CAN, MURIC disagree over Osun school uniform

The Christian Association of Nigeria has said it is satisfied with the development in Baptist High School, Iwo, Osun State, where some pupils shunned their universal school uniform and went to school in choir robes, hijab and masquerader’s costumes.

It said such was inevitable, where the state government was allegedly biased in its education policy.

An Islamic group, Muslim Rights Concern, however, said wearing of hijab was the right of Muslims.

Some pupils of the school had on Tuesday wore choir gowns, white garments, Islamic apparel and other unconventional dresses to the school. They also lined up at the morning assembly along religious lines and conducted Christian and Islamic devotions simultaneously.

The absurdity had continued on Wednesday, when some pupils came to the school like masqueraders to hide their identities.

In his reaction, the General-Secretary, CAN, Rev. Musa Asake, told our correspondent on Friday that efforts were being made in the state to wipe out Christianity.

He said most of the schools taken over by the state government were Christian missionary schools. “If you look at the so-called educational reforms, it gives you a lot of rooms to ask questions,” the cleric added.

He said, “We are very happy with the development. We are excited and we give 100 per cent support to our people on ground there, because the government is one-sided.

“If a section has chosen to disobey and do it their own way with impunity, we are Nigerians, we have equal rights, and we are all stakeholders. Nobody should because he is a leader decide to favour one section against the other.”

The CAN secretary stated that a return to a universal uniform was acceptable, where all sections would adhere to it. He said what pupils wore to school would not give them good education or make them pass examinations.

“I want to assure you, the music has changed; it is no longer going to be the same. And Osun State is a testing ground,” Asake stated.

However, the Director, MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, said pupils should be free to wear whatever that was suitable for them. He described the development in the school as a conspiracy against the wish of Muslims to exercise their right to wear hijab.

He said while the Muslims had worn a Christianity-based uniform for many years, they should be allowed to wear what truly belonged to them.

The Professor of Islamic Eschatology challenged anti-Muslim persons, who sponsored the pupils, to come out and make public their grievances. He said such persons had not been comfortable with pupils in hijab.

The Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Osun State, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, said the pupils who wore hijab had been wearing it in their former schools before joining the Baptist School after the government’s schools merger policy.

Okanlawon said, “I attended that same Baptist school and I am a Muslim, and there was nothing like that. There were pupils who used hijab as of that time and it did not create any issue.”