President of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Fadlullahi Olamilekan, tells FATTEH HAMID why the association opposed the decision of the university barring female Muslim students fromwearing niqob (face veil) on campus.
On Monday (September 11), Muslim students of FUNAAB had a peaceful demonstration by praying their subhi (early morning prayer) at the school gate, locking out people from entering. What was responsible for that?
The demonstration was an auto reaction to a meeting that was held the previous day between the members of the management, the MSSN, the Muslim community, and security agents. Present at the meeting were the vice-chancellor, deputy vice-chancellor (academic), deputy vice-chancellor (development), the librarian, acting bursar, and other principal officers of the school. The meeting also had the presence of the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force, and some other security agencies. Also in attendance were professors, me, as the amir (president) of the MSSN at FUNAAB, and the naibul amir (vice president). The president and senate president of the FUNAAB Students Union were also in attendance.
What happened at the meeting?
At the meeting, the vice-chancellor emphasised again that the DSS told him to be decisive in their recommendations about the situation in school with female Muslim students using face veils. Thus, he stated that the decisiveness would be on the senate’s resolution which remained that the university would not allow any clothing item or dress that covers the facial identification of anyone on campus. By implication, they meant the niqob (face veil) used by female Muslim students and that that day would be the last day that the use of face veil would be allowed inside the school. The MSSN went back to its members to give them a brief about the meeting and the resolution of the management and people broke down emotionally and the reaction to that was the demonstration. Our female Muslim students have been continuously denied their rights and it’s high time we came out together to tell the management that what we are asking for is not a privilege but a right of female Muslims as enshrined in their religion.
This is the first demonstration that I have witnessed personally. I wouldn’t know if there had been any before I got admission into the school but since I was a student, this is the first of its kind. Also, I wouldn’t know if that would be categorised as a demonstration but there was one on Saturday and Sunday (September 9 and 10) but I want to believe that the one on Monday was the demonstration proper.
How long has this issue been on?
This issue has been going on for over 10 years now; that was before I got into FUNAAB, but there were ways that it was managed in the past that didn’t allow it to escalate to what we presently have and I think that by a virtue of the management and how they can contain the matter
What are the rights that have been denied?
At different points, veiled female Muslims have been denied several things. They have been denied entry into classes, some have been denied access to class presentations, seminar presentations, and the like. Some have been denied access to take exams. Even part-time students were denied access to take exams until they had to put their niqob (face veil) off. Some who are strong-willed insisted that they would wear their veils but they were also denied access to take their exams. Last semester, we had some cases where invigilators had already identified and passed in some niqobis (veiled female students) and then a lecturer from nowhere came in to snatch the papers from them and send them out of the exam hall, infringing on their rights. So, there have been a lot of cases. We’ve had cases where they (veiled female Muslim students) were denied access to the school’s transportation facilities; they were told that anyone with a veil would not be allowed to board the bus. They have also been denied access to the school; this still happened last week.
The school’s senate has given a rule; they’ve been able to communicate it in different circulars and internal memos of the university that this is their stance. What is their stance? It is that all students must wear clothes that don’t cover their facial identification at all times on campus. That is the school’s position.
Has the Muslim community been able to intervene?
Yes, the Muslim community has been represented in the past meetings that we’ve had with the management, within ourselves, and with other bodies from outside of the school. We share the same stance with the Muslim community and the stance is that the niqob (veil) is a part of the religion and we should be allowed to practice our religion.
How does the denial of these students’ rights affect other Muslims?
The denial affects other Muslims because it is our religion. One of the things that I’ve always said is that if we allow this particular denial to be successful, in no time, we should expect that other rights of Muslim students on campus will be infringed upon. So, we should be very careful. For example, if you’re in the same hall with someone who’s been denied access to take exams, as a Muslim, you’ll naturally want to ask about what is happening, then you become destabilised emotionally and psychologically, just as the victim is. So, this affects all other Muslims on campus.
There are claims that the face veil is used to commit examination malpractice. What is your reaction to that?
