{"id":153614,"date":"2025-03-02T12:23:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T11:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states"},"modified":"2025-03-02T12:23:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T11:23:09","slug":"ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states","title":{"rendered":"Ramadan: Middle Belt Forum condemns schools closure in Northern states"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has condemned the closures of both private and public schools in some Sharia-practicing states of Northern Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>Luka Binniyat, the Forum\u2019s spokesperson, in a statement on Sunday, said, \u201cPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu must exercise his authority to prevent these states from descending into religious fundamentalism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHad former President Olusegun Obasanjo firmly asserted that Nigeria and all its federating units must remain a secular state, as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, such issues might never have arisen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Tinubu must learn from this precedent and take a firm stand to safeguard the rights and privileges of all non-Muslims against the oppressive effects of Sharia-based policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Forum protested the closure of both public and private schools in certain Sharia-practicing states of Northern Nigeria, saying that it is unfortunate that the closure of schools is also binding on Kebbi and Southern Bauchi which are bonafide parts of the Middle Belt.<\/p>\n<p>According to the statement, \u201cThis action serves as a stark confirmation of the long-standing fears among non-Muslims in these states\u2014that the implementation of Sharia does not differentiate between Muslims and non-Muslims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Binniyat said that it is \u201cdeeply unjust\u201d that non-Muslim students and pupils should suffer significant setbacks in their education simply because Muslims in these states wish to fulfill their religious obligations.<\/p>\n<p>He observed that while the students remain at home, their counterparts in other parts of the country will continue attending classes and tutorials, preparing for national examinations that all students must sit for.<\/p>\n<p>The statement observed, \u201cThe Middle Belt Forum views this regressive directive as yet another manifestation of Boko Haram\u2019s ideology, which opposes Western education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rest of Nigeria must not take this directive lightly, as it is evident that these Sharia states are gradually distancing themselves from Nigeria\u2019s secular framework.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The statement noted that the development further justifies the persistent calls by the Middle Belt Forum and the Southern Forum for the restructuring of Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>It noted that the call has become more urgent as Nigerians continue to witness increasing intolerance toward the collective liberty and freedom of non-Muslims in these states.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has condemned the closures of both private and public schools in some Sharia-practicing states of Northern Nigeria. Luka Binniyat, the Forum\u2019s spokesperson, in a statement on Sunday, said, \u201cPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu must exercise his authority to prevent these states from descending into religious fundamentalism. \u201cHad former [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":153613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[12665,254,1965],"class_list":["post-153614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-middle-belt-forum","tag-nigeria","tag-school"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ramadan: Middle Belt Forum condemns schools closure in Northern states - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ramadan: Middle Belt Forum condemns schools closure in Northern states\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has condemned the closures of both private and public schools in some Sharia-practicing states of Northern Nigeria. Luka Binniyat, the Forum\u2019s spokesperson, in a statement on Sunday, said, \u201cPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu must exercise his authority to prevent these states from descending into religious fundamentalism. \u201cHad former [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-02T11:23:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ramadan: Middle Belt Forum condemns schools closure in Northern states\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-02T11:23:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states\"},\"wordCount\":374,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/sm_1740905749.891511.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"middle belt forum\",\"Nigeria\",\"school\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ramadan-middle-belt-forum-condemns-schools-closure-in-northern-states\",\"name\":\"Ramadan: Middle Belt Forum condemns schools closure in Northern states - 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