“It is undignifying and disrespectful” Alumnis Calls Out Management of Covenant University for Shaving Students’ Hair
Early this week, a video showing the management of Covenant University publicly shaving the hair of some erring students went viral.
Footage reveal students seated in a hall focused on a man who used a hair clipper to shave off the middle part of the erring students’ hair. Reason for this shaming act is not clear. While some sources say this punishment was meted out to students whose hairstyles are noncompliant, others say it was because the the management of the school was embarrassed by the students who forgot to bring their Bibles along to church.
READ ALSO: Why 18-Year-Old Commited Suicide Over UTME Score in Delta State
The university management’s style of shaming these students as a form of punishment has been met with heavy criticisms from both past students and the general public.
In a report by Punch, an alumnus, Okoli Offorbuike, said the action was disdainful and undermined the cliché “Kings and Queens” used for students at the university.
In one of his posts on Facebook on the matter, Offorbuike posted the pictures of the General Overseers of the Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo, and the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Worldwide, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, where the former wore Afro and the other kept hair.
He called on the university alumni to facilitate the inclusion of a law in the students’ handbook that would accord the students honour, dignity and respect.
READ ALSO: How to Raise Your Sons to Become Every Woman’s Dream
He wrote, “After seeing this act carried out in my Alma Mater, I began to ask myself that maybe calling students kings and queens in Covenant University is just a mere cliché. The Bible says faith without work is dead. I will say Covenant University, without respect for the dignity of students, is no different from other universities.
“Where did the student affairs get the idea of shaving students’ hair off? This is one (Adeboye) of the leading fathers of faith in Africa, yet he keeps his hair…he is a king and heavily anointed and everyone agrees to that.
“This is one of Bishop Oyedepo’s full-fledged mentors, T.L. Osborn, on full-fledged Afro. He was still a king and a great preacher. Could we call him unkempt? How less bushy is Bishop Oyedepo’s hair in these pictures and was he less a king? If none could shave off his hair disgracefully, then why should it be done to students in his school? This is injustice.”
One Matthias Hungbo, who also claimed to be an alumnus, said there was nothing wrong with the students’ hair.
He said the shaving was in reaction to some students’ failure to take their Bibles for a service held the previous day.
“It’s appalling that people say keep to the rules and regulations, but in all honesty, there’s no rule as to what height of hair should be kept. It just says keep a low cut and the boys always keep their hair well. The management is just passing on its anger as a result of the embarrassment it faced in FT the previous day since some students didn’t bring Bibles. It is sad and even more sad because I feel nothing will be done about it,” he wrote on his Facebook wall.
A woman, who claimed to have studied Mass Communication at the school, Chimdimma Christiana, said some of its rules and regulations did not justify the vision of the school.
Another ex-student, Daniel Uzor, posted on Facebook that although he was proud of being a graduate of the university, he was disappointed at the shaving of the students’ hair.
“I don’t see how keeping of hair affects religious values or academic performance. No one is saying you shouldn’t uphold your values, but please, at least, accord people respect and dignity,” he added.
Whatever the reason, this is uncalled for. They are adults for crying out loud. You shouldn’t even do these to kids. All these private universities smh.