Oga Michael:
I know there is a problem here between the demands on ABU as a FEDERAL university (as opposed to state or private institution.) The event of town and gown as it relates to the cultural dictates of the environs of location of a university still matter.
Many easterners have issues with this as it applies to UI for instance. These universities are located within specific regions and the intercourse between local community and university is unavoidable. Local cultural tastes differ and must be respected.
Whereas hijab may not be anathema for ABU because of the cultural dictates up there it may be so for say UI & UNN.( some if my course mates in graduate school in the US for instance dressed in Middle East head dress aroynd campus ( Im not sure with full hijab but full hijab is now routinely comnon in the streets of London with slits only for eyeballs.)
You are right to be apprehensive about use of hijab up there but it IS a legitimate dress code up there ( for instance if the student is admitted for say Islamic studies)
This was the sensibility that informed hypocrite Sani Abacha ( the one who allegedly died in the company of a prostitute )deciding that ladies who dressed in trousers in public in Abuja be flogged. Only a dictator could go that far!
The founding Nigerian nationalists understood this very well when they stated each region should westernize at its own pace. Students and parents who oppose ABUs decision (even if they are notherners) may choose to educate their wards in the South and the Middle Belt.That would be these regions manpower gains. The demographic osmosis or reflux will ensure they are vanguard for change in the North in the longer term.
This is the quirky thing about democracy no one can force others to develop at their own pace and people may choose other models apart from the western in any area of develooment. Much part of the North prefers the Arabian cultural model if not fully but as counterpoint to the excesses of full western mode. In a democracy they have the right to. They may also choose to balance their Arabic preference with Chinese rather than western.
In the South we are more comfortable with westernization but that's due to a long historic ( and continuing) engagement with the West rather than Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
OAA
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------
From: 'Michael Afolayan' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Date: 01/05/2019 10:03 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ahmadu Bello University: Dress Code
This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com) Add cleanup rule | More info Please don't get me wrong, Okey. I am more conservative than you think and I have lived in America for almost four decades. I once sent one of my language/education students home when I went to observe him and he was wearing a pair of jean-pants while student-teaching even though with a nice shirt and standard tie. My student teachers must be professional. Even as a professor, I always visited them in complete suits, even to my discomfort and irritation, and I also did so when teaching them. But all these are commonsensical, not necessarily based on the Mosaic model of the "Ten Commandments." I think a generic announcement of "We expect our students to be decent in their grooming and public appearances" would be sufficient; and individual programs like education, law, medicine, etc., could have more specific guidelines for how their students' carry themselves in public. ABU should transcend this level of rustic simplicity. It's okay for a high school to do so or even some private religious institutions, but let's be real: this is just not good for an institution of ABU status.
MOA
On Tuesday, April 30, 2019, 4:15:53 PM GMT+1, Okechukwu Ukaga <ukaga001@umn.edu> wrote:
My esteemed broda, I obviously disagree. In your so called civilized society, naked people are found in strip clubs and brothels, not on university campuses. If folks are unwilling to self regulate to maintain a minimum level of decency in terms of dressing, university has both the right and the responsibility to take appropriate steps. After all, university degrees are awarded not just for academic achievement but also character, etc. Notably, dress code is not unusual in universities, even in the West. When I was in school of business in the late 80s for my MBA, business students were expected and required to dress in ways consistent with our profession. So it is not unusual to see business students and law students going to classes, etc in more formal attire than say soil science students. And in some cases there are strict guidelines like no jeans, no sleepers, no T-shirts, etc. Isn't that a kind of dress code? So even within the same university there is not only an expected minimum standard for the whole, but component units can have their own additional guidelines, norms and expectations. Before zeroing in on the last part of my contribution that you quoted here, you will do well to read and consider the preceding parts that formed the foundation for that last part.
Regards,
Okey
On Apr 29, 2019 5:18 PM, "'Michael Afolayan' via USA Africa Dialogue Series" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:
". . . and if this is not the right means to that end, then what better options or strategies are available?" (Okechukwu Ukaga)
No options or strategies needed to be explored over a bad idea. The dress code at a first generation public university does not belong in a civil society. Pure and simple!
MOA
On Sunday, April 28, 2019, 1:48:51 PM GMT+1, Okechukwu Ukaga <ukaga001@umn.edu> wrote:
Perhaps there should be a balance between allowing folks to come to school "naked" and "policing" how they dress. How do we strike that balance? If students, staff, faculty and administrators fail to self regulate, how is a university supposed to assure that balance? Beyond automatic condemnation of dress code, it would be helpful to understand what made such a policy necessary, what it is designed to achieve; and if this is not the right means to that end, then what better options or strategies are available?OU--
On Apr 27, 2019 1:19 PM, "'Michael Afolayan' via USA Africa Dialogue Series" <usaafricadialogue@ googlegroups.com> wrote:
--So, what is left? Women to wear hijab and men to dress like the Taliban folks. Great progress for a premier Nigerian university. So grotesque, it's not even funny!MOA
On Saturday, April 27, 2019, 6:05:50 PM GMT+1, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu > wrote:
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