Well, malpractice is not about the veil but the person involved, and that one person should not be the reason why myriads of other Muslims should be denied their rights. We have other people who do not wear veils and still have themselves involved in examination malpractice. So, it is not about the veil but about the person involved. We’ve had thousands and millions of cases where people who do not wear veils engage in malpractice. About lifting the ban to allow malpractices to continue? Definitely not. The niqob (veil) is a religious attire and that dress signifies the peak of modesty for a female Muslim. If anyone adorns herself with the niqob (veil), we want to believe that she has attained a certain level of faith, and belief in our religion prohibits such action (malpractice). Also, I want to believe that anyone who’s sane and in their right state of mind has adorned herself with the niqob for the right reasons. She should not be caught involved in a disgusting and shameful act of examination malpractice. Also, as far as I know, and as far as I’m concerned, no Muslim student is fighting for this cause to serve as an enabler for examination malpractice. We are saying that Muslims should be allowed to practice their religion as it is allowed all over institutions in Nigeria and the world at large.
It was said that the school’s senate had discussed the issue before now. What was their position?
The position of the senate was that they do not allow any dressing that covers the face and that students need to be facially recognised at all times on campus.
Well, we had a meeting where this was said even before the memos were released and the stand of MSSN at FUNAAB hasn’t changed and cannot even change. Just as we have said, Islam is Islam and the niqob (veil) is a part of our religion. If the university’s management continues to say that they do not want face veils in the school, we would also continue to tell them that we want it to be allowed because it is a part of our religion and we will stand by that because it cannot be separated from Islam; it cannot be removed. The MSSN will continue to advocate for this cause.
What are your demands at the moment?
Our demands are very simple. Niqobis should be allowed access to the university and the university facilities freely as every other lawful student. To mention for context, if the school says that people who use face veils are not to be allowed access to the university, it means that a mother who has children in the school hostels will not be allowed to visit or check up on their children because of the school’s policies against veiled women. It also means that if a staff member has a wife that wears a face veil, the wife of that employee cannot come into the university’s premises to check up on her husband in his office because of the school’s policies. Also, it has been claimed that the use of niqob (veil) is a security threat and one of the demands that we have pushed to the management in the past is that they should employ more female security personnel that can identify all veiled female students at necessary points when needed.
Do you believe that the school will reconsider its position?
Well, we hope that the management is going to reconsider. Do we believe? We will have to await the results of their meetings and decisions.
If the school insists on its current position, what will the MSSN do?
We have different approaches to different actions and reactions and the MSSN cannot change its stance. The stance remains that the face veil is a part of our religion and we should not be denied that. If you look at the name, it is a Muslim student society. It is our faith and our studentship that makes us a member. We can’t leave our faith and say that it is the studentship that we want to take neither can we leave our studentship and say that it is the faith alone that we want to take, both go hand in hand. We were Muslims even before getting into the school and the school knew that we were Muslims before offering us admission to seek knowledge and to know more. It is both factors here that make us members of the MSSN and we are advocating for this. The MSSN will continue to advocate for the rights of our members and by extension, female Muslim sisters that use the face veils because they are also our members.
How do you think the university can address malpractices, with regards to the veil?
It is not expected for female students to use face veils to commit examination malpractice. However, because humans can be humans and people can be people, one of the things that should come first is that the management needs to understand that just as they treat other cases individually, it is better they also treat cases like this individually and not to generalise that it is all veiled female students that are involved in examination malpractice. When anyone is caught committing examination malpractice, they should face the necessary punishment as laid down by the rule of the institution – the penalties and punishment for anyone who does such.
Then for the MSSN, there’s always a plan. The MSSN has a non-governmental organisation called Mission for Eradication of Examination Malpractices and before examinations every semester, the MEEM organises a programme called the examination seminar where we advise all of our members on the best practices, advise them against any form of examination malpractices and we also give them proper guidelines that can help them to pass their examinations. This is the system that the MSSN already has in place and the main goal is also to curb examination malpractice on all fronts and ensure that Muslim students are not caught in any form of examination malpractice. So, this is one of the processes that the MSSN has laid on the ground to curb this (examination malpractice), and as I said earlier, if there’s any case of such after all these efforts, it should be treated individually and not generalised.
