Hijab: Court ruling will aid rule of law, diversity – Osun CSO

The Justice Now Foundation (JNF) a civil
society organization based in Osogbo, Osun
State has commended yesterday’s ruling of the
Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, which upheld
the right of Muslim students in public primary
and secondary schools in Lagos State to wear
hijab (Muslim scarf) on their school uniform.
In setting aside previous judgment of a Lagos
State high court, a five-justice panel of the
Court of Appeal headed by Justice A.B. Gumel
held that, “the use of hijab is an Islamic

injunction and also an act of worship hence it
will constitute a violation of the appellants’
rights to stop them from wearing hijab in public
schools.”


JNF in a statement signed by its chairman Mr.
Kunle Afolayanka stated that its sees this
judgment as a leap forward in our bid to
nurture our diversity as a nation. The Court of
Appeal in Lagos has once again established a
critical principle that the rule of law is supreme,
the JNF stated.
“We appreciate the doggedness of the Muslims
Students Society of Nigeria, MSSN, Lagos Area
who unlike their Osun chapter, Christian
Association of Nigerian, did not take the laws
into their hands when an unfavourable
judgment was delivered by Justice Modupe
Onyeabor of the Lagos High Court in October,
2014.”
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“The Muslims have through their actions
shown the CAN group in Osun what it means to
be a good example in thought and in deed.”
The court of Appeal in its judgment followed the
path of the Osun State judge when it held that
the use of hijab by pupils in public schools was
part of female Muslim students’ fundamental
human right.
“Of interest to us is that only two of the five
Justices who presided over the case were
Muslims, hence many can’t accuse the judges
of bias unlike the case of Osun, where the
judge who delivered a favourable judgment to
the Muslims is a Muslim.”
“What’s more? The decision of the court of
Appeal has discounted the malicious
accusations on the Osun Governor , Ogbeni
Rauf Aregbesola who some misguided groups
ignorantly accused of masterminding the hijab
judgment in Osun.”

“They ignore that the hijab controversy has
never been about the ‘people’s leader’, but
about two opposing religion who felt each
other’s right was being trampled upon.”
“For us at JNF, We have always maintained
that the use of hijab was a constitutional matter
that only the courts can resolve. We take this
opportunity to once again appeal to interested
parties in Osun to allow the rule of law take its
course like it did in Lagos rather resort to self-
help.”