(*Pulse has reported on the facts of the situation from the start. See link. This is this Editor's view of the conclusion of the case).

“I ask that we all hold Tizeti accountable to update and share their new sexual harassment policy,” she wrote. “The sexual harassment policy was the desired outcome I told Soforowa I wanted, in addition to an acknowledgement or apology from Kendall or Tizeti or both, not only for the sexual harassment incident but also for how this has been handled since then.”

In June, Udoagwu had accused Tizeti CEO, Kendall Ananyi, of sexually harassing her during a tutorship at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST). 

She tendered her allegation at a time the entire nation was engrossed in conversations on gender-based violence, rape and sexual harassment. 

Five days after Udoagwu's allegation, Tizeti announced that it had suspended Ananyi as CEO and that an independent panel had been set-up to investigate the case. 

On July 7, 2020, Tizeti reinstated Ananyi as CEO, submitting that the law firm of Olumide Sofowora and the independent committee had concluded “that a case of sexual harassment had not been established,” against Ananyi.

Tizeti also said "Olumide Sofowora examined the allegations, researched what actions would constitute sexual harassment, gathered relevant information from a number of sources in both Nigeria and Ghana and conducted a number of interviews, including separately interviewing both the accuser and Mr. Ananyi."

However, Udoagwu has told the world that even though she had provided contact information to the law firm hired by Tizeti to investigate the allegation, not one of her sources was spoken to.

“They gathered this information like they were going to follow up with the names and anonymous sources to get a bigger picture of the case. But they didn’t call one person. None of the people I mentioned was contacted," she said.

Curiously, neither Tizeti nor the law firm has reacted to Udoagwu’s claims, almost a month after she accused them of a shoddy and insincere investigation and a rush to exonerate Ananyi at all cost, while fooling the rest of us. 

Sofowora’s law firm and Tizeti have gone quiet while hoping all of this blows away and is quickly forgotten--in typical Nigerian fashion.

However, there is that pervading, odious sense that justice wasn’t done here and that yet another Nigerian ‘big man’ has literally gotten away with murder, in a manner of speaking.

Once again, it looks like the womenfolk in our country have been handed the short end of the stick with this case, in an increasingly patriarchal, sexist society where powerful men rub women the wrong way from the corridors of political power to corporate boardrooms. 

Sofowora and Tizeti have refused to provide details of what the terms of reference of the investigative committee were, they have turned down all press requests for explanations on which persons were contacted by the committee and they have been mum on how exactly the decision to exonerate Ananyi and hurriedly reinstate him as CEO, was arrived at. 

Tizeti has also refused to provide information on which other members made up its ‘independent panel’. Was this panel really independent and was Ananyi really suspended? Was this all a smokescreen to make us all feel like something was being done, while a powerful CEO continued to pull strings and tamper with evidence behind the scenes? 

According to Udoagwu, Sofowora’s law firm tried to arm twist her and her lawyers into doing their bidding. When she requested to know which other board members were on the Tizeti end of things, the law firm referred her back to Tizeti, she said.

“Since finding out that Ananyi is 50% of the Tizeti board, with the only other member being his male co-founder, I haven’t been able to shake off the thought that I gave all my information to the accused and his partner,” Udoagwu said.

She added that she asked Sofowora to include “a letter of his appointment by the Board of Directors of Tizeti. I wanted to be assured that there were indeed other independent individuals or parties involved, and not Kendall Ananyi, at the Tizeti end.”

There have certainly been more questions than answers since Tizeti pronounced Ananyi ‘Not Guilty’. The company’s continued silence amid the grey areas raised by the media and Udoagwu, suggest that it may just be concealing a lot.

Workplace sexual harassment allegations should not be trifled with or swept under the carpet when they arise.

Our women and girls should feel safe going to work. They should feel safe and protected in the presence of the powerful male boss or a powerful male colleague. This is the bigger picture here and this is what all of this is about.

When we encourage women to speak up if they have been taken advantage of in the workplace, we should assure them by our actions that they would get justice or be handed a fair hearing.

Presented with an opportunity to make a statement, Tizeti obfuscates, muddies the waters some more, evades the press and leaves the burden of proof with the woman. 

“Men, you don’t understand — sexual harassment is frightening,” Udoagwu had written as she threw up her hands in despair and gave up on this case. “It is an encroachment of your personal space, with the aggressor intent on taking from you, not just any possession of yours, but your very body; your most private of parts.”

Almost a month after it cleared its CEO of sexual harassment charges, Tizeti is yet to share its new sexual harassment policy with the public. 

“Tizeti will be updating its code of conduct and putting in place a sexual harassment policy that is in line with best practices and encourages the reporting of any potential incidents.

"The company will also conduct training programs covering sexual harassment in the workplace for all executives, employees and staff,” Tizeti had written. There is no scintilla of evidence that these promises have been kept. 

The tech community and the rest of corporate Nigeria would be doing Udoagwu and all women who feel they have been sexually harassed or molested in the workplace, a great disservice if they allow all of this to be swept under the carpet and if the pervading sense of injustice on Udoagwu’s part is not addressed as quickly as possible.

There is always the rush to move on in Nigeria. Hopefully this isn't the case here.

Cases like this should be transparently handled and all parties given a fair hearing, if only to serve as some deterrence. There is a sense that this wasn't the case in Udoagwu Vs Ananyi. 

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*Pulse Editor's Opinion is the opinion of an editor at Pulse. It does not represent the views of the organisation Pulse.