Confusion as Osun pupils attend school as masqueraders

The theatre of  the absurd which started playing out at the Baptist High School, Iwo, Osun State, continued on Wednesday as some pupils came to the school wearing  costume to hide their identities like masqueraders.

Some of the pupils believed to be from Christian families also wore choir robes, while those from Muslim background wore hijab on their uniforms.

The school authorities, which had envisaged that the drama that started on Monday would continue on Wednesday, cancelled the morning assembly.

Our correspondent, who visited the school, gathered that the cancellation of the morning assembly did not deter pupils who still wore   unconventional clothes.

Some of the pupils were said to have come to the school in the government-approved uniform, hiding their costumes inside their bags. They were said to have changed to various religious regalia once they got to their classrooms.

Residents living around the school area told our correspondent that three pupils dressed as  masqueraders stormed the school and headed for one of the classes around the break time.

While some witnesses said the masqueraders were allowed to go inside the school, others insisted that they were prevented from going inside at the gate.

It was gathered that policemen and officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were deployed in the school to prevent the breakdown of law and order following the drama which continued for the third day.

Some officials of the NSCDC were seen at the school by  our correspondent, but they declined to speak on the issue.

However, the Public Relations Officer of the Osun State Command of the NSCDC, Mr. Ayo Olowe, confirmed to our correspondent on the telephone that men from the command were deployed in the school to ensure peace.

He said, “The state government has engaged us in most of the schools and we are in Baptist High School, Iwo, in particular, because of its peculiarity. I was told that some people dressed as  masqueraders came to the school, but were prevented from going in.”

The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Sunday Akere, when contacted, said the government would find a lasting solution to the crisis.

The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Osun State, Rev. Elisha Ogundiya, said Christians were not responsible for the crisis in the school.

Ogundiya, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone, said some of the pupils chose to dress differently to the school because the wearing of hijab on the uniform in a school established by Christians was provoking. He added that while Christians would not fight the government on its educational policy, they would not allow their heritage to be destroyed.

He said, “We are not responsible for the crisis in the school. The students are just expressing their rights. If Muslim children are allowed to wear hijab to school, I don’t see any reason why Christian children cannot wear choir robes to the school or children of those practising traditional religion dressed in their regalia.

“We warned against this before now. Why hijab in schools? We saw it coming and we warned the government against it, but they refused to listen. All the pupils are free to dress the way they like to school. It is their right.”

It will be recalled that the Ansarudeen Society of Nigeria had in December 2013 tackled CAN for seeking to ban pupils from wearing hijab to public schools.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Mr. Najeem Salaam, has condemned the drama going on at the school.

Salaam in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Goke Butika, said, “The leadership of the school, and the officials of Ministry of Education should prepare for an explanation on what led to the orchestrated embarrassment of the government. The rowdy session that has lasted for two days in the school must be stopped.  The intervention of the parliament on the school’s dress code in conjunction with relevant stakeholders has become imperative.”