Now its SAY NO TO EARLY GIRL MARRIAGE! So what if a man decides to marry out his daughter early?? Nobody is forcing anybody to marry out his' early too. You can decide to keep your Daughter Until 40 or even for a life time, nobody cares! After all you bedded your wife to have her. Today ASUU is on strike NO youth is broadcasting about it. ASUP just called off months old strike, no tongue sang about it during that period. When the Government is looting the country we are here pondering on who to marry out his daughter and who not to. Singing the Gospel " Give the girl a book not a husband" "give the girl a pen not a penis". What if you send her to school and she chooses a boyfriend over her books? Or chooses a penis over her pen? What if? How many of you girls can confidently say "I'm still a virgin from secondary through tertiary institution? How many of you guys can say my girlfriend told me its pen over penis? So please my fellow Nigerians, we should concentrate our forces to say: NO TO BAD GOVERNANCE,NO TO RECYCLED LEADERSHIP, NO TO ASUU/ASUP STRIKE, NO TO FUEL HIKE, NO TO BOKO HARAM vs FG, NO TO PHCN INCREASING TARRIF, NO TO CHILD AND MATERNAL MORTALITY...So many positive NOs to be said by us. This a wake up call to NIGERIAN YOUTHS.

Sent to me by Mosh Shayo

'I am Almajiri' says it all. You can jump to nearest lagoon, for all I care, your Senate cannot rule how I run my private and public life.
Islam is sufficient for me

Via 'I am Almajiri'
Why is it that when talking about early marriage most people focus only on 9 year olds? Are 9 year olds the only age group below 18?

How many under 14 mothers have you actually seen even in the core north where early marriage is a norm?

And by the way who is saying you must compulsorily give out your daughters before 18? For all we care leave her unmarried till death. You are just being told that it is permissible for her to marry once she reaches puberty and seeks to marry or someone seeks to marry her with her full consent. If she can do it out of wedlock why wont she do within wedlock?

Stop equating marital problem with early marriage. An irresponsible man is an rresponsible man wether his wife is 15 or 40. It is the your responsibility to check on your married daughters or sons well being once in a while (not frequently , not to poke nose or stir any inlaw wahala or inlaw gang up) as recommended by the sunna and as praticed by Ibrahim AS. That way a man will think twice before mistreating your daughter.

If you are worried about vvf know that ummarried pregnant teenager also have health hazard, and a hazard is a hazard isnt it? khalid Yasin said "I will rather have problems in a halal condition that in a haram condition"

And stop making a monster out of Yerima. His young wife maybe having a rosy nice time with all the attention and pampering of a caring muslim husband , unaware that you are out there stretching your jugular while your daughter maybe out there pinging all day, pleading for a boyfriend's attention or even spending on the boyfriend with the little pocket money you given her.

Note also that not every scholar is a muhadith. Not every one should give you a verdict on something that is clear and unambigous and you swallow hook, line and sinker.

Bukhari is the most authetic book after the Quran. If you are among those rejecting Bukharis hadith on Aisha's age of marriage, then becareful not to find yourself rejecting other tenets of Islam. And where will that leave you?

ON GIRL "CHILD" MARRIAGE

First let us start by stating that both those for and those against girl child marriage ( no matter how one defines a child ) commit the same theoretical error, though from opposite directions. For the proponents of girl child marriage, the practice is an expression of either a divine law or cultural belief. Girl child marriage is thus abstracted from its material and class basis. Opponents of the practice commit the same error of idealism by accusing the Nigerian senate of failing to remove a constitutional clause implicitly backing the practice as if this parliamentary act will tear away girl child marriage from its material basis and make it disappear. A section of the opponents of the practice simply attribute it to a mental sexual disorder, paedophilia! Petty bourgeois idealism thus dominates the debate about girl child marriage.

