Muslim Children in Nigeria: Religious Discrimination and the Right to Education

Nigerian Muslim students face discrimination and restrictions in exercising their religious rights in schools, which constitutes a violation of the religious freedom guarantees outlined in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.

Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or religion is illegal in schools and runs counter to the values of fairness and equality (Osler, 2023). However, as Makwana and Elizabeth (2022) highlight in their article, individuals and groups may experience uneven chances, exclusion, and marginalization as a result of religious discrimination, which is detrimental to the well-being of these groups and the overall development of their children.

The constitution bars the federal and state governments from adopting a state religion, prohibits religious discrimination, and provides for individuals’ freedom to choose, practice, propagate, or change their religion. Meanwhile, Nigeria has had multiple religious crises over the past few decades, especially in the northern area, despite international law and national norms that regulate a child’s right to education (Egbujuo, 2022), forcing numerous people to flee their homes/schools as a result of these disasters, which have caused considerable losses in both lives and property.

In a press release, the Lagos Chapter of the Muslim Rights Concern (LAGOS MURIC) has recently urged all stakeholders in the Southern part of the country to accord millions of Muslim children their deserved constitutional and Fundamental human rights to learn as Muslims peacefully without any discrimination. As highlighted, female Muslim pupils and students have been denied the adornment of hijab for decades until recent Supreme Court judgment which affirmed the rights of these innocent children on hijab in 2022.

However, MURIC claims that despite this landmark legal vindication, some overzealous teachers and administrators are still taking laws into their hands and oppress Muslim children unabatedly. The ongoing hijab controversy in Nigeria shows that a delicate balance is required between respecting religious freedoms and adhering to institutional regulations. Despite legal successes, the persistent issue of hijab discrimination in areas like biometric data collection, education, and workplaces highlights how entrenched the issue is.

According to the New Arab (2022), many Nigerian female Muslim students feel victimized, sharing their stories of dehumanizing experiences for merely wearing their hijabs or for covering their faces, and thousands say they have endured embarrassing episodes for practicing their religion. There are serious limits to how female Muslim students can express their religious rights in schools, even though the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, has expressively insisted that female Muslim students should be free to wear their hijab in schools.

In the same vein, MURIC has provided evidence that the sacredness of Friday for Muslims to observe obligatory congregational prayer is being tampered with in some schools. Examinations and programs are sometimes fixed at the Jumah period while some schools do not even allow the students to observe prayers at all in the school premises.

On the other hand, children and teachers are sometimes forced to attend religious programs disguised as extracurricular activities in favor of a certain religion while offering prayers in Islamic ways during the school assemblies as enjoyed by the Christian children is a herculean task to be accomplished in some schools. All these are flagrant contradiction to the provision of Section 38(1) of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution as amended, although the constitution only states the right of Nigerian citizens to perform their religions freely, with no protection from harm that surrounds it.

References
Egbujuo, C. J. (2022). Opportunities and Challenges to Support Out-of-School Children and Youth through Accelerated Education Programmes. University of Auckland and Accelerated Education Working Group (AEWG): Auckland, New Zealand, 1-49.
Makwana, G., & Elizabeth, H. (2022). Challenges for children from marginalised Indian communities. Vidya-A J. Gujarat Univ, 1, 60-67.
Osler, A. (2023). Education, migration and citizenship in Europe: Untangling policy initiatives for human rights and racial justice. Global Migration and Civic Education, 64-79.
https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/nigerial/
https://www.muricnigeria.com/press-release-allow-muslim-children-to-learn-peacefully-in-southern-nigeria-lagos-muric/
https://disinfo.africa/hijab-or-no-hijab-in-public-spaces-2b78aea6b608
https://www.newarab.com/features/nigerian-students-are-being-forced-take-their-hijabs