Sex for grades is exploitation, and harassment on university campuses, including polytechnics, has gone on for several decades. Unfortunately, the perpetrators of this heinous crime have gotten away with it unpunished. As a result, it has been characterized as a normal phenomenon. Some of these lecturers would instill fear into their students, especially using the carrot and stick method to compel female students into having sex with them. Things like poor grades, carryovers and the possibility of not graduating are their fear baits.
The trend is that sexually harassed female students go about in shame, head bow and stigma, unable to voice out not report to the authority when such an incident occurs. Voicing out, primarily when not accomplished with adequate support from the school’s management, leads to more victimization. So they resort to muteness. Just recently, a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos campus was accused of sexually harassing a female student. The student in question was asked to report to the school authorities, but she turned it down for fear of stigmatization.
But sex for grades trend seems to be over now with the recent media development that led to the exposure of a senior lecturer caught in the act at the University of Lagos. BBC exposed the sexual escapades of this randy senior lecturer through it undercover journalism following the several complains of sexual harassment in the media.
The documentary released by BBC shows that Prof. Boniface Igbeneghu, the lecturer in question, claimed to be a pastor at the Foursquare Gospel Church. Following the released video, the church asked him to step down from all church activities. The university authorities, in response to the allegation, dismissed Prof. Boniface Igbeneghu indefinitely and have vowed to implement necessary sanctions once investigations are concluded. The students hope that this will serve as a deterrent to other lecturers.
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