The Material Basis of Girl Child Marriage

Looking at advanced capitalist countries one can see a tendency of age of marriage rising with further development of productive forces. How could development of industry and commerce affect the socially defined appropriate age of marriage? To understand this one has to understand the evolution of labour under capitalism. For the purpose of this discussion we will focus on slave and child labour before discussing girl child marriage, which is a special kind of ( unpaid ) labour. Now the vanishing of slavery was not an act of kindness from the abolitionists nor was it as result of a sudden moral re-awakening of slave-trading and slave-owning classes. As machinery and technique developed and as markets for industrial products grew, slave labour became obsolete. Capitalist system of production and exchange required an army of free labourers that can freely exchange their labour power for wages. Additionally, there was a need for Africans to focus on producing raw materials for the industries of the West; wars carried out for the purpose of capturing slaves for sale severely interrupted this production of raw materials. Because of these material forces, capitalists launched an unrelenting struggle against this fetter of slave labour. No wonder that the most industrialized bourgeois nation at the time, Britain, led this struggle. It had nothing to do with moral awakening of white man.

What of child labour? Massive exploitation of children and women in factories was characteristic of early Western capitalism, much like what we see today in China, Bangaledash and other Asian countries. The capitalist logic of using the labour of children and women was/is that these were/are vulnerable groups less likely to resist wage cuts or fight for better working conditions. Exploitation of children and women in European factories had been going on for a long period of time. But as labour productivity increases, more schooling and training became necessary to create the kind of labour power an advanced economy can exploit. Thus it became necessary for children and women to get better education; the higher the development of productive forces and the more skilled labour is required the longer is the time spent in school to acquire such skills. Thus, children came to stay longer in school rather than working in factories and child labour eventually vanished in advanced capitalist countries because a child needed to spend her whole childhood years in school if she is to ever acquire the skills the capitalists would demand. So went the fate of child labour, just like slave labour, according to the development of productive forces.

It might already be clear to the reader what the material foundations of delayed age at marriage in advanced world are. Because the capitalist system increasingly demand a higher level of labour quality and hence longer period at school, the socially ideal age of marriage and starting family kept on rising. The data from United States Bureau of the Census revealed that over a period of 120 years, from 1890 to 2010, the median age at first marriage for Males rose from 26.1 years to 28.2 years. Females figures showed a bigger increase; from 22.0 years in 1890 to 26.1 years in 2010.

Figures from earlier times are hard to come by. But a shadow figure for the median age at first marriage is the legal lower limit for marriage known as age of consent. In most of the history of modern Europe and North America, age of consent was based on the age of menstruation for girls and appearance of pubic hair for males, a practice inherited from the Midieval period. This age limit was mostly in the range of 10 to 13 years. This had been the practice up to dawn of 20th century even in the most advanced capitalist country then, the Great Britain. But since 1885, starting from Britain, the age of consent had been increased to 16 tm 18 years. It must be stressed that age of consent is not synonymous with the real median age at first marriage. In US for example, the median age at first marriage in 1890 ( 26.1 for males and 22.0 for females ) is more than twice the age of consent of 10 to 13 years. Nevertheless, even the sclerotic legal age of consent has demonstrated a historical tendency to rise with the development of productive forces.

This brings us to the question of ideal age of marriage in capitalistically backward societies. Because a demand for high skilled labour is non-existent in these societies, the girl child need not to delay age at marriage for the functioning of the society. This is the basis of girl child marriage; not divine injunctions and certainly not failure of legislators to remove a dead clause from an abstract constitution.

To demonstrate this historical tendency we are going to quote the United Nations study on marriage patterns released in 2000. The study showed that the
average mean age at marriage among countries of the developed regions is 27.9
for males and 25.2 for females, compared
to 24.9 for males and 21.4 for females
among countries of the less developed
regions. In Europe and Northern
America, the mean age at marriage is at
least 29 years for both males and females
in Finland, Germany, Greenland, Iceland and Sweden; 24 years or less in the
Republic of Moldova, San Marino and
Ukraine; and, 21 years for females in
Bulgaria, Gibraltar, Republic of Moldova
and Ukraine.

