Civil Servants Can Wear Native Attires, Niger Governor Clarifies

• Umar Bago, the governor of Niger, said he did not ban civil servants from wearing native attires to work. He said his speech was misunderstood by some media outlets.
• The governor was encouraging civil servants to be farmers and dress smartly to farm. Clarifying his government was investing in agriculture and he wanted everyone to join.
• The governor’s chief press secretary said the video clip that went viral was a malicious edit. stating the governor did not restrict any attire

Umar Bago, the governor of Niger, denied imposing a dress code on state workers. He said people misunderstood his comment on dressing smartly.

Some media outlets reported that Bago banned native attires such as “kaftans and babanriga” from Monday to Thursday. They based their report on a video clip that went viral on Monday.

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Bologi Ibrahim, the governor’s chief press secretary, issued a statement on Monday night. He said the video clip was a malicious edit of the governor’s speech. He said the governor did not ban any attire.

“The governor’s statement did not in any way imply that civil servants now have a dress code to office from Monday to Thursday as erroneously captured in the video making the rounds,” Ibrahim quoted Bago as saying.

He said the governor urged civil servants to join the agricultural revolution that his government was promoting. He said the governor wanted them to be good farmers who dress smartly to farm.

Ibrahim said the video clip did not capture the true context of the governor’s statement. He said the governor did not restrict civil servants from wearing any attire to office.

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The video, shared by @JaafarSJaafar, was captioned with statements challenging the Governor's rationale behind the decision.

The statement read:

Gov. Bago has decreed that ALL workers in Niger State, including those he is paying N30,000 per month, must stop wearing kaftan or babbarriga to work. In his strange wisdom, anything but English dress is informal and will reduce productivity. Before setting this thoughtless sartorial standard, Bago did not consider the fact our native dress is suitable for our tropical climate as it absorbs less heat. The Europeans chose ‘suit’ in dark colours because it suits their weather and keeps them warm.

Watch the video here:

Niger Governor bars workers wearing of native attires to work

Legit.ng previously shared that Governor Umar Bago instructed all Niger state civil servants to avoid wearing traditional clothes at work.

Bago specified that outfits like "kaftans and babanriga" won't be permitted from Monday to Thursday anymore.

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The APC governor cautioned that employees who disregard this directive risk facing dismissal from their jobs.

Source: Legit.ng