A million thanks for this fascinating contribution and for the central theme: that we are lucky to have been blessed with two great writers, “two giants of Literature” whose universes may differ but each of whom is a master in the different firmaments.

Let us continue to enjoy their works and revel in the bumper “fruits” that fall our way rather than the endless and fruitless succumbing to our [Nigerian] baser instincts of primitive ethnic competition.

Emi na kun f’ope, o – It’s also thanks from me!
TOLA.

I respectfully disagree with your comments about my character in reply to my response to your last comment. The question is “Where are the Nigerian Hijab wearing women’s resposes to this issue” . I do not mean your wife/wives or even your sisters or Daughters. You certainly turned the issue to personal matters. I do not like to go the personal route.

However for sake of clarification, I will have to reply to your inquiry. My Men are the Men all over the World who support Women and Girls not afraid to show their Islamic Identity by dressing as to their understanding of the dressing requirement by their religion. This list will include my Father/Uncles/Brothers/Imams in both Nigeria and here in America.

My father is an Imam, My Grandfather was a revert to Islam, who was an Imam and a founder of the First Islamic and Arabic school in a township in Lagos Nigeria even though he is from Osun State. This is part of the reasons I responded to this article, because Lagos State is one of the places on earth that is close to my heart.

My Father was born in Lagos State over eight decades ago and in a Country like US he will be a Lagos state Citizen. My children Paternal Grandmother was a Lagos State Citizen and their Grandfather from Ogun State both lived their life in Lagos state. Although, I live in America with my Immediate family but my extended family are in Nigeria and with majority of them in Lagos state. I still have plenty of love for my birth country and want to see us make progressive changes and not embark on changes that are unfair, unjust, biased and elitist. I am therefore speaking for the voiceless people of Nigeria who do not have access to uninterrupted electricity, Water Supply, talk less of internet access, and therefore could not join us on this blog to speak for themselves or have power or ability to reach the Governor of Lagos state or his Cabinet who are the decision maker on this issue.

I am not an Imam but a professional pharmacist who work in a hospital. I will like to inform you that i received A1 in Islamic religious Knowledge in WASC 1982. Currently, am still a student of both my chosen profession and my religion Islam. It is only by continued educations that one can prevent becoming outdated and rusty. Therefore, when am free from work, I engage in going to Tajweed/Tafsir/Fiqh/Hadith/Halaga classes to prevent becoming rusty. I am definitely not a perfect Muslimah and I do know that I will never become perfect as a Muslim or a human being for that matter. however, I know that I have to take baby steps each day to improve in every part of my life.

Therefore as it’s recorded in the Hadith of our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), that we should seek knowledge from cradle to grave, I continuously engage in studying and encouraging anybody that I come in contact with to do the same. Also, I was raised in a strong Muslim township when growing up back in Nigeria. However, I know that living in a strong Muslim Town or country is not what determines the level of practice of any Muslim. It depends on Individual desire to seek the truth, allocate time devoted to studying and Taqwa of Allah with sound heart. I have come across People who were born Muslims from some countries known as Muslim countries and do not even believe in God talk less of being Muslims. Also, I have come across people who are born in the Western Hemisphere of Western heritage ethnicity born into different religions who have reverted to Islam, study the religion, happy that they have become muslims, have Taqwa of Allah and enjoying the sweetness of faith.Therefore, the country of origin or town where we grow up do not determine at what level we practice our chosen religion.

Dear Brother Yisa Ajao, I hope you still find time to study your religion (Islam). You need to devote time to study it on daily basis or at least when you find time. I wish to point to you that one Ayat about modesty doesn’t describe the entire reasons for wearing hijab and English translation does not entirely explain Arabic verse/Ayat.
You will need Tafsir Classes or the understanding of Arabic Language. The analogy that I can use to explain this is when I speak Yoruba to my American-raised Children for example when I say “ma sun si ile iwe” (meaning: Do not linger too long in the bathroom), the Children’s response is:”Mom, am not sleeping in the Bathroom”.

Now, to the Issue of discussion banning Hijab in Lagos state Public schools, the real question is whether Hijab wearing is capable of causing any harm to anyone in any place in the world. Hijab is not bomb and does not kill or injure anyone. ! wonder what happened to the teacher who beat the students for wearing Hijab? I know, if it is here in the US, the Government will prosecute this teacher for Child abuse and the teacher will face other consequences and may even loose license to teach.I hope he/she seeks forgiveness from the student and her family.

It gladdens my heart to learn that you are a peaceful muslim, My dear brother, true and lasting peace can only come when we embrace our differences, practice fairness and justice to all and sundry regardless of their status(Economic/Education etc.). Please, help me to understand how the family that cannot provide three meals per day nor afford to buy Text books for their Children could afford paying for private schools with skyrocketing price tags.

