When Samson Favour (not real name)* gained admission into Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) to study Adult Education in 2019, he had no idea he would have to take some Islamic courses until his final year. Realising that EDU 405B, a course on education in Islam is compulsory for every final-year student, he became disturbed and frustrated.
As the semester unfolded, Samson feared he would fail because he knew nothing about Islam. “I was worried about how to read for an Islamic religion course and I don’t know anything about it. But, when I realised its handout was written in English, I was happy because it’ll not be too complicated to read,” he said.
Samson’s happiness was cut short when he started reading the handout and encountered pronunciation challenges. “I had issues with some words and names of scholars quoted in the handout, I easily forgot them,” he admitted. “Truth be told, the course gave me a tough time to read and prepare for its examination. If it was an elective course, I would not have taken it. I can’t predict my grade because the result hasn’t been released yet.”
Dele Isaac’s (not real name)* experience was different and troubling. He is a practising Christian from Oyo state, studying Education Economics. He wouldn’t have imagined there could be an Islamic-related course of study until it finally happened. In his final year, he had to take EDU 405B, ECON 419, and ECON 412, which are titled: Education in Islam, Economic Development Under Islamic Framework, and Islamic Banking and Finance, respectively.
“To me, this is a public university, religion courses shouldn’t be made compulsory. They cannot make us change to Muslim because we are going to church and listening to the words of God. There’s nothing we need the knowledge for. They may think we will carry the knowledge from here, meanwhile the knowledge is imbalanced and half-truths can lead to problems. You can not say in one course, you want us to capture the whole thing in the Quran,” Dele protested.
Benedict Glory (not real name)*, a 400-level student of Education Chemistry who also offered EDU 405B, regarded the course as a source of new knowledge. She had prepared for the examination and envisioned having a good grade. “Failure is not an excuse, while determination is the success of all things. The coming Christian students should be determined to pass the course because it has to be done,” she said.
Samuel Blessing, a recent graduate of the university, said she was shocked that Christian students were mandated to study an Islam course. “There were fears of whether they were trying to Islamise us by making us see reasons we must be Muslims. That fear was there and I believe if Muslim students were asked to do Christian courses too, they would have thought the same way. And I don’t think that fear is a bad one, it is just natural,” she said.
“Why are they teaching me Taohaeed? Why are they telling me about the Qur’an, prophet Muhammad and other prophets?” she wondered.
Ishak Jafar, one of the lecturers teaching Islamic courses explained that the university does not have the intention to Islamise the Christian students as speculated.
“It will not be proper for someone who graduated from a university like UDUS which is located in an Islamic state not to have any knowledge about Islam,” the lecturer said.
“When BMAX was introduced as a new curriculum, it wanted the course to be removed but a Professor from the faculty kicked against it because it is the only general course in the whole faculty that signifies what UDUS is known for, which is Islam,” he claimed.
Frank Ijege, a lawyer and activist noted that it is illegal to force students of different faiths to study Islamic courses against their will.
“It is wrong to force people to study Islamic courses in any school, this is because our constitution in section 10 provides that no state shall adopt a religion to assist state religion. So, the management of Usmanu Danfodiyo University forcing students regardless of their religious inclination to study Islamic courses is wrong and it is also an infringement on the right of these students who are not Muslims and did not offer to learn these courses voluntarily,” Ijege remarked.
“Section 38 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, states as follows: No person attending any place of education shall be required to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if such instruction ceremony or observance relates to a religion other than his own, or religion not approved by his parent or guardian,” he added.
*Names were altered to prevent the victimization of those interviewed.
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