In spite of their strong protestations to the contrary, Nigeria’s universities are embroiled in a sexual harassment epidemic whose disturbing dimensions were only hinted at in the broadcast of an undercover investigation by the Africa Eye unit of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
The most shocking thing about the documentary, titled “Sex For Grades,” is that it did not in fact reveal anything new. What the BBC programme did was merely to provide seemingly incontrovertible evidence of a phenomenon which virtually everyone knew existed.
Over 53 harrowing minutes, the programme examined the amatory adventures of four lecturers, two at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, and two at the University of Ghana, Legon. It does not make for pretty viewing. Utilising female reporters posing as students, the documentary tells a sorry tale of brazen impunity, gross dereliction of duty, and a disgustingly unapologetic concupiscence. Senior academics who were supposed to have known better were portrayed at their shameful worst.
The most disgraceful performance was allegedly given by one of the Nigerian lecturers, Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu of the Department of European Languages and Integration Studies at the University of Lagos. While the others attempted to cover their ignoble intentions with a semblance of propriety, his brazenness shocked even the jaded sensibilities of those who viewed his antics.
A combination of boastful lechery and pious hypocrisy, Igbeneghu allegedly told his ostensibly teenage visitor that he could “have” any young girl he wanted, and demanded her absolute obedience to him. With arrogant assurance, he told her of the existence of a so-called “coldroom” on the University of Lagos campus where lecturers routinely took female students to indulge themselves, and generously offered a practical demonstration of what they did there.
Nigerian academia is full of many such persons. In the recent past, university teachers have been caught up in sex-for-marks scandals; they have been photographed in various states of semi-nudity; they have absconded after procuring damaging abortions for unwilling lovers; they have been assaulted by irate students after being lured into traps baited with the women they were pursuing.
Even though many universities claim to have zero-tolerance attitudes towards sexual harassment, the sheer extent of the phenomenon is clear testimony to the fact that the measures set up to counter it have failed to work. This is due mainly to a combination of blatant hypocrisy, widespread complicity and a rigidly-enforced culture of silence.
The University of Lagos finds itself at the epicentre of this debacle. It is certainly not the only university where sexual harassment occurs, but it has the added problem of institutional impunity to cope with. The “coldroom”, according to the documentary, offered its dubious services to a whole range of lecturers. The question now is whether such could exist without official collaboration.
How did a functions room become a virtual bordello? Who ran the place and facilitated its activities? Where are the lecturers who availed themselves of its services? These are questions that the university must obtain definitive answers to as it struggles to repair its tarnished reputation.
In combatting sexual harassment, the first step is to acknowledge it for the criminal offence that it is and treat it as such. The sexual harassment of students by university staff or fellow students cannot be downplayed or dismissed or ignored. It must be treated with the seriousness that it deserves.
In this regard, the university must ensure that the suspension of the two lecturers depicted in the BBC report does not mark the beginning of yet another cover-up. Rather than setting up panels whose recommendations are either laughably ineffective or totally ignored, it is best to ensure that prescribed sanctions are applied in full.
When criminal offences are identified, they should be handed over to the police. Prescribed penalties and sanctions for sexual harassment in the university’s regulations should be strictly enforced. Where dismissals are merited, they must be executed; far too many professorial predators are permitted to carry on with their jobs in spite of their indictment, thereby entrenching the widespread belief that nothing can be done to remedy the problem.
All cases of sexual harassment must be handled with sympathy, discretion and despatch. Anonymity must be guaranteed for victims; where multiple complaints are made about particular individuals, efforts must be stepped up to establish the veracity of those complaints.
Students must be given greater empowerment within the university system. This means strengthening their representation in relevant committees and establishing reliable feedback mechanisms, such as regular lecturer-assessment protocols and easier script-remarking procedures.
If Nigeria’s universities are to properly fulfil their mandate of teaching, research and community service, they must ensure that sexual harassment is reduced to the barest minimum.
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