No religious discrimination in Fed Staff Schools Ilorin: Management
Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
The Management of the Federal Staff Schools, Adewole in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, has refuted claims of perpetration of religious bigotry in the schools, saying respect for religious rights remains sacrosanct in the two schools.
The Management in a rejoinder jointly signed by the Chairperson of the Kwara state chapter of National Forum of Heads of Federal Government Establishment in Nigeria, Fausat Folashade Kadir and the Secretary, Ilufoye Kafayat, dispelled the allegation, describing it as malicious and a fabrication.
The schools, established some decades ago by 118 Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDGs) in the State, were, however, registered as private concerns.
It would be recalled that a group of parents had recently alleged the denial of the use of ‘Hijab’, a veil, for willing female Muslims in the schools consisting of primary and secondary sections.
In the process, a petition by some parents was written to the State Ministry of Education alleging religious discrimination against the female Muslim pupils and students of the schools.
Sources alleged a protest build up to that effect by the concerned parents, but was averted following prompt intervention by some stakeholders in the State.
In the rebuttal, the Management reaffirmed their commitment to respecting freedom of worship in the schools, citing the building of places of worships in the schools for the followers of the two dominant religions- Christianity and Islam.
“It is on record that Management respects the secularity of our existence and has never played down on rights to religion of any student or staff. It was jointly decided in our general meeting that ‘status-quo ante’ should be maintained when tempers were flayed some years back in the school as a result of clash of interests between Christian and Muslim parents.
“The Management frowns at discriminatory dressing which negates uniformity. Female Muslim pupils and students are allowed to wear their ‘Hijab’ to the mosque for prayers and during MSS programmes but only to remove it in the class. A modern mosque and chapel were built in the school to enable learners worship with ease and at their comfort.”
It added: “It is therefore embarrassing to label the schools’ authority of wrong doing with recourse to religious dressing. The general public is hereby enjoined to disregard the fabricated and malicious on-line posts and commentaries insinuating religious tension in the schools, far from it.”
The communique noted that with the recent intervention of the state Ministry of Education and well meaning stakeholders, the Management, subject to the approval of the general meeting of the forum, has resolved to fashion out a designed and customized ‘hijab’ for the use of the female Muslim pupils and students of the schools.
“The ‘Hijab’ will be customized to meet standard and uniformity with the school uniform. It will take a few moment before the final production and the usage will commence during the second term in 2026. Until the final production of the ‘Hijab’ by the Management, the ‘status quo ante’ shall be maintained without further provocation.”
The Management sued for peace as it thanked the state’s Commissioner for Education, Dr. Lawal Olohungbebe, the Media and the parents for their peaceful interventions.
Agitations for the use of ‘Hijab’ in some schools in the State were some years ago chaotic and almost turned into a religious crisis. The Christian-owned schools, sponsored by the government resisted the introduction of the veil in the schools. But the government of Governor AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq with the understanding of some Christian leaders in the state intervened by allowing the interested female Muslim students to commence the wearing of the veil to schools.