The recent BBC Africa video which revealed lecturers in Lagos and Ghana sexually harassing teenage students may have come as a surprise to many, but not to me or anyone who has been through the tertiary level of education in Nigeria. The truth is most of us have knowledge of these happenings whether personally or otherwise.
My experience, though not sexual in nature, is born from an ill and corrupt society.
As a fresh undergraduate, I had mentally prepared myself to be an A-grade student and I worked hard for it. But nothing prepared me for the harsh reality – working hard doesn’t always guarantee you great grades, but money does. My entire class was threatened to fail a course by a female lecturer (women aren’t exempt from this decay) if we didn’t bribe her. Bewildered and confused, I dropped my monthly allowance because the thought of failing a course had worse repercussions than starving for an entire month. Unfortunately, like most victims of injustice in this part of the world, there’s no system that ensures victims speak up, so I kept mum.
But, of course, this article isn’t just about me, neither is this about ‘mere’ cash bribery. It is about sexual harassment and how society has a large part to play.
A popular saying has it that “Evil exists and persists because good people do nothing.” Oftentimes this saying is touted in churches as congregant’s node in gleeful agreement. However, that saying may not be pragmatic. In reality, several factors limit ‘good’ from doing ‘good’.
Let’s be more practical.
I decided to do a mini vox pop and ask a few people what they would do if they found out a close family member who is a lecturer sexually harassed young girls. Would they report him or look the other way? Unsurprisingly, everyone I asked said they wouldn’t report – implying they would do the latter. One person quoted an African proverb that says, “A child doesn’t call his father a mad man in the market place”. The result of this poll shows that sometimes our affiliations often overshadow the need to do what is right.
And, therein lies the problem. Isn’t it the case that the more we look away, the more evil persists?
What would you do if you found out that family member or friend is a sexual predator who uses his position of authority to harass young girls?