9th October, 2016,
PRESS RELEASE:
LAGOS HIJAB IMBROGLIO:
WE MUST SEPARATE OFFICE
FROM RELIGION
Sequel to the response given by the Lagos State Deputy
Governor to a question on hijab in which she gave the official government
position, some concerned Muslims raised eye brows immediately. Although we made
an attempt to douse tension by issuing a press statement immediately the issue
broke in the public domain, we are still constrained to update our press
release on this burning issue.
We fully understand and respect the feelings of fellow
Muslims who expressed concern. Most people expressed genuine fear without an
iota of malice. We appreciate them. But the facts must be put on the table and
critically analysed in order to avoid hurting the innocent and labeling a committed
Mother-of-Islam unjustly.
She was confronted with a delicate question during a
television interview. The question had to do with Islam, her own personal faith
and hijab to be precise. Incidentally the state government already has an
official position on the issue and she happens to be the sitting deputy
governor. Ceteris paribus, she is
expected to give the official position of the state government. Anything to the
contrary would have been tantamount to desecration of the office she holds, a
betrayal of her sacred oath of office and an attempt to undermine the state
government.
Muslims in Lagos State and all over the country must
consider the fact that the question was put to her as the Deputy Governor, not
as a Muslim. The fact that she gave the official position of the state
government does not mean that she has jettisoned her faith or abandoned her
fellow Muslims. She does not need to betray her personal emotions in official
matters.
It was a difficult moment. Whereas a judge can afford to
step down in a case in which he has personal interest, like when his junior
brother is arraigned before him, a politician cannot resign because he is a
stakeholder in an issue in which the press seeks to know the government’s
official position. Parrying the question could have been worse as it is likely
to imply that she had something to hide.
We must separate government officials from their religion
in order to get the best out of them. Dr. Mrs. Idiat Adebule is well respected
in academic and political circles. But she is not the ‘Deputy Governor of Lagos
Muslims’. She is the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, of the good and
progressive people of Lagos State, of the indigenes and non-indigenes and of
the Christians, the Muslims and the Traditionalists.
She is therefore expected to speak for all and attend to
all regardless of tribe or faith. She should not be guillotined for giving the
official position of the state government. She would have been deemed to have
failed in her duty if she had done otherwise.
In view of the foregoing, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
hereby reposes full confidence in the Lagos State Deputy Governor. We are proud
of her as a practicing Muslim, a non-extremist and a public servant of high
integrity. We appeal to the Deputy Governor to treat the events of the last few
days with equanimity. It is part of the challenges and sacrifices of
leadership. We plead with her to bear the comments with fortitude and to
continue to serve the state with her well known passion, accommodation and
humility.
We invite Muslims in Lagos State and indeed in the whole
country to join us in working for peace and progress in Lagos State. We appeal
to Muslims who expressed the fear ab
initio that the Deputy Governor had abandoned her fellow Muslims to ponder
over the above analysis for a better assessment of the situation. We are all
working towards the emancipation of the oppressed Muslims of Nigeria. We assure
you that there will be no retreat, no surrender until our goals of equal rights
and justice are attained.
We remain oppressed until the right of the Muslim girl to
use hijab is fully recognized everywhere in Nigeria. Hijab is the symbol of our
right to self-determination and we will employ every legitimate means to ensure
it becomes fait accompli.
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
