The Students’ Union Government (SUG), Muslim Students’ Society (MSS), and Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS) at Kaduna Polytechnic have dismissed claims that the recent enforcement of the institution’s dress code policy has religious undertones, insisting that the Polytechnic remains peaceful and united.
SUG President Ibrahim Abdullahi Mai-Jama’a, who addressed journalists at a joint press conference, said the student leadership across religious groups decided to speak to clear up misconceptions about the enforcement of the policy.
The press briefing followed a viral video on social media showing members of the Polytechnic’s Dress Code Committee preventing some students of the College of Business and Management Studies (CBMS) from entering lecture halls.
The Polytechnic management had said that the dresses worn by the affected students appeared moderate and appropriate.
The SUG President was flanked at the briefing by the President of the Fellowship of Christian Students, Joshua Oluwasegun Adetokunbo, and the Ameer of the Muslim Students’ Society, Abubakar Ibrahim, in what they described as a demonstration of unity among students of different faiths.
The SUG President explained that the dress code policy is a long-standing institutional regulation designed to promote decency, professionalism, and a conducive learning environment for both students and staff.
According to him, the rule applies to everyone in the institution without discrimination based on religion, adding that security personnel enforcing the regulation were only carrying out their duties to ensure compliance.
However, he acknowledged that isolated cases of overzealous enforcement or misunderstandings may have occurred during the policy’s implementation.
Mai-Jama’a noted that the management under the Rector, Suleiman Umar, had already initiated investigations into the reported incidents and assured that fairness would guide the process.
He urged students to comply with the dress code guidelines in the institution’s handbook and asked the media and the public to disregard narratives portraying the Polytechnic as divided along religious lines.
Credit: Thenation