My sincere hope is that Muslims like yourself who are privileged will find time to continuously study their Deen, have Taqwa of Allah and then the courage to speak up for your not so privileged brothers and the entire humanity. The sayings from the holy Quran and hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says ” The Believer are Like a single cemented body, When one part hurts the other parts also hurts”)

I ask for forgiveness from you for any comment that you may perceive as rudeness or arrogance. Also, I seek forgiveness from God for anything that I might have written that is contrary to his injunctions.

Finally. remember “Samina watana” (We hear we obey) and ” Ina Lilah Rajiun” (To God do we return) . We are all going to return to our creator one day and we will account for all our deeds. I love you, my dear brother for the sake of Allah and his Final Messenger Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). I pray that God Almighty will guide us all and give us the courage to speak the truth with facts and not baseless fear that will alienate a section of the society and power to do the right things and be fair and just to all.

Thanks
‘

In the world of writing the top honour remains the Nobel; WS received it in 1986 and however high-minded he may be, the over current remains as some hum, that Achebe should have been the one or be given his own cake after.

Did that lovable clown jimi Solanke truly write a song titled APARO KAN O GA JU KAN LO… A feyi to ba gba Nobel? How much of this over current affected or occupied Achebe’s mind and work after 1986, we may never know. I do not remember anyone ever steering open conversation in that direction and now … Speak no ill … must be the refrain of human hypocrisy!

TAO wrote a note in the Nigerian Guardian the week of WS going up to Oslo, to collect his award titled CELEBRATING DEATH. The piece was posited on the commercialization of the award and of course the killing of the winners who invariably get shunted into pseudo political work as conscience of the world or what is left of it after WENA dynamiting. HAS WS TRULY DONE MUCH MORE CREATIVE OBSCURIST WRITING SINCE 1986? …LOGOLONTO!!!

I live on the fringe of literature as an avid consumer and I don’t remember where I heard it that WS pipped Achebe because of the technical and stylistic “obscurity ” of his work which excited higher curiosity than the post colonial “ghetto” in which Achebe thrived, and now earns the sobriquet “FATHER OF …” in true paterfetishism of the Yoruba. As locust I know where my taste bud ranks both WS and Achebe on the short list of WS’s in his SaharaReporter interview.

Regrettably I could not attend the session of tributes to Achebe in Lagos recently but the undercurrent of who of the two should have won Nigeria’s first and only Nobel will flow on for years and, hopefully, become a rivulet of creative thinking and comparative analytic work on the two GIANTS OF NIGERIAN LITERATURE … my sobriquet, or has it gone?

Achebe and WS produce two different crops and have been good successful farmers. Let us and the world continue to enjoy the fruits. Whatever WS says Africa is and remains a GHETTO he and the rest of us must continue to work and change that. Mo kun f’ope o. tao

COMING: DAYS OF RECKONING FOR NIGERIAN LOOTERS?

It only confirms our belief that there are many other groups smarting to confront Nigeria’s hydra-headed problems. Somehow, somewhere, we’ll find ourselves integrating together to form a formidable pressure group.

Kudos to Melaye.
Ade

Salam alaikum, waramatulhi, wabaratuhu,

Your comments on my contribution on the subject of hijab in schools make me think you are a somewhat boastful and rather pugnacious Muslim sister. I ask: where is your man? This is because you asked, “where are my women?” Because I am a Muslim, I am not used to boasting. My father was an Imam. I finished learning the Quran the traditional way by rote, on wooden slate, and Kalam with Kandahar ink before I started secondary school in 1958. I got a credit grade in Religious Knowledge (as it was called) in 1962 WASC. Then I studied for and obtained a Bachelors Degree at Ahmadu Bello University in 1968. I noticed you said you went to UI in the 80′s.

At the University, although I was studying engineering, I found and read “The Glorious Quran” by M. Picktall, an English man who translated the Qur’an from Arabic to ‘Queen’s English’ to improve on my understanding of the religion of Islam. Without any exaggeration, I know you cannot be more Muslim than I am by background, and knowing the place of women in most Muslim families in Yoruba. I think a Muslim woman who understands Islam will not be querying a man’s pedigrees with a combative attitude unless she is an activist or a fundamentalist who just adheres to religion with a level of ignorant rigidity and ostentatious obstinacy towards voice of reason.

I know there is a Department of Arabic Studies and a magnificent mosque at UI but you cannot compare the Islamic environment to that of ABU. Yet we all know that the hood does not make a monk. Just as the size of the Mosque is not the spiritual measure of those who worship in buildings, hijab wear is not the only true spiritual measure of Islamic adherence of the wearer. The Qur’an says 24: 31 “… they (women) …SHOULD lower their gaze and guard their modesty: they SHOULD not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they SHOULD DRAW THEIR VEILS OVER THEIR BOSOMS AND NOT DISPLAY THEIR BEAUTY except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons …”

Fausat, the operative word here is SHOULD. I am sure my pre-school Arabic teacher must have translated this as MUST. This is the problem. Had I not read the English translation, I would be fighting Lagos State Government that Muslim girls MUST wear hijab to school. This misinterpretation is also, what is wrong with fanatics and fundamentalists. Islam is a beautiful religion that prescribes man’s relationship with God and his creation in a peaceful manner. However, fanatics make the religion hard and combative: the Bin Ladens, the Shekau Boko Harams of Islam.

