We have no policy against Muslim Hijab – Zenith Bank reacts after boycott hits Meta

The Management of Zenith Bank Ghana has clarified that it has no policy that forbids its Muslim workers or staff from wearing their Hijab or Muslim head cover after an incident sparked outrage among Muslims on social media leading to a boycott campaign against the bank.

MyNewsGh.com was informed that a national service personnel with Zenith Bank, one Ubeidat Alhassan who was picked by Zenith Bank after a rigorous selection process was turned away from the Bank after she reported to the office on day one with a hijab over her head, despite the fact that she had dressed that way throughout the process.

“She’s gone through the entire process of writing an aptitude test, being present for all meetings and doing everything they asked her to do. At no point did she go to the bank without her hijab and not once did they complain. She’s been to the facility 5 times and they never men (sic) her hijab and they now want her to remove her hijab?” Atampuri Bilques Zakari, a Hijab activist with Hijab is my identity Group had on Meta.

“How many Muslims save at Zenith Bank? Let us start boycotting their services. Close down accounts and choose a bank that tolerates religious diversity. It’s high time we teach them a lesson. If they don’t want Muslims identifying as Muslims, no Muslim should send their money there” she added.

However, following the incident and the subsequent interest it generated following trends that called on Muslims to close their Zenith Bank Account, Management of the Bank met with the group to explain the misunderstanding.

“The leadership of #hijabisanidentity met up with the leadership of Zenith Bank on this day 29th October 2021. The meeting was to talk about the campaign we started yesterday, which asked Muslims to boycott the services of Zenith Bank, due to the blatant discrimination on one of our own” Representative of the group updated.

“During the meeting, it came up that it wasn’t in their company policy to not let Muslim women wear their hijab. They also indicated they were against any form of discrimination. What we took away from the meeting is this, every Muslim woman who works at Zenith Bank is allowed to wear her hijab so far as the colours are within the approved colours of the company”. The group added by way of explanation.

“When we probed further to find out why the young woman was asked to remove her Hijab in the first place, they indicated that going back on the reason for the meeting wasn’t going to change what happened, but we should look forward to it never happening again”

“We want to use this opportunity to let all Muslim girls who work with Zenith Bank to know that the company said there is no policy that prevents them from wearing their hijab. So going forward, if any one person prevents you from wearing your hijab. Do well to report them to the appropriate authorities” the statement concluded.

By way of further updates, Bil Kis, another activist posted a Meta Update:

“At Zenith Bank today, one thing was certain. They were ready to dialogue, they brought three (3) of their executives from a different meeting to come meet us resolve the issue.

“They showed respect to the team present and I must say I’m so impressed with how willing they were  to dialogue. I beg don’t close your accounts .

They’ve reinstated the young woman and have told our women to wear their Hijab as long as it’s within a standard company dressing.”

Zenith Bank is one of the most successful private Banks in Ghana with its origin from Nigeria.

Source: MyNewsGh.com/2021

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