Imams To Gov Abiodun: We Will Not Allow You To Return Missionary Schools

Ogun state Muslims, under the aegis of the League of Imams and Alfas has opposed Governor Abiodun’s plan to return schools formerly owned by missionaries back to them.

The League said in a statement on Monday signed by Imam Tajudeen Mustafa Adewunmi, its Secretary General that the state government has been ill-advised on the issue, saying the plan is against equity and the “plural society” that the state and country is known for.

The schools were taken over by the government many years ago,  but the lack of adequate funding on the part of the government have led to the missionaries pressing for the return of the schools to them.

Some state governments have returned such schools to their original owners despite pressure from some Nigerians, particularly the Muslim community.

There were reports recently that the Ogun state government is planning to join the states who have handed over missionary schools back to them.

Governor Dapo Abiodun had last Friday announced that the state is planning to return the schools to their former owners to strengthen the education sector in the state.

He made the disclosure while receiving the Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty, in the Government House, Abeokuta, the state’s capital.

The Catholic envoy was accompanied by the Catholic Bishop of Ijebu-Ode, Francis Obafemi Adesina, the Catholic Bishop of Abeokuta, Peter Odetoyinbo, and other officials.

“We will return all missionary schools to their owners. It is not our policy to do it alone. We need to join hands with private individuals, and we encourage further partnership with the Church to expand development,” Abiodun said.

But the League said the government had nationalized the schools, to eliminate the “sectarian control” that the government is now trying to introduce by returning the schools to the missionaries.

“This policy is not only a gross misreading of history but a dangerous affront to the principles of equity, justice, and religious balance in a plural society,” the League said.

“To reverse this progress is to deliberately court division, deepen distrust, and destabilize the fragile harmony that has defined our state for decades.”

It stressed that the action will be discriminatory, and will not be accepted by the Muslim community in the state, accusing the state government of trying to “prioritize” the interests of a particular religious group at the expense of others and their rights.

The Muslim community in the state will not allow this to happen, the League said.

“Let it be stated without ambiguity: This move is discriminatory in effect and unacceptable in its entirety. It signals a troubling willingness by the government to prioritise the interests of a particular religious bloc over the collective rights of all citizens. Such a path is not only unjust but also politically reckless.

“The Muslim community, which constitutes a substantial and historically rooted segment of Ogun State, will not stand idly by while its rights, sensitivities, and contributions are disregarded. We categorically reject any policy that seeks to cede public institutions that were built, upgraded, and managed with the resources of all to sectarian control under any guise.”