The Supreme Head of the Cherubim & Seraphim Unification Church of Nigeria, Prophet Solomon Alao, has urged Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, to drop the use of hijab in Christian schools in the state.
Alao said Nigeria was facing serious crises threatening its corporate existence, appealing to Abdulrazaq not to add to it.
The cleric suggested that tampering with the dress code of Christian schools in the state could ignite a religious crisis.
Several religious bodies, including the Christian Association of Nigeria, have kicked against the Kwara State government’s stance which allows female Muslim students to wear hijab to Christian schools.
The policy has met with stiff resistance from owners of Christian schools, a situation that recently saw attacks on Christians and church properties in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, by hoodlums.
Lending his voice to the hijab controversy on Friday, the C&S leader, Alao, said what should be paramount to the state government should rather be improving quality education.
Alao said this in a statement titled, ‘C&S Head Appeals to Kwara Governor to Drop Hijab in Christian Schools.’
The cleric pleaded with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), to intervene in the matter and make Abdulrazaq see reasons why hijab-wearing by female students should not be enforced in schools established by Christians.
Alao said, “With the security situation in the country, why do we need to segregate Muslim students from others? We all know that members of the Boko Haram terrorist group are Muslims. Does the Kwara State Government want to give out female students who are not Muslims as easy targets for bandits and terrorist groups?
“This is very unfortunate because making Muslim students dress in a different manner from others is making us suspect sinister motives not yet known to the public.”
Alao said Muslims who wanted to wear hijabs could go to Muslim schools in the state.
He said, “We want the governor to imagine a situation where other religious leaders in the state ask their adherents to dress in a manner to portray their religious sentiments to school. I mean a situation where we ask C&S members to wear their white garments to school, Orthodox churches ask their members to wear choir uniform, or traditional worshippers go to school in their religious dress.”
Alao added that he was optimistic that Abdulrazaq would review his stand on the matter and return to status quo ante and allow peace to reign in the state and Nigeria.
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