NUC asks Vice Chancellors to shame lecturers that sexually harass students

The Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, gave this directive on Monday, August 27, 2018, at the Redeemer’s University in Ede, Osun State.

In a keynote address he presented at the 33rd annual conference of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Rasheed said since he became the NUC boss in 2016, he and his team had been working on reforms to improve the university education in the country.

He said that the major challenge facing Nigerian Universities at the moment had been sexual harassment allegations against lecturers.

“Our major crisis now is sexual harassment.

“Whether we like it or not, I want to charge the AVCNU at this meeting to make it a priority in the communique, to take a decisive action on this challenge.

“The universities should be willing to punish and stamp out the incidences of sexual harassment because it is damaging to our collective reputation, and we just have to do something.

“Please say it and do it; and whenever you punish or sanction somebody in this regard, let your effort be duly publicised.

“Let the world know that somebody has lost his or her job because of sexual harassment or somebody has been demoted from being a Professor to Lecturer1 because of sexually harassing a student.

“We, in the NUC, will be helping you.

“We can be collecting the names of the offenders monthly and advertising in all the newspapers to expose them as culprits of sexual harassment because we are determined to fight them.

“This is one area of academic corruption we are fighting.

“If lecturers that were told not to take advantage of innocent girls and boys in the universities decide to do so because they have the power to award marks, then we will equally fight them,”

Increasing rate of sexual harassment cases in Nigerian Universities

Sexual harassment allegation involving female students and male lecturers in Nigerian Universities has been one of the most discussed topics in 2018.

Female students and graduates have been now coming out to openly accuse their lecturers of sexually harassing them and so far, only one lecturer, Professor Richard Akindele has been found guilty and punished.

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Professor Akindele reportedly demanded five rounds of sex from a female student, Monica Osagie.

Following this, Sexual harassment cases have reportedly involved Lagos State University and University of Lagos lecturers.

Both cases, however, are still under investigation.