Of late, one of the most daring protests against alleged sexual harassment of female undergraduates was the one carried out by students of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL).

In presenting their grievances, the students held nothing back while letting out their pent-up emotions. And in doing so, they let their placards speak their minds in a no–holds–barred manner. Some of those placards read: “We are tired of sucking dicks,” “Law girls are not bonanzas, Prof. Ndifon should stop grabbing us,” “The Faculty of Law is not a brothel,” “Enough of Law school list manipulation,” “Professor Ndifon, let the girls with big breasts breathe. Stop suffocating us,” and “Prof. Ndifon must go for our sanity.”

Members of the Law Students Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN) UNICAL Branch, who carried out the protest, stormed the school’s administrative block to, yet again draw the school’s attention to the alleged sexual misconduct of the dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof. Ndifon.

Besides the alleged sexual harassment, they also alleged facing threats and suppression from the institution’s authorities.

In 2015, Ndifon was suspended by the school, for sexually assaulting a 20-year-old 400-level student Irene Akpan. Irene’s mother, Mrs. Akpan, who drew the school’s attention to her daughter’s plight, via a letter sent to the university, alleged that Ndifon raped her daughter, between 3 and 5 pm on August 29, 2015, at his private office on the top floor of the Faculty Building. The embattled academic was, however, reinstated in December 2022.

Stakeholders are mortified that sexual harassment on Nigerian campuses has not abated despite the existence of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act of 2015, and the Violence Against Women Law, which has been domesticated by many states across the federation.

And despite being a criminal offence, most universities before now, treated rape and sexual violation as a “family matter,” a development, which enabled and emboldened sex offenders.

A survey conducted in 2018 by the World Bank Group’s Women revealed that 70 per cent of female graduates from tertiary institutions in the country were sexually harassed either by lecturers, or their classmates. Buttressing this horrendous scenario is the fact that nearly 50 lecturers have been caught on the web in the last couple of years assaulting, especially female students.

Leading the pack is Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), where no fewer than six lecturers are being investigated over their involvement in sex scandals.

Two other randy lecturers have already been sacked by the school, while two other alleged sexual violators are on suspension.

Vice-chancellor of the institution, Prof. Charles Esimone while making the revelation, stressed that any lecturer found to be involved in such debasing action after a thorough investigation must be sacked, as the school has zero tolerance for such offences.

According to Esimone, once a lecturer is involved in any form of a sexual offence, he is suspended and a thorough investigation is carried out before appropriate sanctions are recommended.

“Once you suspend a person, we investigate properly. There are no emotions, no sentiment about it. But if you use emotions and dismiss a person, no problem, one year later, he will approach the court and claim damages. We have paid between N75m and N80m for something that we knew were oblivious of, and did not follow due process.”

Unending List Of Sex Perverts Ravaging Tertiary Institutions
AS authorities of UNIZIK battle to keep the campus free of sexual predators and sundry questionable characters, the University of Lagos (UNILAG) is battling a groundswell of similar “demons.”

For instance, in June 2021, the Governing Council of the school sacked Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu, of the Department of European Languages and Integration Studies, and Dr. Samuel Oladipo, of the Department of Economics, over the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against them in a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World Service Investigative Series – Africa Eye.

“The Governing Council of the University of Lagos, at its meeting on Monday, May 31, 2021, approved the immediate dismissal of Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu of the Department of European Languages and Integration Studies, Faculty of Arts, and Dr. Samuel Omoniyi Oladipo, of the Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, from the services of the university,” a statement signed by former registrar of the school, Mr Azeez Oladejo read.

It continued: “Council, at its meeting, considered the report and findings of the Senate Committee set up to investigate the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against them in a British Broadcasting Corporation World Service Investigative Series titled, Africa Eye (which centred on sexual harassment in tertiary institutions).

“The Council consequently decided and approved that both Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu, and Dr. Samuel Omoniyi Oladipo be dismissed from the services of the university for misconduct, with effect from Monday, May 31, 2021, in line with section 18 of the University of Lagos Act 1967,” the statement added.

Twenty-eight months after the duo of Igbeneghu and Oladipo were sacked, an associate professor of botany in the same school, Dr. Kadiri Babalola, briefly landed in the police net for alleged rape of a 20-year-old undergraduate.

The alleged victim, who visited Babalola, in his office on August 16, to sort out issues relating to her results, reached out to the Inclusive Social Welfare and Empowerment Foundation (SWEF) a non-governmental organisation to help her get redress after her lecturer allegedly raped her, rather than proffer a solution to her challenge.

After the case was reported to the Gender Unit of the state Police Command, the Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, issued a warrant of arrest for Babalola through the state High Court, while the Vice Chancellor, Prof Folashade Ogunsola, was given seven days to produce the suspect.

As of Friday, September 22, Babalola was yet to appear in court owing to alleged ill health.

