Niger not against use of hijab – Bago

The Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, has said that the state is not against the wearing of Hijab by female Muslim adherents.

Bago was responding to a social media report claiming that the state’s Commissioner for Education, Hajiya Hadiza, denounced wearing Hijab by teachers, by allegedly saying she ‘sees no reason why a female teacher will wear Hijab and be comfortable with her teaching’.

The governor, in a statement on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, maintained that his administration was not against the wearing of Hijab as it was a religious injunction with constitutional backing.

According to Ibrahim, the Commissioner of Education was quoted out of context and being a Muslim, would never speak against the Hijab.

The governor said, “The commissioner’s statement is contextual and does not reflect the position of the state government on the use of Hijab by women in any field of endeavor.

“The commissioner’s meeting with the principals, headmasters and other stakeholders was organised to sensitise them to the strategic plans of the Bago-led administration to boost education as well as the impending screening and competency test for teachers in the state.

“The state government is not, and has never been, against the wearing of a Hijab; the commissioner’s statement must have been misconstrued.

“The wearing of a Hijab is a religious obligation and the Supreme Court had, in June last year, ruled that the constitution allows Muslim students and, by implication, teachers to wear a Hijab.

“The commissioner, as a Muslim, was not unaware of the importance of the Hijab and could not have been an impediment to its use.

“Niger State is a law-abiding state. Since the Nigeria Constitution allowed Muslim students and teachers to wear the Hijab, the state government has the responsibility to ensure that the rights of the citizens are protected.”