The passing out ceremony for the Junior Secondary School (JSS) 3 students at Ogo Oluwa Community Secondary School in Molato, Ajegunle via Ita Oluwo, Ogijo, Ogun State was pretty shameful, demeaning, and very sad for the Female Muslim Students. Ogijo, a town in Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State, is situated between two more popular areas: Ikorodu in Lagos and Sagamu in Ogun State. The Nigerian Constitution’s endorsement of the freedoms of association and religion, according to the Muslim parents, gives them the right to wear the hijab.

Imam Soyinka Abdul Rahman
of Masjid An- Naheem Ephatha – Ajegunle, Ogijo said, “The teachers aside their existing instruction that no female students shall cover their heads or wear Hijab on school Uniform, the teachers had to forcefully removed the Hijab on the Muslim Students wearing Home Dress to the Passing- Out ceremony organized for the JSS 3 Students leaving them almost nude in the public as the blouse they wore had no zip or buttons to cover their chest, it was the Hijab they wore that covered their chest before the teachers removed their hijab. One of the Students’ name is Habeedat Abdul Roheem, JSS 3- Gold.”

He noted that, the Muslim Community of the area had sent representatives to the school requesting from the principal that the Muslim Female Students be allowed to wear Hijab when two of our children, namely; Barakat Adekoya and Ruqoyah Adekoya who, throughout their primary school years had never went to school without Hijab were forcefully made to come to their new public Secondary school bare headed.

“We pleaded with the principal, various reasons including Court judgements were cited, to permit the female students who wish to wear Hijab. All our entreaties were of no avail. The principal only said that, “he did not meet the students wearing hijab before he was posted to the school and he had not seen any school in Ogun State where Hijab is allowed for female students and he met no Memo to that effect.”

Lamenting the situation further, he said: Although, we asked if there was any Memo that prohibits the use of Hijab, his response was also in negative. The principal, however promised to liaise with the Zonal Education Officer (ZEO) in Shagamu and get back to us. We went back, along with two representatives from MSS Ikorodu Zone, all the principal said was ” It is not to be allowed.” We had the opportunity to speak with the ZEO Shagamu in the person of Mrs Odulesi Abosede, all she also said was balderdash. We reported to the ex- CDC Chairman who is now the APC Senatorial Chairman under whose tenure, we both struggled, contributed funds from CDA level and saw to the establishment of the School for the community.

“Alhaji Animashaun went to the school, held meeting with the principal telling him the reasons why the school should allow the use of Hijab for the female students who wish to and for the purpose of maintaining the peace in the community. The principal promised the chairman to do something about his request and appeal. But alas! All the efforts ended in fiasco as nothing was done to redress the anomaly only to further increase the humiliation by way of removing Hijab on Habeedat Abdul Roheem. Jss3-Gold (2021- 2022 set) wearing Home Dress during the occasion of JSS 3 send forth. We seek your support and intervention to save us in this apparent and regular face slapping by Christian Teachers of our public schools.”

Female students should be allowed to put on the hijab- Supreme Court

In the case of the Lagos State Government and Asiyat AbdulKareem (through her father), Moriam Oyeniyi, and the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria. On July 17, 2022, the Supreme Court finally gave its approval to Muslim female students in Lagos State wearing the hijab to school after years of legal wrangling. Five of the seven judges on the court’s panel made decisions in favor of the hijab, while the other two differed.

According to the Supreme Court, the ban violated the rights of the Muslim students to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, the dignity of human persons and freedom from discrimination guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution.

The Quran encourages women to see the hijab as a symbol of modesty and decency that leads to achieving piety. For many Muslims, piety is one of the greatest achievements of a Muslim in life. This explains why the hijab has been embraced by many Muslim women. We requested that the Ogun State Government and the State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, which is responsible for the development of sustainable and accessible educational services in Ogun State, to release a circular on the verdict authorizing the hijab to all schools under their control in order to address this growing issue.

Related: 

Supreme Court Upholds Hijab Wearing in Lagos Schools

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