Between 2018 and 2020, the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, had a running battle with academics that chose to make sexual misconduct a pastime.

From placing Richard Oladele, a professor of accounting on indefinite suspension over sexual harassment that he committed in April 2020, it, in 2021, fired three lecturers from the departments of English language, international relations, and accounting over sexual harassment.

The school in February 2020, also announced the suspension of Monday Omo-Etan, a lecturer at the Centre for Distance Learning, after he allegedly sexually molested a 19-year-old female student.

Down South, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) was in the news for the wrong reason when it announced in February 2021, the suspension of Dr. Chigozie Odum, a senior lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Tourism, over claims of sexual harassment.

In August of the same year, the University of Port Harcourt dismissed a lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature for sexual misconduct, while another teacher in the Department of Sociology, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education was dismissed from service for putting a female student in the family way.

The nuisance quotient of randy teachers in Rivers State again rose in January 2022, when one of them at the Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, was sacked for harassing a female student.

Up North, the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi State, in October 2021, fired two randy lecturers from the departments of Nutrition/Dietetics and General Studies over sexual misconduct.

December 2021, saw the sack of a lecturer in the Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Kwara State University, Malete, for harassing a female student.

The University of Abuja has not been spared the pandemic as the school’s vice-chancellor, Prof. Abdul-Raheed Na’allah, in June last year announced the dismissal of two professors for sexually molesting female students.

Na’allah, again in July this year said that said two lecturers were dismissed for sexual indiscretion.

Between March and May this year, the Kogi State Polytechnic, sacked Abutu Thompson of the Department of Computer Science, for sexually molesting and victimising a female student, while the Ambrose Alli University in Edo State, also fired a lecturer for sexual misconduct after the institution’s Staff Disciplinary Committee found him wanting and recommended that he be shown the door.

Ending Sexual Harassment Of Students still A Long Way To Go
When the Ninth Senate at its plenary session on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, passed the Sexual Harassment Bill, 2020 (SB 77), which seeks to prevent, prohibit and redress the sexual harassment of students in tertiary educational institutions, a lot of students, parents and stakeholders heaved a sigh of relief.

Titled: “A Bill for an Act to Prevent, Prohibit and Redress Sexual Harassment of Students in Tertiary Educational Institutions and for Matters Concerned therewith, 2019,” it was sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, and 106 other senators.

The passage followed the consideration of the report of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters – which reviewed the bill and organised public hearings on the legislation.

With 25 clauses, the bill seeks to, among other things, promote and protect ethical standards in institutions of higher learning, as well as, seeks to protect and prevent students against sexual harassment by educators in tertiary institutions.

Sadly, the euphoria that greeted the passage of the bill has died down as a result of the failure of the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the law.

“Sexual harassment is like a cankerworm that has ravaged the Nigeria University System (NUS), and we’ll be making a fool of ourselves if we think that it would be eliminated with kid gloves. Only an infinitesimal percentage of perpetrators get jailed, until that changes, don’t expect any serious change,” said a parent and senior lecturer at the University of Lagos, who asked not to be named.

She continued: “Let me also put it on record that only less than 10 per cent of cases of sexual harassment make it to public space; a whopping 90 per cent do not because the students involved are afraid of the ripple effects, including reputational harm, or do not want to be victimised by affected lecturers. So, you can understand the scope of what we are dealing with.

“The first step to curbing this menace is for President Bola Tinubu to sign the bill into law, while serious efforts should be made to jail every lecturer that breaches the law. Jailing the affected lecturers is also not going to be easy in our clime because criminals of all sorts are the ones that are telling their victims now to ‘go to court’ since they (criminals) have now perfected the art of pervading justice,” she said.

Expose Morally-decadent Colleagues
MUCH as there are lecturers who see sexual harassment of their students as a “fringe benefit” of the trade, there are still others who see the act as bestial, heart-wrenching, and despicable. Interestingly, most lecturers know their colleagues who are into this nefarious act.

But how can these troubled teachers save the situation without compromising their personal safety and professional lives? The UNILAG senior lecturer said: “Discreet avenues should be created where those who do not approve of this horrible lifestyle could report their colleagues. There should even be incentives for prying into the dark world of bad eggs.

“It is important for the country to come to terms with the life-long effect that sexual harassment has on the victims, and by extension the society. The lack of severe punishment for offenders is, to say the least, a great incentive and an enabler. Until that is addressed, society will be winking in the dark as far as ending the scourge is concerned. I need to stress that most lecturers in Nigerian institutions know their colleagues who are harassing female students, including the married ones among them. Since the good and the bad lecturers are being tarred with the same brush, there should be incentives for those who are willing to spill the beans. Let us jointly end this disincentive to the war against sexual assault on Nigerian campuses. We will be happier for it,” she said.

