President Muhammadu
Buhari on Wednesday said henceforth, any lecturer in the nation’s tertiary
institutions indicted for sex-for-marks and other sexual-related offences would
face the “stiffest punishment under the law.”
The President in his
speech at the 35th convocation of the University of Ilorin condemned the
trending reports of sex-for-mark cases in the country’s university system.
He spoke just as the
management of the University of Ilorin said it was already investigating
allegations of such sexual scandal against some of its lecturers.
President Buhari, who
was represented on the occasion by the Deputy Executive Director of the
National Universities Commission, Dr Sulyman Yusuf, said sexual immoralities
had been painting the nation’s university system in a bad light.
Buhari said, “Let me
once again condemn the unwelcome attention being attracted to our universities
by the trending stories of sex-for-grades. Definitely, our universities can do
without the negative and scandalous attention being paid to them and our dear nation
in the wake of trending stories of sex-for-marks and sexual harassment which
have assumed a global dimension.
“It is most
reprehensible that while some of our more illustrious university staff
are making concerted efforts to improve the continent and global ranking of
Nigerian universities and indeed, some of our universities are already
beginning to make more respectable showing on the continent and global league
and ranking tables, such efforts are now being overshadowed by the negative
reputation of immorality and shame being brought upon our citadels of higher
learning by the irresponsibility and indiscipline of a few misguided academics.
“For the avoidance of
doubt, my administration abhors any form of indiscipline and misdemeanor.
Accordingly, I have directed appropriate government agencies to take decisive
and firm action against any lecturer or other members of staff found culpable
in any act of sexual harassment in our educational and other institutions.
“It is most
disheartening that people who are expected to train, guide and groom students
in loco parentis turn round to breach the trust and confidence reposed in them
by exploiting the students entrusted into their care.
“Henceforth, all
culprits shall face the full wrath of the law as they will be prosecuted and
those found guilty will serve the stiffest punishment under the law.”
The President charged
the nation’s universities to rise to the challenge of creativity,
innovativeness and optimal utilization of scarce resources.
This, he said, underscored
the urgent need “to think outside the box to be able to device means and
strategies of doing more with less.”
He said the economic
challenges confronting the nation should be seen as an opportunity for
retrospection and a stimulus “to elicit our collective creative juices, to
innovate and attempt to do
things differently.”
In his address, the
Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the university, Dr
Abdullah Oyekan, said the institution management was taking action on the
allegations of sex-for-grades against some lecturers.
Earlier in his
welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Sulyman
Abdulkareem, had said 12, 009 graduates were conferred with degree, higher
degrees, and diploma certificates.
He added that 130 of
the 10, 299 conferred with first degree bagged first class, 2,902 bagged second
class upper division. 5,661 graduated with second class lower division,
1, 392 earned third class while 31 were awarded pass degree. - Punch
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