By Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja
“When I remember Ife, water run away my eyes” is “A song we used to sing in Obafemi Awolowo University during candle light processions to honour fellow students who had passed away.”
It is a also a song that is popular as a rallying cry amongst Nigerian students who are activists and who are seeking the attention of the Nigerian government officials on different issues that are negatively affecting them.
One of the issues that is causing “water (tears) to run away our eyes” in Nigeria of today is the issue of raising sexual harassment.
It needs to be addressed by a legislation by the National Assembly or at least by each institution implementing a sexual harrasment policy.
When the Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan allegation of sexual harrasment against the Senate President became breaking news, I was promised by a Senate who is also a Senior Advocate of NIGERIA-SAN that it is high time that the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria would implement a sexual harrasment policy.
According to the said Senator, the Sexual Harassment policy would be not only to protect females who are the victims of sexual harrasment but also males who are victims of false accusations of sexual harrasment by mischievous females.
Imagine the huge financial (and other related) costs that the allegations of sexual harrasment has cost both Nigerian tax payers and others since February 2025 when it first broke. For example, the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions has held at least three meetings to address the issue of sexual allegations raised by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. Assuming that the sitting allowance of each of the 39 Senators who are members of the said Committee is put at a conservative cost of ₦100,000 per sitting, so each of the three meetings cost a minimum of ₦3,900,000. So the three meetings would cost a grand total of ₦11,700,000. This is not to add the costs of refreshments and payments to the support staff who provide secretarial services to the said Committee. The costs of professional legal fees to the lawyer to the President of the Senate President, Dr. Monday Ubani, SAN, just to mention a few.
On the side of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, there were transportation fares and costs arising from attendance by her lawyers (Dr. Mrs. Abiola Afolabi-Akiyode) and the eyewitnesses and constituent who is the petitioner. Assuming the costs of airflght ticket from Lagos to Abuja is ₦300,000, per meeting there is also associated costs of hotel accommodation which cannot be less than ₦500,000 per meeting, so approximately ₦5,000,000.
Sexual harrasment or indiscretion is not a child’s play, it is a serious matter that has destroyed lives and even whole kingdoms.
According to the respected Historian Herodotus, the Kingdom of Troy was completely destroyed by 50,000 soldiers of Greece, the so-called ‘Father of History’, placed the Trojan War almost 800 years before his own time. Eratosthenes, a mathematician, was more specific, dating the war at 1184/3 BC.”
It was one act of sexual indiscretion that ignited the Trojan War.
Paris the Prince of Troy, had stolen the wife of Menelaus, a brother to the King of Greece (Agemennom).
Of all the beautiful maidens, that he could conquer, Prince Paris of Troy decided that it was only a married woman he could have to himself.
His sexual indiscretion caused a war that lasted ten years and eventually resulted in the complete destruction of the Kingdom of Troy which was burnt to the ground by the soldiers of Greece.
The question is was such one act of sexual indiscretion worth the costs in terms of disruption to governance for ten years and eventual destruction of Troy?
In our modern times, former President Bill Clinton of the United States of America (USA) provides evidence of the negative financial (and other costs) costs and disruption to governance that occurs when people holding public offices decide to indulge in sexual indiscretion. “Clinton ended televised remarks on January 26, 1998, with the later infamous statement: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.” Further investigation led to charges of perjury and to the impeachment of Clinton in 1998 by the U.S. House of Representatives”. What saved him from removal from office was that the Senate of the USA did not also pass a vote of impeachment against him.
One of the cost of former President Bill Clinton’s sexual indiscretion was that the Republican party’s candidate, George W. Bush won and became the President of the USA.
On a final note, the most recent example of the financial costs of sexual harrasment upon public funds is the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.
Between 8th April and 14th April 2025, the Governing Council of the said University headed by Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN held two meetings. Let us assume that the sitting allowance for each member of the 10 man Governing Council is ₦200,000 that means that each meeting costs ₦2,000,000. In addition, the costs of airflght tickets for the Chairman and other members of the Governing Council.
So a total of not less than ₦50,000,000 would have been paid because of the sexual indiscretion of the said former Vice-Chancellor, who decided that of all the unmarried staff and students of the said University, the only person he wanted to sleep with was a married woman.
As a sort of soft landing for the said Vice-Chancellor, below is the report of the incidence as follows:
“The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Abayomi Fasina, a professor whom the university council cleared of sexual harassment allegations last week, has proceeded on a six month leave.
The university spokesperson, Foluso Ogunmodede, told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday that the university council approved Mr Fasina’s request to proceed on a six-month “accumulated annual and research leave.”
Mr Ogunmodede said the leave which begins Monday, 14 April is 126 working days of Mr Fasina’s total entitlements of 228 days.”
The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.
