Headlines
SexforGrades: Another UNILAG Lecturer Bits the Dust
The University of Lagos, Akoka, has suspended another lecturer, Dr Samuel Oladipo, of the Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, after he was also indicted in a sexual harassment documentary produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
This is just as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; wife of the President, Aisha Buhari; and the Academic Staff Union of Universities called for the prosecution of the lecturers indicted in the documentary, while calling for the cleansing of the system.
The BBC had produced a documentary exposing four lecturers – two from UNILAG and two from the University of Ghana, Legon – for allegedly harassing undercover reporters, who posed as students in need of help.
The release of the footage had drawn outrage from many Nigerians, who demanded that justice be served.
At an emergency management meeting on Monday, UNILAG suspended one of the lecturers featured in the documentary, Dr Boniface Igbeneghu, of the Department of European Languages and Integrated Studies, Faculty of Arts.
The Principal Assistant Registrar, Communication Unit, UNILAG, Taiwo Oloyede, told PUNCH Metro on Tuesday that the second lecturer in the documentary, Oladipupo, had also been suspended.
Gbajabiamila, while reacting to the scandal in a series of tweets, lamented the damage caused by sexual assaults to young people.
He tweeted, “The revelations in the @BBCAfrica #SexForGrades documentary bring to the fore (the) despicable practices that have victimised too many young people, denied them their sense of self-worth and left them with psychological wounds that often never heal.
“These revelations call for a moment of reckoning, not only for those lecturers, whose abuse of their positions and the trust of their students have been caught on tape, but (also) those who are still hiding in the shadows.
“Our higher institutions, where this culture of abuse has been allowed to thrive, must also acknowledge their responsibility and act to put an end to these shameful practices. We owe our children that much.”
The wife of the President, who was represented by Aisha Rimi during the BBC Africa Eyeundercover documentary screening in Lagos, said sexual predators must not go unpunished.
“I assure you of the necessary assistance required of me to ensure that victims, who are sexually harassed, get justice and will be able to speak for themselves,” she said.
The wife of the Ekiti State Governor, Bisi Fayemi, said she was also a victim of sexual harassment in her university days.
She stated, “While watching the BBC Africa Eye undercover investigation, I didn’t know if I was crying or laughing. I cried for the young girls, who are going through situations like this but can’t speak out.
“I think it is time to speak out and we should also support victims of these atrocities. We need to make these sexual predators to face justice.”
The governor’s wife urged schools and states to come up with registers for all sexual offenders for record purposes.
ASUU, on its part, called for a thorough investigation and appropriate sanctions for lecturers indicted in the documentary in order to sanitise the university system.
The UNILAG ASUU Chairman, Dr Dele Ashiru, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday that the union was against all forms of unethical practices, including sexual harassment.
Ashiru stated, “The development is very disturbing and unfortunate. We have appealed to our colleagues to understand that as lecturers, we stand in loco parentis (in the place of parents) to these students and must not be perceived in any way as not protective.
“We condemn this act of shame in its entirety and want the matter to be thoroughly investigated and appropriate sanctions meted out to all those found culpable.”
Meanwhile, there was panic on Tuesday over Igbeneghu’s health condition as he was rumoured to have been rushed to hospital late on Monday.
The embattled lecturer and pastor, who was also suspended by the Foursquare Gospel Church, was alleged to have attempted suicide.
The university’s spokesperson, Oloyede, said she had yet to confirm the rumour and promised to call back but had yet to do so as of press time.
The Punch
The Senate has granted approval to the ₦1.77 trillion ($2.2b) loan request of President Bola Tinubu after a voice vote in favor of the request.
The Senate presided by Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, approved the loan after the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts chaired by Senator Wammako Magatarkada (APC, Sokoto North) presented the report of the committee.
The request which was submitted by the President on Tuesday is part of a fresh external borrowing plan to partially finance the N9.7 trillion budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year.
Tinubu had on Tuesday written to the National Assembly, seeking approval of a fresh N1.767 trillion, the equivalent of $2.209 billion as a new external borrowing plan in the 2024 Appropriation Act.
The fresh loan is expected to stretch the amount spent on debt servicing by the Federal Government. The Central Bank of Nigeria recently said that it cost the Federal Government $3.58 billion to service foreign debt in the first nine months of 2024.