In conclusion, the university teacher said: “We must also not fail to address the machinations of persons in high places, who stop at nothing to cover up evil acts of persons occupying positions of trust. In this regard, I am talking about people like the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, who attempted to pervert justice, by intimidating victims, and even threatening to jail them if they forged ahead with giving evidence before the panel investigating the case against Prof. Ndifon of UNICAL. Even though she regretted her words and action, the harm had already been done to her reputation and office.”

Federal, States Governments Synergise To Annihilate Scourge, Create Data Bank For Sex Offenders
For the Human Rights Writers Association Of Nigeria (HURIWA), “sexual violations of students have become unprecedented and unfortunately, efforts are not in place to scale up the enforcement of the relevant laws against this menace. First and foremost, the federal and state ministries of justice must work in synergy to set up a mechanism for effective scaling up of the enforcement of these relevant anti-sexual violation laws applicable across the federation by their domestication.

“There has to be monitoring and enforcement actions, and efficient supervision bodies put in place jointly by the states and the Federal Government for this important job of combating the menace. The examples of Lagos and Ekiti states need to be incorporated by these bodies to be set up in the different states where federal and state-owned universities are in existence. Professors committing such egregious violations of the sexuality rights of their students should be blacklisted, named, shamed, prosecuted, and jailed possibly for life. The legal and legislative templates should be amended to make provision (if it is not yet in place) for social courts on sexual violations of students on campuses to be set up and adequately funded to send rapists to jail for life because sexual violation of student is a crime against humanity.”

According to the Country Director of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, while the organisation deplores the attitude of some schools’ authorities that treat sexual violation of students with kid gloves, it insisted: “Rape and other manifestations of sexual harassment, violations of students must be treated as serious crimes against humanity, and alleged offenders must be made to face the full weight of the law.

“The media and civil society groups must work round the clock to provide support for victims, by way of constant monitoring of the legal process of bringing the culprits to justice or bringing justice to the culprits. Parents must also key in and own the process of making sure that teachers who sexually violate their girls and boys face the full weight of the law, Parents must also put measures in place to effectively curtail the possibilities of these sexual violations ever occurring; they must play their responsibilities as parents; look after their children, and must never compromise on the sexual safety of children given to them by the benevolent God.

“The media should devote special pages and programmes to monitor and report cases of sexual violations of students, and actions taken or not taken by the relevant authorities to punish offenders, and remove them from the education system in Nigeria. Lecturers found wanting of offences related to sexual violations should be banned for life, and forever removed from tertiary campuses, or even engaging in any academic or non-academic duties in the school system of Nigeria.

“Offenders should be identified, and their names published on the Internet. Nigeria should set up through the justice sector, a national data bank of sexual offenders. This must be updated on regular basis so that members of the public can monitor the entries, and report cases of offenders attempting to gain academic or non-academic-related jobs.”

The former National Commissioner of the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission said that the country must do everything necessary to use the legal means to stop victim blaming, noting: “On no occasion should we stigmatise or victimise victims of sexual harassment and violations. Efforts must be made to send these victims for psychological rehabilitation and post-traumatic care on the sponsorship of the offenders and the government. The responsibility to protect lies with the government and schools’ governing councils. The National Universities Commission must also set up a full department to provide oversight duties to these tertiary institutions to rid them of sexual violators and primitive destroyers of students. Rape is a very sensitive crime that the offenders must be exposed, dealt with, and hidden in prison for life without possibilities of parole, or early release.

The law must protect victims by way of encouraging anonymous reporting of these cases by those who are too scared to appear physically to complain. Victims of sexual violations must be protected.

FIDA Wants End To Gender-based Violence 
The International Federation Of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in expressing strong condemnation of all forms of gender-based violence against women, particularly those against female students in secondary and tertiary institutions by staff of the institutions, such as teachers and lecturers, particularly flayed the latest saga at the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar.

In a statement signed by the Country Vice President/National President FIDA Nigeria, Mrs. Amina Suzanah Agbaje, the group said: “We vehemently denounce these acts as vile and an ugly menace that must be eradicated from our institutions of learning, and our society at large. Students are in school to be educated and must be guided and protected while learning, not to be intimidated and taken advantage of because of their vulnerability and/or gender.

“It is alarming that sexual harassment of females particularly in tertiary institutions has assumed a perilously critical dimension, constituting a horrifying kind of violence targeted at violating the fundamental human rights of a person. It is a form of sexual victimisation of an individual using unequal power relations. This pandemic is so vile and encompasses acts revolving around explicit or implicit sexual overtures, including unwelcome sexual remarks, physical advances, and inappropriate promises of reward in exchange for sexual favours in the workplace, professional or social setting amongst others…FIDA Nigeria therefore unequivocally condemns the alleged intimidation of some of the students who bravely spoke up on the alleged Ndifon’s case, currently under investigation,” the statement said.