In many ways, Nigerian institutions of higher
learning are no different from other such
institutions around the world: They are
confronted with several contending issues
such as budget cuts, plagiarism, cheating
during exams, alteration of data by researchers, unhealthy rivalry and tension
between faculty members and between
faculty and administration and between
students and other echelons. These are
constants within the academic community. And of course there is the issue of séxual
relationship between some students and
some of their teachers, and between some
students and some members of the
administrative staff… To be sure, there is not a teaching and
learning institution anywhere in the world
where such — séx between students and
faculty and between students and staff — is
not a concern. None! What makes the
Nigerian context different is the propensity, the frequency and the severity of the
aforementioned.Parents send their children
to school to learn, no to be harassed and
séxually molested. Young men and women
come to school to learn and learn how to be
contributing members of their immediate and global society. They go to school to learn
to be good citizens, good human beings.
They go to school to develop many skills –
including critical thinking skill. And though
many show up in all their naiveté and
gullibility, still, it is not a reason or an excuse for them to be taken advantage of. Sadly,
these are some of the horrors that happen to
many Nigerian students, especially the
girls.Sadder is the fact that millions of girls
and young women are being abused and
exploited on a daily basis. Many are denied their human and civil rights. Many have no
access to education, to medical care, or to a
caring home and environment. They are the
“wretched of the earth.” While there are
some shining examples within the Nigerian
sisterhood, there could have been several millions more if the Nigerian society had
taken its female population more seriously.
But we don’t! For the most part, and in many
settings, women are things, objects – things
and objects to ignore or séxualise. Thinking about it now, I cannot remember
which came first: the súgar daddy syndrome
or the séxual exploitation of students by staff
and faculty members (sometimes referred to
as “Bush allowance”). Long before politicians
became conquerors and rulers of the maiden and their honey jars — and long before
military officers freely roamed the séxual
landscape — súgar daddies were the kings. Súgar daddies paraded and patronised
UNILAG, UNIBEN, BUK, UNIPORT, ABU,
UI and every Nigerian university and
polytechnic and college of education. And in
some cases, they snuck into secondary
schools and in the process committed r*pe and alarming perversions. Today, the larger
Nigerian society does not worry itself with
what was initially an aberration. It is now a
given. Basically, súgardaddism has now
become a practice, part of our cultural
milieu. Tell me: How many women, 17-37 years old,
do you know who do not have one or two
moneybags as a lover or séx mate? I am sure
there are. But they can’t be that many.
Poverty and unemployment and the general
state of confusion and hopelessness have greatly contributed to the mental and
psychical anarchy that now characterises the
country. In the minds of many, the kingdom
of God can wait. Money is the new paradise.
You either have it or you don’t. In many
enclaves, if you don’t have it, you don’t matter, you don’t count! No matter how you look at it, séx between a
student and a teacher or an administrator
cannot be considered a relationship. This is
so because there is an element of abuse and
exploitation involved. What’s more, many
students – especially secondary school and undergraduates — who are so abused and
taken advantage of, may suffer psychological
and physical damage. As many universities in the western world
have come to understand, there is “power
imbalance between the parties” that makes
such a liaison unsound and injurious. The
University of Connecticut’s Board of
Trustees recently voted against “séxual interactions between students and
professors.” Similar measures are in place in
many universities. One does not know what the policies are in
Nigerian universities and other institutions
of higher learning. What seems clear – very
clear – is that a whole lot of r*pe and abuse
and exploitation and blackmail are taking
place. But really, the complaints are just too many: teachers who demand séx for better
class grade and other favours; and teachers
who pimp students for financial and non-
financial gains. Séx-for-grade or grade-for-
séx is indeed a mess, an epidemic that’s been
threatening, along with other vexing issues, Nigeria’s educational environment. To whom do aggrieved female students lodge
complaints when many of those in positions
of authority are committing the same or
similar offence? Do you complain to the
Vice-Chancellor, the Dean, the Head of the
Department, or to the Faculty Senate? I do not mean to say that the entire rank and file
of the Nigerian academics is guilty of these
abuses and exploitation. No, not at all! But
the fact is that the number of those involved
in such inhumanity outweighs the innocent
and pious ones. Are there cases where female students
lodged false protests against innocent
teachers? Yes, of course! Are there cases
where rival teachers used séx to trap and
blackmail other teachers? Yes, of course!
And are there cases where female students séxually pursued their teachers? Yes,
without a doubt! But such incidences are
small, very small. In the end, I wonder if there are academic
studies that gauge the impact of séx-for-
grade on our educational system, and how
they impact the lives of our young women.
Even so, these practices and transgressions
cannot be good for the country’s culture and educational system. It could be that these
injuries cannot be wiped out, but they can be
substantially minimised. No one sends his or her daughter to school
to be abused and exploited by depraved
minds. Consequently, the learning
environment should be a safe and enriching
one for all. No society can be great and
prosperous if that society refuses to treat her women population with love, respect and
dignity. A healthy learning-teaching
environment is a human and civil right for all
— especially for our young women.
