No plan to ban Christian organisations in Katsina University – Vice Chancellor

The management of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina State, has clarified the alleged ban on every religious or tribal associations operating within the campus, except the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, MSSN.

The management, in a statement signed by the school’s Vice Chancellor, Idris Funtua, on Wednesday explained that the ‘Internal Memo’ issued by the school’s acting Dean of Students’ Affairs, Sulaiman Kankara which stated that MSSN was the only religious body allowed to operate in the school was not only misconstrued by the media but also shared without verification.

The management said that the memo was only referring to Muslim sub-groups seeking for registration “and the line of statement was for them to come under the umbrella of the MSSN”, as the only Muslim group in the school.

The school management said that there are 51 registered clubs and associations in the school which included religious, professional and state level associations or clubs.

“The attention of the management of Umaru Musa Yar’adua University (UMYU) Katsina has been drawn to information circulating in the media related to an ‘internal memo’ by its Acting Dean Students Affairs.

“As a matter of routine, the student welfare committee presented a report to the university management committee that there are 51 registered clubs and associations within the university.

“The report stated that these clubs and associations were charged fees for registration by the student affairs unit. Consequently, the management committee reviewed the report and took decisions.

“In communicating the decisions, the acting dean issued ‘internal memo’ and what attracted much attention was the statement that the university allow only Muslim students society of Nigeria (MSSN) to operate. The explanation he provided when queried was that there are some Muslim sub-groups that have been seeking for registration and the line of statement was for them to come under the umbrella of the MSSN.

“The content of the ‘Internal Memo’ was then interpreted by the social media and subsequently by two other print media to mean Christian Associations are not recognised or even taking matters to the extreme, banned. Obviously, there was never an attempt to verify the information from its source or usage of multiple sources to verify the information.

“We make bold to state that what was reported in the social media and part of the print on the matter at hand was neither the fact of the matter nor the intention of the university management.”