By John Ikani
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has directed varsities in the country to sack any lecturer harassing students sexually.
President Buhari issued the directive over the weekend while delivering his address at the 46th Convocation of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
The President who was represented by the Director of Academic Planning, National Universities Commission, Dr. Abiodun Saliu, said the future of promising young girls in higher institutions of learning across the country cannot be entrusted to sexually reckless individuals who are masquerading as lecturers.
He charged Nigerian varsities to emulate the Obafemi Awolowo University, in dealing with cases of sexual harassment in the country’s tertiary institutions.
What the president is saying:
“I will be failing in my duty as visitor if I do not commend the council and management of this great citadel of learning for dealing, very decisively, with cases of sexual harassment. In fact, this university deserves commendation on the way and manner it is tackling sexual and other related harassments headlong, without minding whose ox is gored.
“I want other institutions of higher learning to emulate O.A.U in summarily terminating the appointment or dismissing any lecturer who uses or is using his advantageous position to sexually harass our young, unassuming, innocent and impressionable girls.
“We cannot continue to entrust the lives of our promising young girls into the hands of some sexually reckless individuals who are masquerading as lecturers on our campuses,” he stressed.
What you should know
Sexual harassment on campuses in Nigeria has gone on for decades unchecked. This issue became more prominent ever since the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) carried out a documentary captioned sex for Grades:Undercover inside Nigerian and Ghanaian Universities.
The documentary was released on the 7th of October 2019 and contains a combination of first-hand accounts from students with personal stories relating to various lecturers and undercover journalists posing as students to see how the lecturers act around them.
In July 2020, the Nigerian Senate passed the bill on sexual harassment in tertiary institutions after reading it for the third time.
The bill, with 25 clauses, seeks to promote and protect ethical standards in tertiary institutions. It also seeks to protect students against sexual harassment as well as prevent sexual harassment of students by educators in tertiary institutions.
The bill also proposes up to 14 years jail term for offenders.
However, it is yet to be signed into law by President Buhari despite the alarming rate of sexual harassment of female graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Similarly, not many universities have been compliant in enabling rigorous investigation into allegations of sexual harassment to enable conviction of lecturers found guilty.
