By Sabiu Abdullahi
The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan has overturned an earlier judgment that permitted female Muslim students of the University of Ibadan International School (ISI) to wear hijab with their school uniforms.
The appellate court delivered the ruling on Friday in a split decision of two-to-one.
Justice Biobele Georgewill, who delivered the lead judgment, alongside Justice K.I. Amadi, held that ISI operates as a private institution and not a public school.
The court ruled that the students had voluntarily accepted the school’s regulations after signing an undertaking to comply with its rules on dressing.
According to the judgment, the Supreme Court ruling that recognised the right of female Muslim students to wear hijab applied to public schools in Lagos State and not to private institutions.
Georgewill said freedom of religion remains a personal right that individuals may choose to waive.
“In public schools, you can wear hijab on school uniforms based on the judgment of the supreme court,” the judge said.
“But the supreme court is yet to make any decision on the use of hijab in private schools.
“The judgment of the lower court allowing female Muslim students to wear hijab on their school uniforms in ISI, a private school, is set aside.”
However, Justice Fadawu Umar disagreed with the majority judgment. In his dissenting opinion, he upheld the earlier ruling of the Oyo State High Court, which allowed female Muslim students of the school to use hijab.
The dispute over the use of hijab at the school dates back to November 2018 after some Muslim female pupils arrived at the school wearing headscarves.
The development sparked tension among parents and school authorities. The management later shut down the school temporarily to prevent a breakdown of order.
Before the closure, parents under the umbrella of the International School Muslim Parents’ Forum had written to the school management on November 9, 2018, informing the authorities that their daughters would begin wearing hijab to school.
At the time, the then Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) of the University of Ibadan, Abideen Aderinto, maintained that ISI is a private institution and that parents had agreed to the rules governing students’ dressing before admission.
Some Muslim parents later approached the court on behalf of their children to challenge the restriction. Those involved in the suit included Taofeek Yekinni, Idris Badiru, Sikiru Babarinde, Muideen Akerele, Abdur-rahman Balogun and others.
The Oyo State High Court had earlier ruled in favour of the parents and declared that banning hijab violated the fundamental rights of the pupils.
The issue of hijab in schools has remained a subject of legal and public debate in different parts of Nigeria.
In July 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the right of Muslim female students in Lagos State public schools to wear hijab as part of their school uniforms.
