Hijab Controversy: Affected law graduate, Amasa Firdaus, speaks

The Nigerian Law School graduate denied access to the venue of the call to the bar ceremony earlier this week says her demand remains the need to grant approval for the use of hijab among Muslim law graduates.

Firdaus Amasa, a graduate of the University of Ilorin, had been denied access to the ceremony after insisting on wearing hijab during the ceremony.

Ms. Amasa was specifically refused entry into the hall for insisting to wear the wig on top of her hijab – a headscarf.

The case has attracted significant attention on social media, with Nigerians divided on her decision and that of the authorities of the law school.

Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, Ms. Amasa maintained that she remained resolute in her convictions to set a precedent for Hijab-wearing Muslims during the ceremony.

“My major concern is the approval of Hijab so that every person coming behind me will be able to use it for the call to bar (ceremony),” she told PREMIUM TIMES.

When asked whether she was aware of rules and regulations that guide against the use of Hijab at the ceremony, she said there was none, stressing that it was merely based on conventions.

“There is nothing like that (laws preventing the use of Hijab),” she told PREMIUM TIMES. “When you ask them too, they tell you it is convention; that that is how it is done and it has to remain like that.”

Asked what motivated her to take the decision, she explained that she wanted to change the narrative and give Muslim sisters the rights to express their constitutional rights as enshrined in the constitution.

“I knew that was what was going to happen,” she said of the consequences of her decision. She, however, said she remained resolute in her convictions to speak for the recognition of rights of female Muslim law graduates.

She explained further that the Law School has not said anything on the case, adding that the support from the Muslim community has been impressive.

“My demand is that Hijab should be approved,” she affirmed.

Meanwhile, Tawakalitu Amasa, a younger sister to Ms. Amasa, also called on Nigerians irrespective of religious leanings to support the cause.

Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, she argued that there was nothing illegal about what her sister has done.

“All we are clamoring for is to allow hijab in legal profession because it is our right,” she said in a chat with PREMIUM TIMES.

Efforts to get the reaction of the Nigerian Law School, however, were unsuccessful as at the time of this report.