By Zayd Ibn Isah
One of the worst things to happen to a country’s educational institution is to have teachers and lecturers who cannot tame their sexual urges around students. Surely, such a country’s educational system will end up breeding students who are not only vulnerable, but possibly dysfunctional and likely to continue the heritage of abuse and mediocrity. And why wouldn’t this be so, when such students were deprived of the safe and conducive learning environment which is the basic right of any student seeking enlightenment.
Normally, schools and other educational institutions, whether at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, are supposed to be hallowed citadels of learning. Within them, students are trained and equipped with the tools needed for them to become leaders, critical thinkers, and agents of positive change in society. This ensures that beyond the walls of the school, students would have imbibed enough moral instruction to contribute to national development.
However, when these institutions are infiltrated by predatory lecturers who sexualize students for their depraved gains, campuses become jungles where only those who are ready to play by the rules survive, establishing a hierarchical sense of predatory dominance over helpless prey. As such, those who are not ready to submit to the whims and caprices of randy lecturers are frustrated, and their dreams of acquiring knowledge to better their lives quickly turn to ashes. When these things happen, the very essence of education is tarnished, trust in academic institutions is shattered, and the potential for meaningful learning and personal growth is gravely compromised.
Recent events unfolding in our tertiary institutions call for grave concern. Last month, a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), was caught in the act of trying to sexually molest a female student at the university. The predatory lecturer’s victim is even married, but this was of no concern to the lecturer, Mr. Mfonobong Udoudom. Although his act is no less severe regardless of the victim’s marital status, one would have expected the man to act more like a professional and shun the act altogether. But apparently, such reasoning and logic must have eluded Mr. Mfonobong Udoudom at the level of depravity he no doubt felt comfortably assured within.
The irony of the whole situation is that the lecturer works at the General Studies Programme (GSP) Unit of the university, where he teaches Peace and Conflict Resolution and Nigerian People’s and Culture. I wonder if he thought anything at all about what his actions could mean to the outside world, especially about the Nigerian people and our culture, by threatening to fail his student if she fails to yield to his sexual advances. Did he ever think on how, by pushing ahead with his evil agenda, he would have been implying that in Nigeria, part of the educational culture maintains that students must sleep with their lecturers in order to pass exams?
According to reports, the lecturer is notorious for sleeping with his students to pass exams. In fact, once he sets his interest in you, it doesn’t matter how many hours you spend reading his courses and attending his lectures; as long as you have not followed him to the other room for practicals, you are on your own. But as the saying goes, every day for the thief, one day for the owner. Even the king of the jungle runs out of luck eventually. And so it went for Mr. Mfonobong. It appears his alleged victim arranged with her husband and others to get the man into a trap, and part of the strategy was for her to play along. This is why, just when the lecturer thought his food was ready, the tables were turned against him and everything came crashing down hard.
“You can see. We have been following this case from day one. We have all the tracks, all the voice notes and everything,” a voice said in the background of the viral clip that was posted on social media to document Mr. Udoudomʼs disgrace.
This was the same strategy that was used for another predatory lecturer desecrating our citadel of learning. Mr. Theodore Shey, a lecturer at the Department of English and Literary Studies, Federal University, Lokoja, was caught in his house while trying to sleep with a female student. According to reports, the lecturer had been on his victim’s neck for sex, but the lady failed to yield. He failed her as a result. She reported the matter to her father, and she was told to play along. And that was how the cookie crumbled for Mr. Theodore.
There is a popular adage that if the hunter learns how to shoot without aiming first, the bird will also learn how to fly without perching. While it may seem that these predatory lecturers are beginning to get their comeuppance, it is quite unfortunate that we are still talking about sex for grades in our schools and that this is happening at a time when parents are encouraged to educate their girl-child to foster an environment of safety and respect. Our campuses are supposed to be a sanctuary for female students, not a jungle where predatory lecturers prey on their bodies.
Although there have been concerted efforts to tackle the menace of sex for grades by the government, at the wake of the BBC Eye undercover investigations into the activities of lecturers in both Nigerian and Ghanaian universities in 2020, The National Assembly passed a bill for the prohibition and punishment of sexual harassment by teachers/lecturers in tertiary institutions. Unfortunately, this law, like every other law criminalizing crimes in Nigeria, does not deter some lecturers from sexually harassing their students. According to a recent report conducted by Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa, the rate of sexual harassment in our schools remains high, and it is not just a case of lecturers to students; it is even more prevalent among students, likewise non-academic staff.
The report observed that, “There are different manifestations and prevalence of SGBV among different categories of people in the university community. All forms of SGBV are present on campus and with unacceptable frequency. The most prevalent forms are sexual harassment followed by rape. The main perpetrators of SGBV are predominantly students and academic staff, although it is also common for non-academic staff to sexually harass students during the admissions process and when securing accommodation. There is also grossly under-reported sex for promotion and other SGBV amongst staff.”
What this suggests is that a lot needs to be done to stem the tide of all forms of sexual harassment in our schools. There should be an avenue for victims to report incidents of sexual harassment without the fear of victimization. Those caught in the act of sexual harassment should be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others. Only through punitive measures can we maintain the sanctity of our educational institutions. And these recent incidents should not serve as an avenue for people to surface and blame the scourge of sexual harassment in schools as consequences of indecent dressing. Even if female students were to be restricted to the hijab in terms of dressing on campuses, corrupt minds would still fantasize, lust and scheme to perpetrate dastardly acts.
As much as students are expected to dress decently as a reflection of their duties within the school environment, staff should be held up to much higher standards of professionalism, morality and duty. If we must get things right and eliminate the malaise afflicting our learning spaces, everyone must be held to the highest standards and expectations. By doing this, excellence will thrive and mediocrity, along with inane depravity, will become a thing of the past in our educational institutions.
● Zayd Ibn Isah can be reached via [email protected]
