Dorcas Egwuje
Nigeria’s citadel of learning is currently distressed with many issues such as hike in school fees, lack of infrastructure, and strike on the part of the students and refusal to pay salaries by government and poor working environment on the part of the lecturer, sadly, cases of sexual harassment by randy lecturers and immoral dressing on the part of female students has become an eyesore that urgently needs attention.
While sexual harassment of female students has been blamed on randy lecturers, university authorities are fighting back by allegedly blaming the “provocative” mode of dressing by female students for the harassment.
Female students have often complained that to pass their examinations, they have to sleep with the lecturers.
Meanwhile, visit to some campuses shows just how scantily and provocatively dressed some of the students could be, majority of the students in their efforts to follow the latest fashion trend, dress in tight fitting trousers or short skirts and tops which show off part of their navels and upper body.
Majority of higher institution as part of admission criteria tells students in their oath form to pledge to always dress decently while on campus, while others erect billboards to pass their message on campus.
Recently, the Vice-Chancellor, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Prof Timothy Adebayo, said the university would not tolerate any form of immoral conduct among students. He added that the institution would not bend the rule for anyone found guilty of immoral practices.
In a speech he delivered at the matriculation for new students, Adebayo said, “ACU frowns severely at any form of misconduct. There are stern measures taken against students who engage in the slightest form of examination malpractice. Also, sexual immorality and any other shades of deviant behaviours are not tolerated in the university. The university frowns at indecent dressing, and strict actions are taken against erring students.”
He added that the school would not relent in its effort to produce graduates that are intellectually and morally sophisticated to meet up with the demands of the global market.
It should however be noted that the need to restore morality in Nigeria’s universities has led to the imposition of a mode of dressing or the banning of indecent dressing among female students by some of the higher institutions of learning.
Similarly, the federal polytechnic, ilaro ogun state ruled that no student should come to school without putting on pants and bra also any dress worn must cover intimate parts of the body.
The letter stressed the importance of female students of the polytechnic to add to their dressing while on campus a bra and pants .
It urged the female students to wear pants and bras for their safety, comfort and respect for their fellow students, also to avoid harassment from randy lecturers.
While reiterating the significance of the message, speaker of the student representative council, Sulaimon Adedamola in a letter said wearing pants and bras is a requirement and not a suggestion.
The letter read “It is important to remember that pants and bras are required while on campus. This is not only for your own comfort and safety, but, also out of respect for your fellow students.
“It is absolutely essential that you wear pants and a bra while on campus. This is not a suggestion, it is a requirement.
“If you do not comply, you will face the consequences and may face disciplinary action. Please respect your fellow students and the rules of the school by wearing appropriate clothing at all times.
“This could include warnings and even suspension. The school takes this rule very seriously, and any violation will be treated as a serious offence.”
To drive this home, authorities at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, recently suspended a dean in the faculty of who was indicted of sexually assaulting female students.
In retaliation, several female law students of the University staged a protest in the institution, accusing the Dean of frequently harassing them sexually.
They were seen moving about in groups on the campus late Monday afternoon chanting ‘Ndifon, go! go!’
The students displayed placards with various inscriptions, including “Ndifon Must Go!” “We’re tired of sucking dicks for marks”, “Law Girls Are Not Bonanza”, “Prof Ndifon Must Stop Grabbing our Bum Bum”.
President of the Law Students Association of Nigeria, LAWSAN, Unical branch, Comrade Benedict Otu led the students in the protest against Ndifon
The concept of freedom has been abused in the university. As a result, the university has risen to address the issue of generational stigma by introducing a policy on mode of dressing for its students.
Accordingly students are expected to appear in corporate dressing to lectures and other university functions.
Recently, the senate passed into law bill for an Act to make provision for the prohibition and punishment of sexual harassment of students by lecturers in tertiary institutions.
The objective of the Bill is to prohibit the offence of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions and impose stiff penalties on perpetrators.
It also creates a strict liability offence by removing mutual consent as a defence in prosecution of sexual harassment cases, as it were in the extant law
The new Act when signed to law, will not only prohibit lecturers from having sexual intercourse with underage students; it will also punish lecturers who demand for sex from female students as a condition to giving passing grades.
As against the initial proposal of the sponsors of the Bill that any lecturer who harasses female student shall be liable to 3 years imprisonment; Senator Umaru said the clause has been amended.
“Any person who commits any of the acts specified in section 3 of this Act is guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be sentenced to imprisonment of up to 5 years but not less than 2 years and there shall be no option of fine”, the Bill reads.
It was, however, agreed upon presentation, that the penalty should be 5 years imprisonment or option of fine to the tune of N5m or both.
The Act also provides that the head of an institution upon receiving a written complaint of sexual harassment from a victim, shall set up a ‘Sexual Harassment Investigation Panel’ which shall submit its report in writing within 30 days.
While it will be an uphill struggle to combat the ‘indecent’ dressing in Nigeria where 40 percent of the country’s population is under the age of 18, as long as there exist higher institutions of learning, cases of sexual assault will still remain though may reduce when lecturers caught are named and shamed, also the bill should not just be paperwork but lecturers caught should serve as deterrent to others.
Students should know that dressing indecently does not just expose them to randy lecturers but to other male colleagues who may take advantage of them, of course there is no gain in exposing ones body in the public if not for an ‘intention’, however rather than engage in such immorality, they should face their studies squarely and be fully baked for the ‘bright’ future that lies ahead.
