Traditional worshippers warn Kwara Govt, Reps against hijab

 

Traditional worshippers have called on the Kwara State Government and federal lawmakers at the House of Representatives to retrace their steps in attempt to institutionalise the wearing of hijab in Nigerian schools, especially privately owned ones.

The global head of Ifa priests, otherwise called the Araba Agbaye, Chief Owolabi Aworeni, on Tuesday cautioned the Kwara State Governor, Abdualrahman Abdulrazaq, against actions that might incite violence in the state, The Punch reports.

Similarly, Aworeni urged the House of Representatives to halt a bill seeking to institutionalise the use of hijab in the country.

Uneasy calm currently pervades the atmosphere in Kwara following violent reactions that greeted government’s move to enforce the wearing of hijab by Muslim students in some Christian owned schools.

READ: Hold Gov Abdulrazaq responsible for violence in Kwara over Hijab – CAN

However, the Araba, represented by his deputy, the Araba Oluisese of Ibadan, Ifalere Odegbola, in an interview with journalists in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday, warned the Kwara State governor against steps that, according to him, were capable of turning state and the entire country into crises.

“Peace will reign supreme if religions generally are given pride of place. Let the Christian schools be, same for Muslim schools and schools for the traditional worshippers, without any religion lording it over the other.

“A traditional worshipper who decides to attend Christian school should imbibe the Christian practices and principles and ditto for a Christian child who chooses to attend a Muslim school. If he decides to attend the school, he has to abide by the practices.

“It is wrong for a child who belongs to another faith to want to force his way through. The governor should desist from acts that can incite violence or civil disorderliness. Academics should not continue to get interrupted as we have it at the moment.

“In the same vein, we are appealing to the National Assembly to drop the issue of use of hijab; we are warning that religious intolerance should not be allowed to polarise us as a people. Nigeria as a secular nation should be receptive to all religions and people should be free to practice their own faith without any interference,” Aworeni preached.