In Asia, the mean age at marriage for
men ranges from 22 years in Nepal and
23 years in Tajikistan to about 30 years in
Hong Kong, Japan, Kuwait, the Republic of
Korea and Singapore. For women, it
ranges from about 18 years in Afghanistan and Bangladesh to at least
27 years in Japan, Hong Kong and
Singapore.

In Africa, at least 30 per cent of
women aged 15-19 have ever married in half of the countries shown. In the
Republic of Congo, the Democratic
Republic of Congo and the Niger, at least
55 per cent of women aged 15-19 have
ever been married, while Libya, Réunion,
South Africa and Tunisia have the lowest proportion of ever-married women (less
than 5 per cent) in age group 15-19 in
Africa. The mean age at marriage ranges
from 22 years (in Uganda) to 32 years (in
Libya) for men, and from 17 years (in the
Democratic Republic of Congo) to 29 years (in Libya) for women.

The United Nation's report concluded that overall, the disparity in marriage timing
for males and females is broader in Africa
than elsewhere. Of the 20 countries with
the lowest mean age at marriage for
females, 15 are in Africa while the rest
are in Asia. Similarly, of the 20 countries with the highest age gaps in mean age at
first marriage, 16 countries are in Africa,
compared to two in Asia (Afghanistan
and Bangladesh), one in Latin America
and the Caribbean (Montserrat), one in
Oceania (Nauru), and none in Europe and Northern America. Even within Africa,
regional differences are apparent; a large
proportion of countries with the largest
age gaps in age at first marriage is in
Western Africa. The Democratic Republic
of Congo has the highest percentage of ever-married women in the adolescent
age group (74.2 per cent), while Iraq has
the highest proportion of ever-married
men of the same age group, that is, 14.9
per cent.

Back to Nigeria, according to the United Nations Population Fund ( UNFPA ), Nigeria, particularly northern Nigeria
has some of the highest rates of early
marriage in the world. Nationwide, 20 percent of girls were
married by age 15, and 40 percent were
married by age 18. Child marriage is
extremely prevalent in some regions; in
the Northwest region, 48 percent of girls
were married by age 15, and 78 percent were married by age 18.
Virtually no married girls are in school;
only 2 percent of 15–19-year-old married
girls are in school, compared to 69
percent of unmarried girls. Some 73
percent of married girls compared to 8
percent of unmarried girls received no schooling, and three out of four married
girls cannot read at all.
Eighty-four percent of first births to
adolescent girls in Nigeria occur within
marriage. Among married girls aged
15–19, 62 percent have already given
birth. Almost one out of four married
girls gave birth before age 15.

These figures confirm the theoretical propositions laid out in the initial parts of this article; that girl child marriage is neither an expression of a religious/cultural law nor is it an expression of comissions/omissions of the parliament. Age at first marriage reflects the level of development of productive forces. The general law being the higher the level of development of productive forces the higher would be the age at first marriage.

What are the Political Implications of this Analysis?

The issue of child marriage in Nigeria, though based on economic factors, did not recently throw itself into our consciousness as a material fact; it became news in the context of the Nigerian Senate proceedings on constitutional amendment. Senator Yerima and former Governor of Northwestern state of Zamfara presented himself as the defender of Islamic tradition of marrying girl children. The Senator is a classical example of a Nigerian bourgeois who deploy primordial sentiments of ethnicity and religion to pursue parliamentary aims; his only goal, like every other member of his bourgeois class, is access to state power and resources by tapping into the religious and ethnic sentiments of the toiling masses. Under the pretense of "Islamization agenda", these bourgeoisie consolidate their social base and create more opportunities for looting public rsources for self-enrichment. Interestingly, Senator Yerima also renders a crucial service to Christian and Southern bourgeoisie who also consolidate their base under the pretense of defending the country and Christian population from Islamist hegemony. This way, Yerima and his Christian bourgeois friends divide the masses and continue plundering public resources unchallenged. This is very obvious as these Senators succeeded in giving a mortal blow to the issue of Minimum wage by removing it from the Exclusive List, meaning that The Federal Government should not set a national minimum wage level. Instead, each state should set its own level. This is meant to disperse the power of trade and labour unions and defeat the struggle for minimum wage. This is at the same time when the Senators provided themselves with pension benefits! Did Nigerian masses notice this? Unlikely. Because of the issue " Islamic marriage law ".

