The management of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) has struck a big blow to her peaceful Muslim students and questioned their religious tenets around 12pm on Monday, 16th October, 2017, when the school erected a billboard of ban against the Niqob (face veil) worn by some Muslim females.
At the sight of the board, different writings which angered Muslim students were seen flying all around the media condemning the act of the university for demeaning the image of Islam and it’s worshipers.
As seen in the picture of the erected board (above), the picture of a Muslim lady in veil is placed clearly at the centre of other immoral pictures of a tattooed lady, and of Nud£ and immodest dressings. It seems, although, that this alone could have passed a lot of hate messages from the school to the Muslim veil users, it is the writing contained in the board that was most alarming, “FUNAAB detests lousy/immoral dressing. The way you dress is the way you are addressed.”
On sigthing the billboards, it was gathered that Muslim students in the university got angry and almost the laws into their hands until the MSSN Amir intervened.
It was also learnt the some of the students, especially female Muslims burst into tears on sighting the billboard on the university campus and social media.
Apart from the bombshell received by the students and taken as unfounded through their incessant circulation of the pictures on WhatsApp and Facebook, many questions of why the veil should be banned were raised.
As if the online reactions were not enough, some set of unidentified students were seen in front of the school gate early in the evening snapping the billboard and discussing the baselessness of it.
In an interview with a student, who maintained anonymity, it was gathered that there had been ‘several occurrences of injustice against the Muslim sisters’ long before now and recently, a circular which is unfavourable to the law-abiding sisters was circulated by the school.
He said, “These sisters of ours have been victimized and have been trampled upon. I want to believe that the Christian Ruling University is bent on initiating a religious crisis because how on earth will it be accepted that one’s religion be tagged as immoral and lousy while represented among a series of obscene pictures?”
Our correspondent reports that the Amir of Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, FUNAAB Branch, Mr. Shobajo Abdulazeez, got to the School gate in time to find the board too and was alarmed.
The Amir called the attention of the University Chief Security Officer and related the implications of the billboard and the religious abashing on the whole fraction of the Muslim students.
The CSO without much ado, portrayed discontent to the board’s content and saw to the immediate removal of it from the gate with aid from his security acolytes.
The school’s Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ololade Enikuomeyin, who perhaps was leaving the school premises and attracted by the removal, had to stop.
He was approached by the Amir who requested for reasons for the University’s abuse of the Muslims.
The VC, who tried to to put up his experience to play sympatbised and showed concern.
While he was addressing the students, he expressed that though, “the ban of the hijab is a decision of the University Senate at its 211th Statutory Meeting, I wouldn’t claim to be ‘unaware’ of the billboard.”
He affirmed further that the Muslim Students would be given the room to render their grievances, which will be attended to, just as learning and other sensitive affairs of religion permit.
While a lot of students humoured about the correlation between a covered lady and a Nud£ one, others were clamant.
In an interview, another student, Hameed, related to IWitness NG correspondent that he had experienced several cases where some Muslim sisters were barred from entering lecture, test and exam halls in the recent past semester.
“Especially the last exam”, he added, “this school was hell for us! This hatred for freedom of our religion is clear and the school is unjust!”
It was gathered that apart from that the Muslim students in veil are law abiding and ready to pass through security checks everytime, they also are flying students in their respective departments.
The CSO and the security left with the expunged billboard.
