No topic has evoked so much passion and I dare say emotion in the last few weeks in the Nigerian media, whether of the social or the orthodox hue than the unveiled tape of an under-cover journalist from the BBC involving some lecturers in Nigeria and Ghana in compromised positions with their “preys”. Before then, a similar incident had taken place in one of the universities in Nigeria but the leakage was done by the actual victim – a post graduate female student.
No sooner the video went viral than many Nigerians went hysterical as if that was the first time, they were hearing such. A lot of hypotheses were propounded on how to curb or indeed eliminate completely such incidents from our campuses. These range from outright dismissal and prosecution of the culprits to castration. While the maelstrom was on, senators in the eighth national assembly reminded Nigerians that they had indeed passed a bill on sexual harassment in Nigerian varsities but could not secure presidential assent for it to become law. They therefore called for a revisit of the bill. From the presidential corner, a statement was issued to the effect that a re-consideration would be done if a fresh bill is passed by the current national assembly, provided it conforms to standards.
While this article was under incubation, news broke out that a fresh bill has indeed been represented by the former sponsor, who is currently the deputy senate president. The former bill provided amongst others, a minimum of a five-year jail term for any lecturer found guilty but the current one has upped the ante; prescribing fourteen years. As noble as the intentions may be, the questions that have been agitating the minds of some discerning Nigerians, not least this writer: will the bill once passed take care of sexual harassments in Nigeria? Why isolate a fraction of the society?
Obviously, the bill cannot be a panacea to sexual harassment in the wider society. To think otherwise will be playing the ostrich. Let’s engage in a simple postulation here: assuming the bill when passed into law succeeds in eliminating completely the issue of sexual harassments in Nigerian varsities, what happens to the “protected potential victims” when they’re unleashed to the society after graduation? Where is the protection for them when they are searching for jobs? And when they get the jobs and are working? Or are we saying they’d be shielded from sexual harassments in work places forever?
It is a well-known fact that no field of human endeavour in Nigeria is today free of this epidemic of sexual harassment. Even the most unthinkable sector is afflicted. Who can ever suspect that the Judiciary known for its conservatism and a bastion of law and order in toto would ever be mentioned in the web? But the shocker came to me and I suspect many Nigerians when a senior lawyer, Tunji Abayomi, regaled viewers in a national television (TVC) sometime in 2017 or thereabout of what some female lawyers including married ones seeking judiciary appointments as magistrates go through in the hands of some randy senior members of the bench. The sordid affair, according to him, doesn’t end with their appointments. It continues thereafter ad infinitum!
Or have we forgotten so soon the familiar tales in the banking sector? Can we count how many female bankers have been harassed internally by their superiors or unleashed outside to predators in the name of deposit drives?
What of the usual suspect – the Nollywood industry – where sex for roles has assumed common place that young female debutants have always been in tight corners explaining that their break-ins have been on merit devoid of any strings attached?
Is it in the hospitals? Tales of doctors/nurses’ trysts and doctors’ inappropriate behaviours toward patients abound.
Even in the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly! Can the senators and rep members look the public in the eyes and vouch that no form of sexual harassments has been reported either between members themselves or between members and female staff working there?
To say that sexual harassment is pervasive in Nigeria is akin to sounding like a broken record. It is walking on all the fours! Is it in the oil and gas industry? Government ministries, departments and agencies at all tiers where uncountable petitions have been written against some senior officials sitting on the promotions of their subordinates on account of not succumbing to sexual overtures?
On the most ridiculous level, take a trip to any market in Nigeria and behold how some supposedly female customers are touched inappropriately by their male counterparts all in the guise of soliciting for their patronage.
Indeed, the list and examples are endless! The narrative so far has been on the male predator. However, cases abound where some females in superior positions have taken advantage of their male subordinates. Don’t such qualify as sexual harassments also?
The thrust of this piece, for avoidance of any doubt, is not that the bill is undesirable. Rather it is against its discriminatory stance. Sexual harassment is not worst in the universities if there is any description like that. It is WORST in all segments of the society. No sector can claim a higher moral ground than the other in this unfortunate vice sucking away at the moral fabric of the nation. It is therefore my humble submission that the bill be made all encompassing if there is any serious intention of tackling the scourge. Any reported and proven case of any sexual harassment anywhere will attract the same attention and punishment. To do otherwise will be tantamount to applying knee jerk solution to an issue that requires a holistic approach for the sanity of the nation.
Emeka Okolo
Dr. Okolo is a chartered stockbroker and management consultant based in Lagos.
