Rhoda Samuel, a 100-level student in one of the Nigerian universities, was delighted when she learnt that Monica Osagie, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, made a phone recording, exposing Professor Richard Akindele of the Department of Management who allegedly pressured her for five rounds of sex to upgrade her score from an F to a D.
Samuel, who said the same happened to her in her earlier years at the University, claimed she heeded to the advice of those who told her to start afresh in another institution because the lecturer was bent on frustrating her until she succumbed.
“When the lecturer failed me, I knew there was provision for remarking of scripts but I was advised against it. Apart from being a long process, I was told it could present me for victimisation in the end,” Samuel said.
Several weeks after the video went viral on the social media of an illicit discussion between a Osagie and her lecturer Richard Akindele, divergent reactions have continued to trail the development.
Concerned Nigerians who spoke on the issue told BDSUNDAY that it was a reflection of the moral laxity in the society as a whole and failure in good parental upbringing of many students.
Williams (surname withheld) who had her mandatory youth service at the Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, where he served as a graduate assistant, said sex-for-marks was commonplace in the school’s faculty of social science during his service as many happened under his nose.
“I had visited the Dean’s office to beg on a certain lady’s behalf because the Dean was her project supervisor, saying she was my girlfriend but he (the Dean) told me point blank in front of the lady that he (the Dean) was humbly and doesn’t mind eating from the same ‘pot’ with me,’’ Williams told BDSUNDAY.
“The then Dean of social sciences, Head of psychology department and many lecturers in that faulty were guilty of this. They kept hotel keys and they just hand it over to the girl to go and wait for them there,” he said.
This is not the first time a similar case has been made public. In 2015, Prof. Cyril Osim Ndifon of the University of Calabar was accused of rape by Nkag Sinemobong Ekong, a 400-level female Law student who claimed that he raped her in his office while she was rewriting a test on Law of Trust.
Students express mixed reactions
“Whatever Osagie’s motive was, I commend her for making this public. It’s a terrible thing to do. If it’s by consent, it’s okay but the professor was bullying that lady and that’s not acceptable,” said Emmanuel John, a student of Mass Communication at University of Lagos.
“In developed countries, he (the lecturer) will be prosecuted and not just suspended for such action,’’ John further said.
Gloria Ibezim, a final year student in one of the tertiary institutions in the country said she believed the student’s story that the lecturer failed her because she refused to succumb to his advances.
“Although, I have never been boxed in this corner, I have seen it happen to a few around me and it’s not a nice experience at all. So, I can relate to what the student is saying and I’m certain she is not making this up. When you find yourself in this situation, getting help is usually difficult,’’ Ibezim said.
However, Ihotu Audu, a 200-level student of mass communication at the University of Lagos, thinks otherwise.
“From the recorded phone conversation, it shows that two of them have a high level of familiarity with the lady talking about her menstrual period and how many times the man has sex with his wife,’’ said Audu.
“Probably now, this did not work in favour of the lady because she wants more than a ‘D’ and the man could not go beyond a ‘D’. Some students are very vindictive.’’
“I can understand why she did it. I’m sure she did it as a bargaining chip. One could see she planned it all along to entrap the lecturer, that’s why I’m not on her side but the professor is deserving of all he’s been subjected to,” said a final year student of Lagos State University, who does not want to be mentioned.
“The man was in the wrong for engaging in such practice. No doubt, he’s done this before to other girls and was unfortunate to get caught this time. I foresee a situation, where going forward, the girl will be ganged up against and will have more troubles graduating from the school except by God’s help.”
Lecturers put the blame on parents
Reacting to the sex-for-marks scandal, lecturers who spoke with BDSUNDAY blamed parents for the weak educational foundation they have built for their children, which they believe led to the decadence witnessed in the academic system.
“Some parents help these students to pass common entrance, WAEC and JAMB. So, these children are used to ‘settling’. They saw their parents give bribes on their behalf. When they gain admission into the University, they know all the ways to ‘settle’ their way through,’’ said a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“They either settle through works, money or sex. These are the patterns of settlement. Parents, government and the University should help lecturers,’’ he solicited.
