18/04/2026
When Faith Becomes a Barrier: Hijab Discrimination in Nigeria’s UTME/JAMB System
It is deeply concerning that in 2026, an NSCDC official would still deny a UTME/JAMB candidate entry into an examination hall on account of her hijab. Muslims are not a new presence in Nigeria, and Islamic practices, including the wearing of the hijab, are widely known and practiced across the country. When a Muslim candidate in 2026 faces discrimination because of her attire, the issue goes beyond ordinary religious intolerance. It reflects a classic form of Islamophobia and gender-based discrimination that should be clearly acknowledged for what it is, without any attempt to downplay or excuse it.
This harassment has become a pattern that happens annually. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) cannot continue to rely on routine or annual press statements to apologise for these recurring incidents. There is a need for institutional clarity that protects the fundamental rights of all candidates and that all examination centres and security officials must comply with. It should be explicitly communicated that Muslim female candidates are permitted to wear the hijab during examinations. This is not a privilege to be granted, but a right that must be protected.
Beyond institutional policy clarification, enforcement is essential. The board must take decisive steps against examination centres that enable or tolerate such conduct, as well as against security personnel who engage in discriminatory practices. These actions go beyond administrative inconvenience. They amount to psychological intimidation that can disrupt candidates’ focus and undermine their performance, even where they are eventually allowed to write the examination.
UTME is the gateway into Nigerian universities, even for courses such as B.A. Islamic Studies. This raises a critical question: what exactly do these Islamophobic examination centres and security officials expect? That Muslim female candidates should abandon their faith, remove the hijab, and appear in miniskirts, with hair attachments and artificial nails, simply to sit for an examination that qualifies them to study their own religion? Muslims must not be compelled or intimidated into compromising their religious obligations before they can access their constitutionally guaranteed right to education
To address these recurring challenges, the following measures may be considered by JAMB and the Federal Ministry of Education:
1. Strengthen accountability mechanisms by blacklisting examination centres and sanctioning security officials found guilty of religious discrimination. Conducting and supervising UTME isn’t volunteer work. Both the examination centres and the officials are paid by JAMB or the government to provide fair and professional service. It is unjust for a candidate to pay for UTME, only to be humiliated or denied access at the venue by officials whose allowances are drawn from the very fees she paid. This is the height of injustice. If JAMB cannot protect her fundamental human right, then why accept her UTME fees? Why allowing her to register for the examination even after seeing her wearing hijab in the passport photograph she used to register?
2. In case JAMB is short of examination centres and this may be the reason why it finds it difficult to blacklist these Islamophobic centers, perhaps the board may consider enrollment of Jumu’ah mosques or various Islamic centres as alternative examination centres for Muslim female candidates who are prone to discrimination in conventional centers. This can be worked on if the board is serious about protecting candidates’ rights. We have Jumu’ah mosques and Islamic centres that can easily be equipped to cater for this, even if it means starting with a paper-based test (PBT) before graduating to a computer-based test (CBT), since UTME began as a PBT.
3. If UTME as an examination system cannot fairly accommodate hijab-wearing Muslim female candidates, then Nigeria should consider inclusive alternatives that ensure equal access for all. JAMB and the Ministry of Education should design and enact equivalent examination arrangements that do not force any candidate to compromise their faith. This is not without precedent: when conventional banking conflicted with Islamic principles, Nigeria introduced non-interest banking to ensure financial inclusion of Muslims. In the same way, if genuine barriers exist, fair solutions should be explored. The key principle is simple: Muslims are full citizens, and they must not be placed at a disadvantage in national examinations because of their religion. We reject the attempt to treat us as a minority when we are not and have never been.
Lastly, discussions around the hijab are sometimes met with weak analogies suggesting that if Muslim women are allowed to wear hijab, then traditional worshippers should also be permitted to appear in ritual attire in public institutional spaces.
For example, in June 2022, lawyer Malcolm Omirhobo appeared at the Supreme Court of Nigeria dressed in traditional religious regalia: wearing feathers, cowries, red cloth, and going barefoot over his legal robe, claiming to be exercising his rights as a traditionalist and Olokun priest. This was widely understood as a protest following the Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld the right of Muslim female students in public schools to wear the hijab.
We need to understand that Muslims do not care what you wear. If your civilization requires you to cover yourself in leaves, or transparent nylon, or choose to walk around with no clothes at all, that is good for you. Our civilization requires women to modestly cover themselves in hijab and we are okay with the blessed civilization. Thus, as we do not care what you wear, we expect that you also don’t care about what we wear. We shall not apologize for upholding our civilization.
If you check Malcolm Omirhobo in 2026, he is no longer seen wearing feathers, cowries, red cloth, or going barefoot as he did in June 2022. This highlights the difference between a one-off momentary performative demonstration and a consistent religious observance. A hijabi Muslim woman wears her hijab daily as part of her faith, while Malcolm’s appearance in traditional regalia was temporary before he returned to his normal dressing. This distinction shows that hijab-wearing candidates are not anomalies in public institutions, but citizens exercising a consistent and enduring right to religious expression.
✍️ Ibrahiym A. El-Caleel
18th April 2026
[email protected]
Cc
1. Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria
2. Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board
3. Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps
4. Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
5. Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN)
6. Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs
