The heroism of Professor Richard Akindele
Sir: When I spent one year as a student in St. John’s Catholic Modern School, Isalu Iseyin, Oyo State, in 1970, a friend of mine from Ijio, Oyo State, came back after holidays and told me a funny story of what he saw at home.
He said he strolled to night market and overheard a boy saying to a girl, “If you don’t give me my change, I will use it to sex you oh.”
It was as funny to me as to my friend, and so I burst into laughter. When I settled in Ilorin early 2000s among Muslim indigenes, a fellow tenant, a young man, organised lessons for kids to augment his income.
He told a secret to someone close to me, that a beautiful mother approached him and said she had no money but she would be bringing herself. If you ask me, I would say the woman was as careless as a prostitute.
But can it be said that there are no prostitutes in the academia?
Along that line, when one Abiodun Fagbemi was asked his own opinion on Prof. Richard Akindele, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, exposed on social media audio capturing, as saying that he would have five sexual meetings with a female student who failed his exam, he(Fagbemi, a lawyer working with The Guardian), said there was nothing new under the sun, and that when you say something is unheard of, you are only trying to terrify the person concerned.
The other time, I advised parents to pray that their own daughter will not expose any teacher.
There are many female professors and other women in high positions of authority in the academia and society at large, professional and competent.
I don’t know what percentage of them got to those heights by looking for how to expose men, sexually.
Sometimes human beings are stupid. In my own stupidity, I would also advise that people who are not sure of themselves should beware of pursuing academic laurel.
The five times demanded by Akindele could also be “whenever I want.” Remember: “If you don’t give me my change, I will use it to sex you oh!”
And the kid’s mother quoted above offered herself to her kid’s teacher in lieu of money in a true life’s story. Hence I said human sexuality should not be trivialized and hypocritically treated on the social media.
There seems to be some cabal in the system who try to use some disposed female students to pursue rivals; perceived or real adversaries, with the confidence that exposure through the social media means automatic dismissal for the person so exposed.
It is incredible that the panel investigating Monica Osagie versus Richard Akindele could conclude and submit report when the plaintiff, Osagie, failed to appear before it.
Let us prevent the social media virus from killing Nigerian universities; they would say it is trending; it has gone viral, and things like that.
Nobody’s sexual organs should be his or her redeemer, but life can be indeterminate, because, as the philosopher said, the world is in a state of flux. We have to endlessly try to stabilize the ship.
We cannot do it with students resorting to the social media. The public should know what led to Akindele giving condition of five times of sexual meeting.
Has Osagie graduated; how? Were Osagie and gang exploiting Akindele? Suspension or sacking of Akindele should not cover up serious questions. Life can be much more than it appears. Am I communicating?
• Prof. Oyeniran Abioje wrote from University of Ilorin.
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