The CBN report on international payment statistics showed that the amount represents a 39.77 per cent increase from the $2.56bn spent during the same period in 2023.
According to the report, while the highest monthly debt servicing payment in 2024 occurred in May, amounting to $854.37m, the highest monthly expenditure in 2023 was $641.70m, recorded in July.
The trend in foreign debt servicing by the CBN highlights the rising cost of debt obligations by Nigeria.
Further breakdown of international debt figures showed that in January 2024, debt servicing costs surged by 398.89 per cent, rising to $560.52m from $112.35m in January 2023. February, however, saw a slight decline of 1.84 per cent, with payments reducing from $288.54m in 2023 to $283.22m in 2024.
March recorded a 31.04 per cent drop in payments, falling to $276.17m from $400.47m in the same period last year. April saw a significant rise of 131.77 per cent, with $215.20m paid in 2024 compared to $92.85m in 2023.
The highest debt servicing payment occurred in May 2024, when $854.37m was spent, reflecting a 286.52 per cent increase compared to $221.05m in May 2023. June, on the other hand, saw a 6.51 per cent decline, with $50.82m paid in 2024, down from $54.36m in 2023.
July 2024 recorded a 15.48 per cent reduction, with payments dropping to $542.50m from $641.70m in July 2023. In August, there was another decline of 9.69 per cent, as $279.95m was paid compared to $309.96m in 2023. However, September 2024 saw a 17.49 per cent increase, with payments rising to $515.81m from $439.06m in the same month last year.
Given rising exchange rates, the data raises concerns about the growing pressure of Nigeria’s foreign debt obligations.
Channels TV
Self acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, has been arrested by law enforcement in Finland.
The BBC reports that Ekpa was subsequently sent to prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media”.
Ekpa was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also arrested four other men over alleged terrorist offences.
A citizen of Finland and Nigeria, Ekpa has described himself as leader of the separatist IPOB group since Nnamdi Kanu’s incarceration.
Finnish police say Ekpa’s activities and social media rhetoric may have fanned the flames of violence in the south-east of Nigeria.
“He carries out these activities from his social media channels, for example,” said Otto Hiltunen, detective chief inspector of the NBI.
In February 2023, Ekpa was arrested by police at his residence in Lahti but was released after hours of questioning.
Using his social media channels, Ekpa had directed Igbos not to participate in Nigeria’s 2023 general election.
In September 2021, the Biafra agitator and secessionist denounced Nigeria and vowed to return the medal he won for the country at the 2003 African Junior Athletics Championships.
The Court of Appeal has sacked Musiliu Akinsanya aka MC Oluomo as the National President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
In a ruling that upheld the earlier judgment of the National Industrial Court, the appellate court sacked MC Oluomo and reaffirmed Tajudeen Baruwa as the legitimate leader of the union.
Baruwa had assumed office after a properly conducted election held at the union’s headquarters in Abuja.
The three-member panel of the Appeal Court dismissed the appeal filed by MC Oluomo’s faction, declaring it devoid of merit.
In addition, the court imposed a fine of N100,000 on the appellants, further solidifying Baruwa’s leadership position.
Reports quoting court documents said to have been released on Friday detailed the ruling, which effectively countered any attempts to displace Baruwa from his role as the NURTW president.
The judgment read: “This is an appeal against the judgment/decision of the National Industrial Court Sitting in Abuja, in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/263/2023, delivered on the 11th March, 2024, by Justice O. O. Oyewumi.
“Upon reading the Record of Appeal compiled and transmitted before this court, together with the respective briefs of argument, and after hearing the counsels for the appellants and respondents, it is hereby ordered that:
“This Appeal is devoid of merit, and the same is hereby dismissed.”
The ruling reinforces the legitimacy of Baruwa’s presidency, concluding the legal dispute over the union’s leadership.
Meanwhile, MC Oluomo’s son Idowu Akinsanya (King West) had bragged about his feat of emerging the NURTW president, saying: “We are now in charge of Nigeria, not only Lagos,” a comment that attracted public opprobrium.
MC Oluomo, a diehard supporter of President Bola Tinubu and a prominent figure in Lagos politics, was the sole candidate in the election, which took place at the union’s zonal secretariat in Osogbo. His perceived victory was deemed to carry significant implications for the future of the NURTW and the political landscape of Nigeria.