Nigerian workers and poor must fight for minimum wage, nationalizing the commanding heights of the economy under democratic control and management of the working class, abolishing fat salaries of top bureaucrats and politicians, unification of the country and expulsion of imperialism. Achieve this and develop the country's productive forces and girl child marriage would be taken care of.

To do this, however, the working class must rid itself of the opportunistic labour leaders who are nothing but the representatives of the bourgeoisie within the labour movement. These opportunists must be replaced by a revolutionary leadership capable of building a workers' party and implementing the socialist program highlighted above

Some people will soon develop high blood pressure. Unfortunately, this can lead to paralysis.

Do not give your own daughter into a marriage till she reaches your defined matured age. SIMPLE

Your self-defined matured age cannot be made a general rule. It is a war you cannot win.

This is how our priority list looks like.
Nobody is talking about Local Government Autonomy again!!

Nigerians!! A special specie of homo sapiens

When are we going to stop behaving like a scum bag; a set of people who has no mechanism for self-direction except where sentiment and interest direct?

When we tell you about the immorality and gross character decadence brought to us by your Big Brother Africa and flamboyant attention to your role models like Goddie, you argue that the dictate of moral is not absolute and cannot be unilaterally determined.

When did your Child Right Act or your constitutional definition of 'underage' becomes a reference in its absoluteness? Who says that definition is correct?

Why did you rush to cite UN statues now? The same laws and provision you discarded in the Gay rights' debacle, also on the execution of the Edo 4.
It is a clear cut symptom of a set of people who lack self-defined and adopted social framework that will spell the content of their pluralistic structure.

Now, are you saying a girl of 18 is the girl that is of age to have 'SEX' or to have 'MARRIAGE'? You need a brief ethnographic study of those secondary school girls, not to even talk of primary school drop-outs to guide your outburst.

An adventurous journey to some other places with your sense of judgement living will tell you: some girls are physiologically balanced and structured to mother by age 14. Scholars do not make sweeping statements. Generalization is the most 'logical' fallacy.

I need to see that Yerima's wife, then I can say if she is of 'age' or not.
YOU CANNOT DEFINE MORAL FOR US!!

What concerns 'Agbero' with the garbage in dust pin? That should be the business of the 'Agbepo'
MIND YOUR BUSINESS

We need not get warped in our reasoning.
Are those crying blue murder against Senator Yerima saying that 18 years is the due age for marriage?
Let them sincerely tell us if they can give their daughter's hand in marriage at 18.

By 18, she can only be an undergraduate. She would have not graduated, not to talk of earning and being financially 'ok'.

They should not be ashamed to tell us that their due age for marriage is 30 (with Nigreria's economic status).

I beg.. My concern is about Local Govt Autonomy, Immunity Clauses.
Those are what affect me directly.

Special specie of homo sapiens!!

Ramadan Kareem! I want to suggest we use this medium to publicise any ramadan activities in ur neighbourhood vis a vis ramadan lectures, iftar, itikaf etc. May Allah accept it as act of worship. Ramadan Kareem to all

@cvm, do u av aoson in stock, I will snd d links to u when am done with my researh for d aforementioned.

Good day, av tried to chat with u but ur site wasn't responding. Can u pls recommend flash drives, tablet,memory cards, washable diaper and parking shirts. Gud ones dat I can go for. Reach me via fixall@gloworld.blackberry.com

Urine:

Mate, I read all you've written. It's a pity you think Islam is about debating or comparison to other religions. To you a good messenger of Allah is a person that can defeat people in debates? I know the Holy Prophet (peace be upon his name) talked a great deal about knowledge in his teachings but do you think the reason was to ridicule other faiths?

My dear brother, you still have a lot to learn. Before you sleep tonight ask Allah for wisdom.