While faulting the audio recorder, the lecturer said the professor was careless to have allowed such a thing to happen.
“That recording might have been edited. It’s not all that transpired that was released online, if she’s bold enough, she should have just approached the authority and call for her paper. This is not a case of victimisation, this is a case of her going to the lecturer to demand. That’s why she went to blackmail the lecturer and put on social media,’’ the lecturer said.
“Some students are in school to destroy lecturers and this professor really played into the lady’s hands.
He wondered how possible it was to upgrade a mark from 33 to 44 when the result had already been published and there was no departmental or faulty meeting to upgrade the marks due to mass failure.
“The question many should be asking is what the student had gone to do in that lecturer’s office. It means that she was desperate to pass the examination and lecturers are human beings with blood flowing in their veins,’’ he said.
According to him, “The truth is that those who are vulnerable are those who are not academically sound and who want to have their way. These things hardly happen to good students. So, when they put pressures on the lecturer and he does not want to, they try blackmail.’’
The senior lecturer further said that the professor should take the blame for what transpired between him and the female student for two reasons.
“Even if the student is making advances, the moral burden lies on the lecturer, because he is a pastor and professor. The temptations should not have come in because he should have known better. Our prayer is that we will not fall victim like this lecturer,’’ he said.
Adetokunboh Yusuf, a legal practitioner and a part-time lecturer at the University of Lagos, said the whole incident is sordid and rather unfortunate.
“As a lecturer, the professor is expected to be intelligent and be able to know the nuances of the students. He was naïve and allowed himself to be privy to that odium. If he was sensible, he would have hands-off immediately he saw that the lady scored 33, which is an irredeemable mark,’’ said Yusuf.
“The whole thing is nauseating. Just imagine the shame he has brought to his wife, children, church, faulty and the society,’’ he further said.
Yusuf said if he was the prosecutor, both the lecturer and student would be punished.
“In law, he who alleges must prove. The onus of proving the case of sexual harassment is on the lady but for misconduct and irregular conduct, the man could go in for that. The lady was the one who made the move to the man by calling and referring to a discussion they had earlier. Both of them are guilty under the law,’’ he said.
Another lecturer in the same University who does not want his name mentioned, said the lecturer should have been smart.
The lecturer also disclosed that they are now careful with ladies because they know what they are capable of.
“One of my students called me few days ago but I didn’t pick her call. When she saw me the following day, she was asking why I have been avoiding her calls and said I should pick when she calls again. I asked her to tell me what she wanted face-to-face or forget it,’’ he said.
“Some people don’t have conscience. I suggest they check this student’s score in other courses. It’s obvious no one is looking at that,’’ he said.
Omolola Sodunke, another lecturer who spoke with our correspondent, said the sex audio recording would not have made it to the public if the offer was juicier.
“If the lecturer agreed to upgrade her score to a ‘B’ or ‘C’, she may not have produced that audio because she had asked if the five rounds of sex was for a ‘B’ or ‘C’, but the lecturer said it was for a ‘D’”, Sodunke said.
“There had been a negotiation between both of them and when the lady saw that the terms of reference were not in her favour. She decided to set the lecturer up,’’ she added.
Parents react
Ifeanyi Oguegbulam, a businessman in Lagos, said making the sex audio recording public is good as it would help sanitise the educational system.
“They (lecturers) will now be afraid of female students and closeness with students will be limited but to a large extent, marks would be awarded based on merit,’’ said Oguegbulam.
“It will assist to reduce the laissez-faire in the academic system. There are some ladies that want to give sex in exchange for marks but teachers are going to be more cautious,’’ he said.
Sylvester Abutu, a banker in Lagos, said the lecturer had committed no crime and the approach adopted by both the student and the University was a wrong one.
“If the student felt the lecturer failed her, she should have written a petition to the school council. The senate should remark her paper and find out if she actually passed and the man failed her. That should be the only justification for suspending the lecturer,’’ said Abutu.
