Hijab crisis: Gov. AbdulRazaq declares war on Christians in Kwara, Islamizes missionary schools

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq  of Kwara State may be declaring war on Christians in the through covert islamization of missionary schools. The Kwara governor tacitly imposed the wearing of hijab in all schools in the state, including missionary schools. Governor AbdulRazaq resisted appeals by Christian leaders in Kwara State that wearing of hijab is not the culture of Christianity, though a practice in Islam. The governor, accordingly, insisted on the imposition of hijab in missionary schools, arguing for covert of taking over missionary schools and converting the missionary schools to Muslim institutions. This has been generating conflagration between the Christians and Muslims in Kwara State.

The Christians rising to resist the imposition of hijab in missionary schools, were confronted by the Muslims who support the Kwara governor. Accordingly, there was conflagration between the Muslim and Christian communities where parents of Christian students and pupils agitated against the legitimacy of the imposition of wearing hijab in Christian mission schools in Kwara State, while the parents of Muslim school children rose in support and opposing the Christians protesters across the state.

The Kwara State government, however, remained unperturbed about the agitation, arguing that the state government has since 1974 taken over all missionary schools in Kwara.

The Secretary to the Kwara State Government, Professor Mamman Saba Jibril, in a statement in Ilorin, insisted that since takeover the schools, “the State Government has controlled, managed and wholly funded and staffed the affected schools which ran and are still being run as public institutions;” he maintained that “they are backed by laws, especially, Kwara State Education Law of 1996 (CAP E1 of the Laws of Kwara State).”

The SSG pointed out that the state government took over missionary schools from both the Christians and the Muslims, protesting that agitations over the years that “these schools still belong to either Muslim or Christian Missionaries have been flatly rejected by the Court;” declaring that “government totally rejects the claims some organizations are still laying to these schools as such claims are not known to the law.”

Ironically, the State government emphasized that it is not imposing the wearing of hijab schools, noting that “it is not mandatory for all the schoolgirls to wear hijab, but it is approved for any Muslim school girl who wishes to use it.” In spite of this clarification, all the school girls are being compelled to wear hijab which has been generating protests. However, stakeholders expressed that they have reasons to suspect or distrust the Kwara State governor, arguing that the wearing of hijab is not optional for Muslim school girls, acknowledging that it id their culture and not an issue of choice. Christian leaders challenged Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq   to come clean on the hijab policy in Christian schools.