U misquote me. My writtens doesn't conotes that islam is all about debate, and I said he debate, show them d beauty of islam and clear misconceptions. Pls check back. If some1 is good and gifted let's appreciate and be proud of him or her. If d xtians can av one of zakir in their fold they would av flooded everywhere with his praise but they can't because of what are holding is incomplete without Quran.

Isang and korede were allowed to asked questions and they did and dr zakir answered them convincinly.

[b][/b]

jookco: Did you really invite Christians for this crap?, to come and listen to a man who support Usama Bin Laden and terrorism against the United States, how in the world do you think peace loving Christian will join a religion that makes people so furious and angry at every little thing?, all of you will take up arms should anybody burn your quaran today, you guys fight spiritual battle with physical strength, what a bloody religion. A boy was killed in Syria the other day for insulting prophet Mohammed , we Christians are told to love others including those who hate and despise us, Christ is Love and thats why we are not having blood bath in our dominated domains. I still love you all and pray your eyes will open to know the mystery of the bible,. And to that pastor who propose to debatr with that Indian Terrorist I said there is nothing to debate, bible said the word of God does not make sense to unbelievers because its a mystery that even many Christians does not know becausemany are not spiritual.

This is where I ar getting it wrong, show to us not out of content where he supported osama bn laden. It is a propaganda against islam all ur asertions above. His talk tomorrow will center on Islam and Media: war or peace. U will know better if u ar sincere. 4 xtians acceptd islam in abuja when things were sleared for them. Pls try to be there u will know better.

Dr Zakir Naik is not just debating only with christian scholars. He's been debating with any non-islamic faith and defeating them hands down, he defeated dr ruknu pio, an arab evangelist in 2004 or so he scattered him, he defeated sri sri of hinduism, he pieces him and he has engaged lots of scholars of other faith and defeated them. Note: not only with Quran but with their scriptures. He is nt rubbishing people of other faiths but show them d beauty of Islam and clearing d misconseption abt d religion.I always feel happy whenever I remember him or watch his talks. He is indeed a blessing to this muslim generation. I'm bittered when I realised that nigerian christians are ignorants they dnt know anything except what their pastors told them in d church. That is why when the trend of 'zakir naik live in abuja' was opened majority of them were asking who is he and saying all sorts of rubbish about him. Pls think out of box, seek the truth salvation and embrace it. May Allah assist u. I'm not here to insult but to clear things sorry if u av been offended in anyway.

@sidiq, yes isang and korede lawoyin both of dem were there, who are they?

Mr anony:
Lol, the same Zakir Naik that is notorious for dodging debates against pastors and theologians now wants someone to debate him and advertize his market to 20,000 customers!

If what he is saying is true, then the number of spectators shouldn't matter. He should be more concerned about defending his position to unbelievers regardless of the number rather than impressing already converted muslims who know no better.

Its clear u dnt know dr zakir naik. He use to have a million audience when he giv talks.yes u heard me well 1million. He is frm bombay, indian. He gathered more than 20,000 in abuja. Do u think he's a small personality. He is no more looking for any popularity. Whoever among your pastors that want to debate with him and d he is nt a world renowned he will debate with one of his studnts. Zakir naik is a world renown comparative scholar. He defeated one of ur best christian scholar in year 2000 dr william campbell. So he can nt waste his time by just any call to debate. Type dr zakir naik in google u will see nothing less than 9million results tell any of your pastor with such and let them debate.

Watch him on peace tv, its a free tv on joy tv, u will see crowd.

This question and answer is very hot. The non muslims are asking questions now.

One of d non muslims Evangelist Isang said dr zakir shd come for debate and he said he is very ready on d condition that the pastor is a world known person and can gather at least 20,000 people. So challenge to non muslim dr zakir challenge u to debate him.

Dr zakir speaking

On my way

Anybody @d venue?

DR Zakir Naik in Lagos?

Dr Zakir Naik, the world famous orator on Islam & comparative religion comes to Lagos, courtesy of the Islamic Platform of Nigeria.

