Averting Religious Crisis in Osun State

RIGHT OF REPLY
By Semiu Okanlawon
THE recent judgment of the Osun High Court that ruled in favour of the use of hijab (head scarf) by Muslim female students in the public secondary schools has brought the state under focus in the last two weeks. This judgment has attracted numerous comments, remarks, opinions and even personal biases of individuals. In nearly all of these commentaries – some informed, others partisan and jaundiced – the kernels of the point of discussion are either misunderstood or cast away by the writers.

The Vanguard Newspaper Editorial of Wednesday, June 22, 2016 was constructed in this fashion. The paper, without any restraint, pointed fingers at the governor of the state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, as the sole mastermind of the crisis. Vanguard’s reason was that the governor ordered the use of hijab in schools and, therefore, is guilty for his, in the word of the editorial, “quixotic and dangerous religious adventurism” in the state since he assumed power five years ago. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We make bold to say that Vanguard’s allegation is wild, baseless and unfounded.

Likewise its conclusion which is illogical in this respect. To straighten the lines, we wish to assert as follows: The hijab controversy predated the administration of Aregbesola. It started with the introduction of western education with some discriminations against Muslims. However, the effort to douse the agitations on hijab in 2003 to 2004 initiated the current crisis. That when Aregbesola’s fence-mending efforts between the Muslim and Christian communities failed, the Muslims headed for court in 2013. Judgement was not pronounced until last week Monday, which is now attracting unfair comments:

That Governor Aregbesola, at no point in time, made any policy, pronouncement or issued any circular to the effect that hijab should be added to school uniform in public schools. Hence the assumption or allegation that Aregbesola legalised hijab is erroneous and untrue in its totality as Vanguard’s editorial would want its readers to believe:

Erroneous assumption

That, as unconscionably proclaimed by Vanguard’s editorial, at no time did the governor embark on any religious adventurism in the state or try to promote one religion above the other. Aregbesola believes and does not shy away to state that ‘religion is a private affair of an individual.’

The Government of Aregbesola, more than any other state governments in the country, has been fair to all religious groups in its dealings in the past five years, without trying to subsume or relegate one for the other. One is, therefore, miffed to read in the Vanguard just as some other newspapers who have toed the same anti-Aregbesola line in their arguments, the erroneous assumption that the current crisis over hijab was caused by the action (or inaction ) of the Governor.

Thus, we submit that the above-quoted Vanguard’s editorial missed the points on the issue of hijaband merely, if not mischievously, gave the government a bad name so as to summarily hang it in the court of public opinion.