Muslim Teachers Tasked on Unity, Exemplary Conduct
Muslim teachers have been challenged to unite to achieve their common cause while showing exemplary conduct in discharge of their duties.
This charge was made during the inaugural meeting of the Muslim Teachers’ Association of Nigeria (MUTAN), South West at Adekile Goodwill Grammar School, Ibadan at the weekend.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting which drew participants from Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States, MUTAN members were implored to see one another as one and help each other in lawful deeds and ensure MUTAN is not divided on the basis of ethnicity.
‘Our faith is one. The Quran is one and Allah is one. Our challenges are the same, hence the need for us as MUTAN members in South West Nigeria to come together as one’, MUTAN stated.
The communiqué was jointly by the MUTAN Lagos State President, Alhaji Oladejo Fatai Abiola , MUTAN Ogun State Secretary, Dr Tajudeen O Uthman, MUTAN Ondo State Chairman Alhaji Adanlawo Fatai, MUTAN Osun State Chairman, Mallam Arogundade M.O., MUTAN Oyo State Chairman, Comrade Gbadamosi Abdul Waheed,
The association which is made up of teaching and non-teaching members of staff in schools also appealed to education authorities to protect the right of Muslim female students to don Hijab in conformity with constitutional provisions and judgment of the Supreme Court.
‘Despite the Supreme Court judgment which granted female Muslim students the right to adorn hijab, many school teachers and principals are still persecuting them by forcing them to remove their hijab. Despite clarification by examination bodies such as the West African Examination Council, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board and the National Examination Council, some teachers and principals are still forcing female Muslim students to remove their hijabs before they are allowed to sit for biometric data capture’, MUTAN observed.
MUTAN also deplored the low number of Muslims in senior education posts such as commissioners, permanent secretaries, principals and vice principals relative to the number of qualified Muslims.
The association further implored Muslim teachers and students to shun examination malpractice, saying it is antithetical to the teaching of Islam.
MUTAN thereafter called for increased funding of education to boost the country’s human resources.
The inaugural meeting which was witnessed by members from states in the South West had Oba Abdul Rasheed Adegoke, Baagi of Saki as the Royal father of the day. Among other dignitaries are Alhaji Olufemi Tiamiyu Bakare, pioneer chairman of Lagos State MUTAN, Alhaji Taofeeq Akinyemi, Pioneer Chairman of Oyo State MUTAN, Alhaji Abdul Hakeem Abdul Jabaar, the guest lecturer and the former chairman Oyo State as well as Alhaji Kelani M.O, former deputy chairman Oyo MUTAN.
