By Ganiu Bamgbose, PhD
The notion of “God” in Nigeria and among Nigerians deserves some scholarly and critical investigation. Reports from the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Nigeria, starting April 16, 2026, indicated that some Muslim students wearing hijabs were subjected to humiliation, harassment, and denial of entry at certain Computer-Based Test (CBT). A case was reported at the Esther Oshikoya CBT Centre in Ibadan, Oyo State, where a video showed a candidate being told to remove her hijab. Similar issues were reported at Caleb University in Lagos and centers in Abuja.
Reflecting on these happenings, I still do not understand the God for whose sake some persons victimize those who cover their body and pardon those who expose their cleavages and buttocks. While my goal is not to be a moral police, it simply bothers me that what is sauce for the goose becomes herbs for the gander. I am a Muslim but I write now not just as one but as a thinking human being who sincerely wonders how a person’s decision to cover their body could be a problem for anyone else. I wish to ask: is this truly for God’s sake? Can God be the reason anyone would be disgusted by what is noble and unharmful to anyone else?
Section 38(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), guarantees every person the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to manifest and propagate their religion in worship, teaching, practice and observance. In 2022, the Supreme Court of Nigeria upheld that it is a fundamental right for female Muslim students to use the hijab in public schools, ending a long legal battle in Lagos State. Various court rulings have also declared bans on hijabs in public institutions—including schools of health technology and education—as unconstitutional and discriminatory. It therefore amounts to religious intolerance and instigation of social unrest to harass and humiliate female Muslim students at examination centres.
A proverb among the Yoruba of Nigeria says Kí sòbìà tó d’egbò, Olùgànbe làá ké sí” (Before the Guinea worm (sobia) turns into a sore (egbo), it is the Oluganbe leaf (a traditional herbal remedy) that we call upon”). This proverb advises prompt action in addressing problems before they escalate. It emphasizes nip-in-the-bud solutions—taking immediate, preventative measures when a situation is still manageable, rather than waiting for it to become disastrous, irreparable, or too painful to manage. I write as a well-meaning Nigerian to appeal to the government at federal and state levels to put measures in place to curb the persistent abuse on young innocent Muslim students in different institutions across the country. Since harassment is a violation of human right as entrenched in different sections of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the silence and lack of sanction on the part of the government when the right of Muslim girls is violated would suggest bias, unresponsiveness and irresponsibility.
In closing, I also appeal to all Muslims to remain civil in our call for change in the face of the obnoxious experience of our girls. We must subscribe to a peaceful and legal approach to resolving issues to keep affirming that Islam is a religion of peace. Together as a nation, we must promote peaceful coexistence notwithstanding our religious and cultural differences as this is the only guarantee for unity and stability in the country.
(c) 2026 Ganiu Bamgbose writes from the Department of English.
Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose, PhD
Department of English,
Lagos State University, Ojo
08093695359, 07084956118