Dr Zakir Naik founded the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) in Mumbai (Bombay), India. Naik says he was inspired by Ahmed Deedat, an Islamic preacher, having met him in 1987. (Naik is sometimes referred to as "Deedat plus", a label given to him by Deedat himself.) Naik says that his goal is to "concentrate on the educated Muslim youth who have become apologetic about their own religion and have started to feel the religion is outdated." 

NEW VENUE: NATIONAL STADIUM, SURULERE

DATE : SATURDAY AND SUNDAY ONLY (15th and 16th of JUNE).

TIME : 10am- 1:30pm Daily

Admission: FREE

Pls who is @ dr zakir abdul kareem naik lecture today. Pls update us to av first hand info. Pics, if possible audio.

http://mp3soup.com/mp3/dr-zakir-naik

http://www.google.com/search?client=ms-rim&hl=en&q=dr%20Zakir%20Naik%20videos&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&channel=browser

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=QClA6S2eKlg

Gudiza:

I find it a bit of an irony you happen to know this, but yet, did not bother to watch the clip yourself.

Not trying to hate, I'm sure he means well, but the fact is, inviting a controversial persona at this critical point in our nationhood is very risky...and this threat is real. Happy Sunday y'all.

He is never a controvertial person. He is been quote out of context. Serch youtube urself and watch his lectures if u ar open minded u will be glad u did.

As for the UK Ban.
He has been to UK several times to giv talk b4 a journalist wrote an article quote him out of context that he said 'every muslim shd be a terrorist' and call for his ban. Which UK govt did without investigation and he has challenge the action in UK court even Indian govt and some Indian Human Rights activists join in challenging UK govt so its a big lie saying Indian govt ban his TV station from airing.

LAGOS PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
DR. ZAKIR NAIK IS COMING TO
NIGERIA:-
ISLAMIC RESOURCE CENTRE(IRC)__TH ­
E ISLAMIC PLATFORM SOCIETY OF
NIGERIA.
INVITES THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO
ITS
PRE-RAMADHAN 1434AH/2013
LECTURE SERIES
THEME:- THE RELIGION OF PEACE.
DAY 1:- Friday 14th June,
2013(6th of Sha'ban, 1434Ah)
TOPIC:- Salaah: The Programming
Towards Righteousness.
TIME:- 4:00pm-7:00pm
DAY 2:saturday, 15th June,
2013(7th Sha'ban, 1434Ah)
TOPIC:- Similarities Between Islam
And Christianity.
TIME:- 10:00am-1:30pm
DAY 3:- Sunday, 16th June,
2013(8th, Sha'ban, 1434Ah)
TOPIC:- Concept Of God In Major
World Religions.
TIME:- 10:00am-1:30pm
VENUE:- THE SKY PAVILION,
ADEBOLA HOUSE OPEBI,
IKEJA,LAGOS STATE.
GUEST SPEAKERS:- HIS EMINENCE:
DR. ZAKIR ABDULKARIM NAIK
(PRESIDENT,ISLAMIC RESEARCH
FOUNDATION, MUMBAI, INDIA.)
MASTER FARIQ NAIK
TICKET IS FREE........
LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE...

The second speaker is his son, very good also.

He has engaged a lot of scholars of other faiths not only christians. Hindus, vegetarians and lots of them and defeat them using their own scriptures against them. Whenever he debates any scholars he doesn't open d scriptures he quotes off hands and since he has started his preaching over two decades no single scholar of any faith has defeated him. You too (nairaland christians/atheist) you can tell your pastors to come and ask him questions when he comes to lagos by friday tru sunday. He is indeed a genius.
Download his lecrures on youtubr u will be glad you did.

@akande james and some other people thanks a lot for clarifying things. NOTE: my bros and sis in ISLAM; it is now clear that Some people are ready to divert the focus of any islamic topic on the internet just to misled the innocent ones. So we need to strategise on how to deal with them intellectually. Take nairaland as a reference ANY islamic topic they will ensure they divert its focus. For ur own good it is better to desist from such unholy atittude b4 u earn d wrath of almighty Allah. I watch Dr Zakir Naik on my JoyTV channel 72 a lot. He is a sound and intellectual Islamic orator.

