The League of Imams and Alfas in Ogun State on Monday rejected a plan by Governor Dapo Abiodun to return public schools to missionary bodies.
The governor had earlier said his administration would return missionary schools to their original owners as part of efforts to work with private groups in the education sector.
He spoke on Friday while receiving the Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty, in Abeokuta.
“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.
In a statement on Monday, the League of Imams and Alfas, through its secretary-general, Imam Tajudeen Adewunmi, said the plan should be dropped.
“This policy is a misreading of history and goes against the principles of equity, justice, and religious balance in a plural society,” the group said.
The body said public schools in the state were taken over by the government in the past to remove religious control.
“To reverse this is to create division and distrust,” Adewunmi said.
He added that the policy would affect citizens and should not be allowed to continue.
“We reject any policy that seeks to transfer public institutions built and managed with public resources to religious control,” he said.
The group asked the government to stop the plan.
“Anything short of this will be seen as disregard for fairness,” it added.
The Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Ogun State, also asked the government to reconsider the plan.
In a statement signed by its leaders, the group said returning public schools to missionary bodies would affect students.
It said the move could change access to education and affect students from different backgrounds.
“A genuine partnership requires shared responsibility. What is proposed is a transfer of public assets to private religious control,” the group said.
MSSN said the government has a duty to provide public education and questioned the plan.
“Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution places the obligation of public education on the government,” it said.
The group called for the withdrawal of the plan and asked stakeholders to speak on the issue.
