TheCable

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused the Osun state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) of constituting threat to the rule of law.

Reacting to the action CAN towards the court ruling which permitted female Muslim students to be wearing hijab in schools, the organisation alleged that the Christian body acted in an undemocratic manner.

It also accused Wole Soyinka, erudite scholar, of taking sides with the Christians, saying an article he wrote on the controversy lacked objectivity.

“In an article titled ‘To Everything, Its Place’, the much respected Nobel Laureate descended heavily on Muslims for daring to seek approval for the use of hijab,” the group said in a statement signed by Ishaq Akintola, director of MURIC.

“The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is fully aware of Soyinka’s great contribution to the attainment of democratic rule which we are all enjoying in Nigeria today. We also acknowledge his role in the uplifting of Nigeria’s image particularly in the circle of intellectuals worldwide.

“Nonetheless, we are amused that our intellectual guru deployed all the Weapons of Faith Destruction (WFD) in his arsenal to his Islam-bashing combat field but saw nothing wrong with the way leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Osun chapter incited Christian students in their rejection of the court judgement which was favourable to the Muslims.

“Nothing was said about CAN’s gross disrespect for the rule of law. Could he have forgotten that CAN’s attitude constitutes serious threat to democracy and the rule of law which Soyinka himself fought hard to enthrone?

“Professor  Soyinka contended that the issue of hijab was never raised “for several decades” after independence and assumed that the Christian uniform is the conventional or, in his own words ‘common dress code’. We beg to disagree sir. We assert that the revered Nobel Laureate is not only taking too much for granted but also taking liberty for license.

“MURIC affirms that Professor Soyinka still needs to do his homework very well before going to press. Contrary to his claim that hijab was not mentioned for decades, Muslims in Yorubaland have been agitating for civil rights right from independence and the files of governments at both federal and state levels are full of petitions forwarded on issues of the Allah-given fundamental rights of Muslims. Those petitions were repeatedly submitted on a regular basis by Muslim communities and Islamic organisations. Of course, Soyinka is not expected to know this but it goes to show the limitations of human knowledge even among nobel laureates.”

MURIC also faulted framers of the constitution for not allegedly paying attention to dress code in public schools.

“To assume that the current school uniform used in public schools should be the dress code is to commit gross injustice to a large section of the populace. We have heard activists complaining that the authors of the Nigerian constitution did not consult the Nigerian people before writing it yet they ‘fraudulently’ claimed that ‘We, the Nigerian people’,” the statement read.

“The colonialists committed the same fraud against Nigerian Muslims when they replaced Islamic landmarks with Christo-British practices and this includes the school uniform. Islam was in Nigeria for 800 years and in Yorubaland for 200 years before the advent of Christianity but British sense of fairness could not go beyond uprooting what it met on ground.

“Let us reiterate for the umpteenth time and for the avoidance of doubts that to us as Muslims the present uniform is Christian uniform unless Soyinka can convince us that the British were not Christians. Justice, equity and fairness demands that this should have been revisited immediately after independence.

“Yet what the Muslims are asking for is not more than a slight adjustment from the head to the bosom to be made of the same stuff and colour with the school uniform. We are not asking for any different uniform for Muslim students who are males. It is only for the girls.”