As for what I regard as derogatory remarks on my person, I do not need to comment on those because those who interact and consult with me at the tertiary academic level in the field of Applied Management and Decision Sciences know me. That is good enough for me as a peaceful Muslim. More Salaam!

Dr. Yisa Ajao

Dear Dr Ajetunmobi,

You are well on spot.

“Who is a godly person? ”

Religion changed the rules to suit its practitioners.

The more reasons why we must scrutinize why there are so many different denominations?
Each denomination is a tweak of the rules to suit the individual needs.

Some claim Hijab or Scarf is for morals reasons. They claim some women’s beauty is too exposed and tempting for men. Now, is it only women that are open to rape or subject of temptation? The homosexuals; is it that one of them did not cover his ‘beauty’ enough for attraction? How about a father who sleeps with his daughters?

Morals from religion are very much open to interpretation and that’s the reason why thousands of religious sects have different types of morals … i.e some religions allow polygamy (me..ni oluwa wi), some pedophilia etc, some ban alcohol, some against modernization etc..

But knowing what’s right and what’s wrong is inherent in us humans …

DDaramola

What a wonderful perspective to share with us about a people who would rather not live with what to many in other parts of the world – say, Nigeria – demands nothing more than “excuses”. And what wonderful very rare company Jeremy Affeldt belongs.

Sincere thanks for sharing this wonderful moving story from the past.

Regards,
TOLA.

The story about baseball player Jeremy Affeldt preferring integrity to unearned $500,000 in a contract mistake, reminds me of the extremism of the Japanese for integrity, loyalty and honour.

A Japanese captain of a ship laden with 500 Toyota cars bound for the Los Angeles port in 1992 realized, to his dismay and utter mortification, that 27 of the cars had been damaged by the ocean salt water that had mistakenly seeped in through a tiny crack in the ship.

Rather than put up mitigating excuses about responsibility for this action, and facing what he considered would be corporate taunts and jeers from his employer, he wrote a note to Toyota of Japan regretting the unfortunate development and thereafter committed suicide to “save his name, integrity and corporate loyalty”!

Dolapo Ajao.

When will Nigerians realize that exclusiveness hidden under the garb of uniformity only threatens our uniformity in the long run? Why are adults struggling so much at realizing that for every person we let be, we sow the seed of uniformity and for every person we force into uniformity, we water the seed of discord? Has that not been the Nigerian story since nineteen gbogboro…….?

I am not sure what religion you practice and what field of study you obtained your Doctorate in, but I sincerely disagree with your view on the subject matter.

I am a muslim woman and have my Doctorate in Pharmacy but I also take time to study my religion, Islam. I wear hijab everywhere, including work in United States of America. The type of hijab I wear varies with the location: there is hijab for work, school which are different from the hijab I wear to the Masjid (Mosque). The fact that you call the Islamic way of dressing as prescribed by God in the Quran as a 7th century dress etiquette … shows your lack of understanding of Islam and you are insensitive to what a Muslim woman who understands her Religious identity wants for herself.

Anyway, where are all the Muslim women in Nigeria who understand their religion and are not afraid to show it???????????????????????
How can you men be the only ones blogging about the hijab issues? Where are your women?

I am not totally surprised about your views as you are probably one of the privileged ones with elitist views and lack sensitivity. You give the Islamic extremists the chance to claim that Western Education is haram (AKA BOKO HARAM’S).

It is widely known that in Southwest Nigeria, especially Lagos, there are kids raised in a way they do not speak their traditional Language because they are being raised to see their Language as inferior to other foreign Languages like English.

Yoruba adage states and I quote “Lati kekere Lati pekan Iroko, tori tio ba dagba tan, apa oni kaa” (meaning, when you plant a big tree, you trim it when young because if you wait till maturity, you will not be able to control its spread).
Therefore, it is imperative for parents to encourage their children to wear hijab when young, so they will have no problem embracing their Identity.

Dear Dr. Ajao, a scarf has never harmed anyone; bombs and corruption are the fuel of extremism in our beloved country, Nigeria. Let us engage in meaningful dialogue to address our problems. You need women who wear hijab with the men who support them to work truthfully and honesty with their fellow country men in a secular society as Nigeria and USA to curb extremism.

We also need bridge builders who are Muslims and who are knowledgeable in the Islamic teachings and with western education but with no elitiat behavior or superiority complex to their non-western-educated brothers.

Thanks,
Fausat Sulaiman.