The president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud has described as “needless” the controversy over the denial to admit a hijab-wearing law graduate, Firdaus Amasa, into the Nigerian Bar.
Mahmoud made his view known oh his Twitter page this afternoon.
Give me some background
Law graduate, Firdaus Amasa, wore a hijab to her Call to Bar admission ceremony last week but was denied admittance into the Nigerian Bar as her hijab contravenes the rules of the Nigerian Bar Association on the mode of dressing for the event. The case made it to the ‘court of public opinion’ after her friend shared the story, calling it an injustice.
Expectedly there were camps for and against the decision with some saying she knew what she was getting into when she decided to break the rule and others saying that its a breach of her fundamental rights to deny her admittance based on that specific rule.
We rounded up some of the best reactions, which you can read here.
Anything else?
Well, the president of the NBA also reacted. While not explicitly condemning the decision not to admit Firdaus, he shared evidence that seems to side with the law graduate.
First, Mahmoud shared a photo of British-Nigerian lawyer Olufunke Abimbola who received an MBE from Prince Charles for promoting diversity in the legal profession and tweets: “the hijab issue will be addressed.”
He also followed that with a photo of his daughter Zubaida Mahmoud wearing a hijab during her admission to the New York Bar earlier this year. “The controversy here on Hijab is needless,” he says.
Sidomex
It will be interesting to see how the issue unfolds going forward. No doubt, opinions are polarised along religious views.
But, how did the NBA come up with the rule in the first place? Was it a random rule or is there a meaning to banning headgears other than the legal wig? Because in the midst of the controversy, some people seem to think that it was just the hijab that was banned when in actual fact, it’s all types of headgears, including by the way wigs we hear.
We would love to get answers to these questions. Hopefully, also, justice will be served to those who need it.
Hmm… Let’s see how the drama unfolds