at order to address the increasing problem of “sex-for-marks” at Nigerian universities, the Independent Commission on Prohibition of Corruption (ICPC) has promised a robust collaboration with the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA).
During a courteous visit by the FIDA Niger State Chapter, Mr. Kennedy Ebhotemey, the ICPC State Coordinator, stressed the Commission’s preparedness to fight academic corruption, especially teachers’ sexual exploitation of female students. He said it was a major breach of the country’s educational system and a kind of gender-based abuse.
Ebhotemey declared that the ICPC will use its legal authority to punish severely any professor found guilty of soliciting sexual favours from female students in return for good grades. Revelations that some professors actively discourage female students from pursuing their sexual advances have us quite unsettled. According to him, this conduct is both undesirable and illegal.
Despite the lack of official reports in Niger State, he emphasised that the Commission would not hesitate to take preventative and disciplinary measures without first receiving complaints. Despite his recent arrival to the state and the lack of official complaints, he emphasised that they would not take any chances.
The chairperson of FIDA in Niger State, Barrister Bolanle Jibogun, lamented the growing problem of sexual harassment in formal settings. She made it clear that the visit was an effort to strengthen ties with anti-corruption authorities and an expansion of FIDA’s continued fight against gender-based violence.
Jibogun pleaded on the ICPC to end the abuse of vulnerable people and female students, stressing the critical need to immediately restore honour to Nigerian educational institutions.
In an effort to combat academic corruption, safeguard female students nationwide, and bring those responsible to justice, the two organisations have committed to cooperating in whatever way they can.