A female nurse who was sacked by the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital's (ABUTH) management over wearing of hijab yesterday said the veil she used did not contravene any nursing dress code.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Trust, Safiya O Ahmad said the hijab she wore was breast length, the type approved by the National Council of Nursing and Midwifery of Nigeria for Muslim women nurses.
"I received my letter of appointment on December 14, 2008 and I assumed duty on 2nd of January, 2009. I was trained at the ABUTH School of Nursing and I know the type of uniform they use. When I was a student, I used a breast length Hijab and when I assumed duty as a staff, I maintained my breast length Hijab.
"The day I assumed duty, the Chief Nursing Officer of ABUTH told me that my hijab was too long, that I should revert to the neck length hijab. I told her that this was the hijab I was using since I was a student. In fact I told her that the breast length hijab was approved by National Nursing and Midwifery Council," she said.
According to Safiya that was the beginning of her trouble as the matter went up to the top management level which later warned her verbally and in writing that she should revert to the neck length hijab.
"In order to make them understand that what I am wearing is neither against the rules of ABUTH nor our national body, I cited the examples of other federal hospitals that allow their nursing staff to wear longer hijabs than mine. States like Zamfara and Kano are using waist length hijabs in both federal and states' hospitals. By this I feel if I am using a breast length hijab there shouldn't be a problem because we are operating under the same body," Safiya said.
According to Safiya, the ABUTH's management told her that they are not talking about national laws they are only interested in what the hospital wants its staff to do.
"It is from that episode that they sent me a letter advising me to change to neck length Hijab in my own interest. Despite that I maintained my breast length hijab while they kept on pestering me.
Later on they sent me another letter on 28th of March, 2009 that my services in the hospital are no longer required. That was what they said, the reason for the termination was not mentioned," Safiyya said.
Safiyya denied that a query was sent to her before the termination of her appointment. She also denied that some Muslim leaders were used to convince her to revert to the neck length hijab as claimed by the ABUTH management.
She said that Malam Mustafa Isa Qasim, Chief Imam of the ABU central mosque, had advised the management of the hospital not to take any action against her as the hijab she was using is not against the nursing profession and the laws of the university in general.
Reacting to Safiya's claims in a telephone interview yesterday, the Chief Medical Director of the ABUTH, Professor Abdulmumini Hassan Rafindadi, said that throughout the duration of the disagreement he didn't see the type of Hijab Safiya was using.
"To me, I don't have to see the type of Hijab she was using because her superior officers have recommended that the hijab she was using is against the dress code of the hospital. You should know that we have a system and this system is entrusted on us, we have to maintain it if we want it to progress without any sentiment. The fact is that why is it that she is the only one who is being queried. If what she was doing was right nobody should have queried her. Other Muslim women, who are complying with our rules on hijab, nobody queried them or terminated their appointment," Rafindadi said.
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This lady should be made an example as a deterent to others. Its a shame that today in Nigeria, we still peddle Hijab as a cloth in a place it doesn't belong. Nigeria is a secular society and should be run as such. People should eschew their religious imposition on the larger society by; doing in Rome as the Roman. People like this lady are always rule averse and like to impose on the society at large, their obnoxius belief. We're not saying they should not perform their religious rites but let them confine it to their private recess only. This lady must keep her religion in her home and perform her duty and Hijab never make anyone a better performer in anyway if not even less effecient because it is not an appropriate dressing code. I believe the Hijab is even more of an intimidation to patients than any good. In many African society Black signifies death and Hijabs are almost always in black -I leave the rest to your imagination if you are that patient being attended to by a Hijab cladded nurse. Enough is enough religion should be a private affair and people must desist from imposing it on others without so much of a basic respect to other peoples ideology. Society have been hurt in recent time by abusers of religious freedom privileges to the extent that people carry out serious wrong doings and crime wearing this clothing as suicide bombers, smugglers of drugs,children etc. Since she delibrately refused to accept her Hospital management rules she should go and look for a job in a nonsecular country like Saudi arabia, Afghanistan, Iran, where she can do as she pleases.
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brothers,lets thik reasonably before we accuse or blame others,what Safiya did is not imposing her religion on others,agreed Nigeria is a circular country run by constitution, but the question is HAS SHE CONTRAVENE THE CONSTITUTION?if yes have they set up displinary committe that invited her to come and depend herself and found her guilty of the said offence of violating the constitution governing the dress code? Organisational constituition suppose to be a guiding document not indivijuals who feel this is how it should be done,lets the constitution be supreme not an indivijual.its unlike a learned person and a leader to comment that he need not to see the type of hijab simply becouse those who accuse her are her superior officer.seems to me that it is an open cheaque for them to victimaze whoever they wish to because their overall boss annoited them.The association of midwiffery and MINISTER of health should rise to dat to make sure JUSTICE is done to her NOW becouse JUSTICE delayed is justice DENAIYED
She should go back to school and learn about cross infection.It's even shameful she cant take to simple correction.The question is,would she be the one to decide for the CMD or CNO?Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria should please intervene.
She should go back to school and learn about cross infection.It's even shameful she cant take to simple correction.The question is,would she be the one to decide for the CMD or CNO?Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria should please intervene.