Sex-for-mark: Wild, wild sex on Nigerian campuses

…Varsity students, others cry out
…I’m in- charge, nobody can stop me – Lecturer
Caged for long by fear of the unknown, a leaked audio tape revealing how a pastor-professor allegedly demanded five rounds of sex for a pass-mark was the tonic she needed to find her voice.

Unlike some Nigerians that have expressed disbelief and outrage over the alleged sexcapade of the now suspended Prof. Richard Akindele of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Faith is not one to be shocked by tales of philandering lecturers and their restless nozzles.

The 22-year-old undergraduate of Ebonyi State University laments the disgusting and brazen attempt to deliberately offend the sensibilities of female students by randy lecturers.

Faith, for example, said a lecturer from History and International Relations department (name withheld) at EBSU, bragged about his sexual prowess and dismissed his female students as cold in bed, not even sparing anyone the lurid details of his account of the thundering sex he had with some before he was reportedly suspended.

Also, another female undergraduate of Imo State University (IMSU) reveals the strategy deployed by one of her lecturers to do the wild thing. The fair, chubby 200 Level student, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a Human Anatomy lecturer, having known how poorly students have done in his tests and examinations would deliberately give assignments and ask that they be submitted individually.

According to her, there and then he would tell female students to help themselves by having it with him by choosing their preferred choice between his office and a hotel.

“There is this lecturer that takes us in Human Anatomy. He is dark, short and pot-bellied. He doesn’t joke with his assignment and attendance but I think it’s all to keep eyes off him. He doesn’t know how to teach or should I say lecture?

Then, when you go to his office to submit your attendance, that’s where he picks his girls. He asks us to submit individually and he is usually attracted to slim, fair girls.

“If he likes you, right there he would request for sex or ask you to arrange your meeting with him in a hotel. If you agree, he would sleep with you and also make sure you fail if you don’t bribe him, but if you refuse, he would make sure you continue failing his course till it becomes a spill over.

She added: “If he says you will fail, there is nothing you can do to change his mind, not even sex which he would accept. He would always say “I’m in-charge, nobody can stop me.”

He tells us stories about his childhood, his growing up, et al. After all that he will tell you that he is in-charge and there is nothing anyone can do, not even our VC. ”

For a Psychologist, Dr. John Etim, Nigerians should not lose sight of the fact that male students are also sexually harassed by female lecturers. Etim tells the story of a close friend during his days at the University of Calabar.

“I had this acquaintance who was compelled by one of our young female lecturers then to sleep with her. She knew this guy was a cultist and that was enough instrument of blackmail for her. She didn’t stop with him. This guy’s friends also got her laid and she generously blessed them with marks.’’

Concerned about the spate of reported and unreported cases of sexual harassment by lecturers across Nigeria, stakeholders in the education sector have expressed worry over what they describe as a cancer that could spell disaster of monumental proportions in the sector.

With no Nigerian university among the first 1000 in the world, according to openness ranking of world universities for the first half of 2018 by Webometrics, some observers have said the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has a lot in its bag of worries beyond the perennial demand for funding of the nation’s higher institutions of learning, else certificates from the nation’s institutions may soon not worth more than a piece of paper.

Commenting on the effect of sexual harassment on the nation’s higher institutions of learning and the scandal involving an OAU pastor-professor and his student, Head, Department of General Studies at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Dr. Dele Omojuyigbe, said: “The audio tape stinks.

The content is unbelievable with the alleged voice of the pastor-professor demanding five rounds of sex from the female student for a pass mark in one course. It became so ridiculous at the point where they started negotiating the grade to be awarded, whether a ‘C’ or a ‘B’ like two traders in Jankara market. Haba!

Reprehensible is any event in academia which demeans examination value on the scale of moral in-exactitude, and damned is the the aberrant don who converts exam scores into sex baits for female students. Call it high ethical deficiency or intense professional misconduct, and either description will be right“.

Omojuyigbe, however, called on students sexually harassed by lecturers to err on the side of caution in order not to expose their institutions to public infamy.

“Checks and balances abound in tertiary institutions that can address knotty issues, which is why ignoring public protocols entrenched in any institution’s rules and regulations must never go unpunished. Students should learn to build trust in their institutions’ authorities until proved wrong.

“Sexual harassment is evil. It destroys the essence of education but there are enough mechanisms to punish any culprit within the system,’’ Omojuigbe added.

Speaking with The Daily Times on the matter, former Dean, Faculty of Science at Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Prof. Kunle Teniola, said students and lecturers share the blame when it comes to sexual harassment by lecturers on campuses.

He explained that a great number of students directly or indirectly seduce lecturers, but maintained that there can’t be justification for sexual misconduct on the part of lecturers. Teniola described it as evil, unethical and a sad commentary on the nation’s education system.

Meanwhile, human rights activist and lawyer, Mr. Inibehe Effiong, expressed worry about lack of systemic protection for students sexually harassed by lecturers.

According to him, cases of sexual harassment of female students by male lecturers are rife in our tertiary institutions due to a number of factors which includes the absence of effective internal mechanisms in institutions through which victims can make report of such incidents.

He added: “It has also been worsened by the lack of systemic protection for female students who have the courage to expose randy lecturers. There is a general climate of intimidation foisted on students by the institutions and lecturers which has forced victims into silence.

Apart from fear of victimisation, most victims are afraid of stigma. I have been contacted by a number of female students who have been sexually assaulted and harassed by lecturers. Unfortunately, none of them was willing to seek redress despite my assurances.”

On the way forward, Effiong said: “As a solution, I recommend that an independent taskforce should be established in all tertiary institutions which should be constituted by people of integrity drawn from the National Human Rights Commission, Code of Conduct Bureau, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, the Civil Society, ASUU and the Students Union.

“I also recommend that every institution of learning should have a whistle –blowing platform where sexual harassment can be reported.”