The Coalition of Nigerian Muslim Women has urged the National Assembly to ensure the speedy passage of the Religious Discrimination Prohibition Prevention Bill, 2021 to protect the rights of females to adorn hijab in public.
The coalition made the call on Tuesday in Abuja at a press conference marking the ninth World Hijab Day Worldwide, marked every February 1, to raise awareness on the use of hijab.
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This year’s commemoration was themed, “Hijab is our Crown not our crime”, #DressedNotOppressed.
A member of the Women in Da’awah who read the coalition’s position, Hajiya Maryam Ahman, said that the bill, which had passed second reading since March 2021, if passed into law would provide a mechanism for enforcing certain provisions of the constitution and other international laws that recognise the right of women to hear hijab.
She urged the lawmakers to prevent the bill from entering the basement of discarded bills.
She said, “We call on the National Assembly to introduce and pass laws that serve the interest of all citizens and which protect the rights and freedoms of all to education, health, employment, finance, home ownership, careers regardless of what one wears.
“We urge you in strong terms, to speedily pass the ‘Religious Discrimination (Prohibition, Prevention) Bill, 2021’ which passed second reading since March 2021, and prevent it from entering the basement of discarded bills.”
She also urged the federal and state ministries of education to curb incidences of victimisation of students who wear hijab in schools and institution despite it being among their guaranteed Constitutional rights.
“We ask that the ministries take a decisive action by issuing and re-issuing circulars to these schools to remind and caution them to protect this right of girls and ladies to wear hijab in schools and universities,” Ahman said.
She urged the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to introduce an optional set of uniform for Muslim female corps members that desire to appear in modest clothing as hijab is concerned.
She said the current dress kit issued to corps members needed to be reviewed to recognise the right of Muslim corps members to conform to their values.
She urged the NYSC to set up a monitoring mechanism at orientation camps to ensure that no corps member was denied the right to protect the sanctity of her beliefs by removing her hijab or being forced to wear items like short nickers.
Also, the Coordinator of the coalition, Hajiya Rahmatu Musa Sani, urged parents to ensure the training of their children according to the tenants and values of Islam.
She said, “Parent should make their children understand that they have to practice Islam completely because you cannot negotiate the rules of Allah. So you can choose five daily prayers, fasting and then go out naked. Wearing of hijab is a necessity for a Muslim woman because it is part of Islam.”
