Many universities in Nigeria have unfortunately been turned by the corrupt practices of those who manage them in to centers of illegalities and criminalities. Illegalities as manifest in syndicated plagiarism; and criminalities as illustrated by falsification of academic records as well as graduating students with carry-overs. Sexual harassment such as the recent brazen enticement of a female student by the convicted lecturer of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Professor Festus David Kolo is another endemic phenomenon in our learning institutions. With the Rivers State University of Science and Technology adding another dimension to the climate of aberrations in Nigeria’s hitherto centers of excellence, the end to the unbecoming idiosyncrasy of universities does not seem to be in sight yet. Rivers State University is now the institution to beat when it comes to discriminating against the religious rights of Muslim students.
The Daily Trust edition of Monday June 10, 2013 carried a detailed report on how the freedom of worship of the hundreds of Muslims in the Rivers State University of Science and Technology has assumed the character of an illusion. The same university management which according to sources quoted in the story paid for the building of churches for different Christian denominations on the campus has on several occasions pulled down the structures erected by Muslim students with their personal resources.
Investigations carried out by the Daily Trust reporter, Victor Edozie in Port Harcourt revealed that the piece of land for the mosque was acquired eleven years ago. Muslims among staff and students used to observe prayers at the site on bare floor. Eight years later, the local branch of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) provided tent on the site to cater for the comfort of the increasing number of Muslim population. The tent was nevertheless removed by security men on the orders of the University management. Another makeshift shelter was later constructed by the MSSN but was again demolished on the orders of the University authorities.
Several letters written by the MSSN asking to be allocated a site to build a mosque did not appeal to the conscience of the University management. Since January 25, 2012 when the University director of works used a bulldozer to demolish the mosque structure, hundreds of Muslims in the university community have had no place of worship. Beyond that was the arrest of some Muslim students who were handed over to the police for worshipping in an “illegal” makeshift mosque.
It is amazing that the separate letters written by the Muslim Students to the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Rivers State Governor and the Vice Chancellor of the University failed to compel any of these authorities to intervene on behalf of the students. Their collective silence in this matter is not and can never be golden. Not daunted by the religious intolerance of the university, ninety-eight Muslim students in a case filed before the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt applied for the enforcement of the rights to worship. It is mind-boggling that a university management would have to be dragged to a court of law before it recognizes the provisions of section 308 of the Nigerian Constitution which guarantees freedom of worship to citizens.
In the suit FHC/PHC/C3150/2012, the Muslim students prayed the court to declare the refusal by the Rivers State University to allocate a piece of land for use as mosque as amounting to a breach of their fundamental rights to freedom of thought and religion. On February 19, 2013 Justice Lambo Akanbi ruled in favour of the students and ordered the university authorities to allocate a portion of land to Muslim students for the construction of their mosque. The accusation against the University for being intolerant is therefore not a mere indictment without substance. The inaction of the university to either respect or appeal the judgment is another illustration of the university’s Islamophobic mindset. Till date, Muslim students have no mosque in which regularly they can observe their prayers.
The thoughtlessness of all the authorities concerned over a matter that is as sensitive and volatile as religious rights is, perhaps, a deliberate attempt to provoke the sensibilities of Muslim students so that when they react to the usurpation of their rights, the University would turn round to label them as fanatic, fundamentalists, extremists, militants, terrorists or Boko Haram. This is one profiling too persecuting. This brand of bigotry especially coming from those who should be models in all spheres of life is not in the best interest of the socio-political future of this country. There is no university in the northern region of Nigeria including places where non-Muslims are in minority that (to the best of my knowledge) has denied any religious group the freedom to worship.
We call on the Rivers state governor to compel the vice chancellor in his capacity as Visitor to the university to comply with the court ruling in the case under reference. May Allah (SWT) touch the hearts of bigots and guide them to respect the religious rights of others, amin.