Alhamdulillah, @OP, how is the event going now

16th May, 2013
PRESS RELEASE:
MURIC REJECTS LASG POSITION ON HIJAB

The Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, in a press conference addressed on Tuesday, 14th May, 2013 placed a ban on the use of hijab and head scarf by female Muslim pupils in public schools in Lagos State. She stated that such Islamic attires would only be allowed “when the pupils want to go for prayers, when they want to read the Qur’an and when they want to go for Jumat prayers.”

We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) reject this position. It is a product of intolerance, tyranny, oppression, persecution and stigmatization. The rejection of the use of hijab in public schools reveals the pitiable human rights condition to which Muslims in the South-West have been subjected both in colonial and post-colonial days. It also stands in contradistinction to the democratic principles of freedom, equal rights, justice and fair play.

Instead of allowing free dialogue, the Lagos State Government is pushing Muslims in the state to the wall. We reject the claim made by the Commissioner for Education that the issue was discussed at length and that “We reached certain agreements”. Concerned and well-informed Muslims and Islamic organizations were either deliberately ignored or edged out of purported discussions while a selected and uninformed few were picked. MURIC petitioned the ministry in a letter dated 25th February 2013, yet we were not invited at any point in time.

We challenge the Commissioner for Education to tell the world who she discussed with. She should also tell Nigerians what happened to all the memoranda submitted on the issue by several Islamic organizations in the state. What became of the 8-page memorandum submitted by MURIC to the State’s House of Assembly? It is our contention that a neo-colonial mindset is at play in the Lagos State Ministry of Education.

We also challenge the Commissioner for Education to tell the world what We also challenge the Commissioner for Education to tell the world what her ministry has done to the principal of Kadara Junior Grammar School, Ebute Metta, Mrs. Ukpaka, who personally administered 43 strokes of the cane on a female Muslim student by name Aisha Alabi, a JSS 2D pupil, whose only offence was wearing hijab. Is this not child abuse? Is this not the height of Islamophobia and religious intolerance tainted with sadism? Instead of taking the law into their hands, the Muslims in the state petitioned the ministry of education. What has the ministry done about this?

The Commissioner’s pronouncement that Muslims who want their children to use hijab should take their children to Muslim private schools is a reckless, arrogant and irresponsible statement. It is a declaration of war on Lagos Muslims. Is the commissioner saying that Muslims are not part of the citizenry in Lagos State? Are the Muslims not paying tax? The Commissioner should simply resign if she can no longer play the role assigned her in the ministry. She has demonstrated enough hatred for and arrogance towards Muslims. This statement is insensitive, provocative, outrageous and preposterous. It is an insult on Islamdom in Lagos State. It is therefore unacceptable.

For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of Article 18 of the United Nations Charter and Articles 9 and 14 of the European Treaty of Human Rights and Articles 18 and 19 of the Treaty of Civil and Political Rights all of which Nigeria is a signatory support the position of Muslims clamouring for the use of hijab. Denial of this agitation also constitutes a breach of Section 38 (i) & (ii) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.

We challenge the Commissioner to tell the world why the hijab is acceptable on school uniforms for Muslims in the North and an anathema in the South-West when Nigeria is just one country? MURIC warns that Lagos State Government is provoking Muslims in the state. The recent position of the LASG has merely has merely worsened relationship between the Muslims and the state government.

MURIC however affirms that the Muslims will continue to explore all constitutional means to challenge this outrageous declaration on hijab. In spite of the Commissioner’s attempt to provoke Muslims in Lagos, we remain committed to the maintenance of law and order in the state. We appeal to Muslims in the state to ignore this provocation and to remain calm and law abiding.

Professor Is-haq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC),
234-818-211-9714
234-803-346-4974

@tpia, what trouble can u traced to dat write up jare.