“What did the lady go to see the lecturer for? These are students that after writing exams, they start going to lecturer’s office. The student is yet to find her feet and she wants to destroy the career someone laboured through his life to build. Must she seduce the man and put it on the social media?’’ he asked.
Abutu however, believes that this incident will not reduce the demand for sex-for-marks by lecturers but it would cause lecturers to be more careful.
“If requesting for marks before you could pass a student is part of you as a lecturer, you will ensure the students don’t have a recorder on them when discussing such sensitive matters,’’ he said.
For Biodun Olabode, an engineer and a father of two, what the lecturer did was not only despicable but also ungodly and oppressive.
“How would you intimidate a student you were paid to teach and to guide morally? This is part of corruption that is permissible in our society,’’ Olabode said.
According to a Civil servant who does not want to be quoted, this well reported incident would not make sex-for-marks trade go away, rather, it will only help those who do it to re-strategise and ensure they avoid getting recorded like this lecturer.
“We can only out an end to it by addressing it at the federal level which unfortunately our country’s leadership will not welcome because all are involved in similar sexual harassment of anyone they have some power of any kind over. It’s a shame but it’s true,’’ he said.
A school proprietress, who craved anonymity, said: “Some parents nowadays go to the criminal extent of writing exams for their children. While some hire mercenaries to write exams for their children, some others compromise invigilators to smuggle answers into exam hall for their children. To gain admission into the university, some parents pay heavily in cash and in kind. Some also go to any extent, sometimes they boast about their willingness to do whatever it takes to make their son or daughter pass a particular exam or gain admission. Today, many parents engage in all manner of unethical practices to ensure their sons or daughters get job into certain places. A child, particularly, a girl-child, brought up in this way will only amount to what is happening in OAU today,” the proprietress said.
Clerics frown at colleague’s action
Some clerics who spoke with BDSUNDAY did not only condemn the act of the lecturer who doubles as a pastor but also called for thorough investigation into the matter.
Reverend Solu Ogundipe of Baptist seminary suggests that the student be made to retake that paper while the lecturer should be reformed.
“What the lecturer did was immoral and ethically wrong. The appropriate step to be taken should be to arrange for that student to come and repeat that paper,’’ he said. ‘‘The lecturer should be in the custody of religious persons who will bring him up in the world of God for a period of time,’’ he suggested.
Ogundipe applauded the student for taking that kind of step to confirm what had long been said about lecturers trading marks for sex.
“When an issue has been on and people now see that it has become a usual practice of the person, people can arrange a way of teaching that person a lesson. She helped to apprehend this lecturer,’’ he said.
In addition to his indefinite suspension, Rev. Felix Omobude, national president of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), said the church the lecturer attends should sanction him as well.
“These are the things we stand against. I’d feel bad if I send my child to school and someone did that to her. The university has carried out their disciplinary measures but there must be some sanctions from the church he goes to,’’ said Omobude.
Ngozi Oluwagbemiga of Famous Gospel Proclaimers’ Ministry, said nemesis may have caught up with the lecturer.
“If the allegation is true, then his cup is full just like the cups of many people in the country who are hiding under certain umbrellas to perpetrate wickedness will be filled soon,’’ she said.
Oluwagbemiga however, insisted that the student should be investigated to ascertain if she was hired to tarnish the image of the lecturer.
“Let the school look into her academic records and lifestyle because we are in the last days. A lot of agents of darkness are out there blackmailing people. What’s her academic history,’’ she queried.
“Is she good academically or is she also having issues because a lot of people are in school but they don’t know why they are there. They package themselves for commercial purposes and lure people into sin. Let people testify about her and be sure she is not hired from the kingdom of darkness.
“Why don’t they search out for other ones (lecturers) involved in other terrible things and suspend them? So, we can see the enemy is after the church and pastors. Its sign of the end time,’’ she said.
Chinwe Agbeze
