Nigeria’s Communications Minister, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami has introduced what he calls ‘wireless greetings’ to avoid shaking hands with women.
The minister said the initiative was ICT driven and was intended to fulfill Islamic religious obligations which forbid men from shaking hands with women.
In a trending video posted by BBC Hausa on social media, the Minister said “as ICT driven experts our roles include bringing in new technologies that are driven by science and innovations.
“Sometimes back, for you to connect to the internet, you needed cables connected to your computers, but with the introduction of the Wi-Fi you can simple browse or connect to the internet via wireless technology.
“So this new form of greetings with women is wireless, it’s just like Wi-Fi, you don’t need to connect cables to your computer any longer.
“We in the ICT sector introduces the wireless greetings, so that you don’t need any connectivity to greet women, and by so doing, you have obeyed God’s laws that forbid men from physical contact with women they were not legally allowed to touch”, the Minister added.
Dr. Isa is the first erudite Islamic scholar to be appointed minister into Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council.
