The Lagos State government has finally issued a circular ordering school administrators and principals to allow Muslim students to wear the hijab in all state-owned schools, Muslim News can authoritatively confirm.
The circular, with reference number CIR/HOS/’22/Vol.1/068 was issued on Monday, December 5 and signed by the State Head of Service, Hakeem Muri Okunola, taking effect immediately.
The formal approval by the state under the Gov. Sanwo-Olu-led government came a few hours after an Islamic human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), appealed to the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to intervene in the hijab matter, saying it affects the constitutional rights of Muslims in the state.
MURIC Director, Prof Lakin Akintola recalled that the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of the use of hijab in all Lagos State schools on Friday, June 17, 2022, but was worried that the Lagos State Government had not made any statement since the ruling.
In less than 24 hours of MURIC’s appeal, the State issued the circular informing all state parastatals and agencies, including school principals and administrators to allow any female student to wear the hijab on uniforms in all state-owned schools in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment.
“It’s hereby notified for general information that the supreme court judgment SC/910/2016 delivered on the 17th of June 2022 on the use of Hijab as it affects pupils/students in Lagos State schools has delivered that the students should be allowed to wear the hijab if desired,” the statement read in part.
Muri-Okunola noted that comprehensive guidelines on the use of the hijab will be issued to all agencies of the government in due course, adding that, “you’re to note that the judgment is binding on all schools in the State.
“As a law-abiding administration, all accounting officers are to note the contents of this circular for immediate compliance and give it the deserved service-wide publicity,” he noted.
Reacting to the development, Hajiah Mutiat Orolu-Balogun of Hijab Rights Advocacy Initiative, HRAI, expressed delight over the news, saying that the state has shown that it is a responsible and law-abiding government by making it easy for the supreme court judgment on hijab to be executed.
In a chat with Muslim News, Hajia Orolu-Balogun said, “The journey has been a long and odious one and the Muslim community and all stakeholders have been patient and taken the legal and peaceful route to get this judgment.
“Even after the 17th of June, when the Supreme court judgment was given, we still found out a lot of primary and secondary schools in Lagos have continued to deny our students their right to use hijab, hiding under the claim that as civil servants, they cannot uphold the court judgment until they get the circular from their employer, which is the Lagos state government.
“Now that the state has issued a circular and copied all officers in the State, those who tend to take laws into their hands don’t have any excuse again. So, we are very happy that the Lagos state government has issued the circular and shown that it is a responsible and law-abiding government. We also assured them of our continuous support in taking Lagos to a greater height”, she noted.
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