The Ogun State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria has criticised judges who ruled in favour of the wearing of hijab by female Muslim students in public secondary schools.
CAN accused the judges of displaying their ignorance of the concept of uniform in public schools.
The Christian body was reacting to court ruling in Osun and Lagos states granting female Muslim students the permission to wear hijab to class in public secondary schools, including those owned by Christian missions.
The outgoing CAN Chairman in the state, Rev. Timothy Ajibola, told our correspondent in an exclusive interview in Abeokuta that the high judges who adjudicated in the court cases over the hijab controversy failed to have a deep understanding of the uniform concept before delivering their judgments.
Ajibola said, “I think the judges who ruled should go and check the dictionary meaning of hijab; what uniform means, and they will know that if any other thing is worn on top of a uniform, it is no longer a uniform. It is another thing entirely.
“And the church is saying in our mission schools, you can’t put on hijab. In any Muslim school, if it is designed that way, then let it be. Let them use hijab there, nobody is fighting over that.”
The pastor of Evangelical Church Winning All, who described uniform as “something that should be of the same”, wondered why a female student wearing ordinary pinafore should put on hijab.
“When you say uniform, it should be uniform. Uniform is something that should be the same. Why should someone wear ordinary pinafore and put hijab, then it is no longer a uniform.” he said.
Ajibola, whose tenure ended as the chairman on Thursday, maintained that Christians were not against the use of hijab.
He, however, stressed that the concern of the Christians was that hijab should not be used in missionary schools.
The outgone CAN state chairman, “Christians are not fighting the court injunction. What we are doing is, in any school that belongs to the missionary, there should be no wearing of hijab.
“From the foundation, we designed the uniform for the school. It was not the government that designed for the schools; it was not the Muslim community that designed the uniform for the schools, it is the church that owns the schools that designed the uniform,” Ajibola said.
