PROFESSOR ISHAQ AKINTOLA

VOTERS REGISTRATION IN NIGERIA: MUSLIM WOMEN DENIED ACCESS

This article was published in my weekly column of the Nigerian Compass of Friday 21st January, 2010

Nigerians are at it again. This nation appears torn between overzealous religionists bent on conducting affairs their own way. This time around it is the nation-wide voters' registration exercise that is being used as a tool for scoring petty, illegal and unconstitutional religious point.

The registration exercise took off with a shaky start about six days ago with reports of irregularities and logistic problems. No sooner had the exrcise started than reports came that Muslim women in hijab (head scarf) were being denied registration.

Though not widespread, Muslim women in the South are being asked to remove their hijab (head-scarf) before they can take registration pictures. Those who refuse to do so are sent away without being registered. Those who compromise their religious identity by removing their hijab are the only ones allowed to register.

We must denounce this discriminatory practice in the strongest terms. It contradicts the spirit of democracy. We are not in Soweto. Southern Nigeria is fast becoming another apartheid South Africa for Muslims. Forcing Muslim women to remove their hijab before participating in registration or before engaging in any legitimate exercise constitutes an infringement on their Allah-given and fundamental human rights. It violates the letter and spirit of Section 38 (i) and (ii) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which guarantees freedom of religion, its practice and manifestation.

There is an urgent need for both the Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do something about this satanic manipulations of agents of chaos. None but a fanatic will compel a Muslim woman to remove her hijab before registering as a bona fide Nigerian. Hundreds of Muslim women are being disenfranchised through this illegal, unconstitutional and parochial method.

I suspect that this is a design to provoke Muslims into civil disobedience capable of aborting the registration exercise in this part of the country. If it is true that we are all one, if it is true that there is religious tolerance, if we all must coexist peacefully, why are Southern Muslims always marginalised and oppressed? It is this kind of hatred and intolerance which is responsible for the violence in Jos.

INEC should quickly make a statement to clarify the situation before it degenerates into an unpalatable development. Muslims in the South have been subjected to similar embarrassments and dehumanisation in the past. They have bourne the brunt with great patience. This is going too far. Religious apartheid in Southern Nigeria must stop. Nigerians must be allowed to enjoy the dividends of democracy anywhere in the country. Democracy is a sham without equal right, equal access and equal participation.

The same thing happened in 2003 during the National Identity Card registration exercise. Thousands of hijab-wearing Muslim women were disallowed from taking the identity card pictures. Many were forced to remove their hijabs. A protest letter submitted at the National Orientation Agency office in Alausa, Ikeja was ignored and the barbaric oppression of Muslim women continued until the Muslims were forced to carry out a peaceful demonstration with placards. That was when the officials showed seriousness.

But the question I am asking is: why must officials wait until Muslims resort to demonstrations over a matter that is obviously a gross violation of their Allah-given and fundamental human right? Why is it that those who claim to be protecting the rights of women quietly endorse the suppression of Muslim women in times like this? This is a major gender issue. But why don't we ever hear the voice of the advocates of gender equality? Is it because the victims are Muslim women? What if Muslims had resorted to civil disobedience at that point?

That is why I have been consistent in my warning that the peace being enjoyed in the South on matters of religion is artificial. Muslims are suffering from discriminatory and apartheid practices underneath. Are we going to wait until their cup of patience is filled to the brim?

INEC must send an urgent message to its agents on the field particularly in the South. It is an offence to disallow Muslim women in hijab from registrating. It is a civic responsibility which every Nigerian must perform without let or hindrance. The action or inaction of INEC will go a long way in promoting or jettisoning the one-man-one-vote slogan.

Is-haq Akintola (Ph.D),

Associate Professor of Islamic Studies,

Lagos State University,

P.O. Box 10211,

LASU Post Office,

HO 102 101,

Ojo, Lagos,

Nigeria.

Tel. 234-803-346-4974

I remain oppressed untill the hungry are fed, the naked clothed,