A Professor at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Richard Akindele, has allegedly requested to have sex with a female student of the institution in order to raise her mark in his course.
This follows an alleged recording of a phone voice conversation between the student and the lecturer.
In the said phone voice conversation, the Professor could be heard, asking the student to have sex with him five times so an alleged score of 33 could be upgraded to a pass mark.
The following dialogue was recorded:
Student: Hello Sir, Professor Akindele, yesterday you said something but because I was close to my boyfriend, I could not say anything. You said you’ve submitted it
Lecturer: I gave you an opportunity and you missed it. Forget about it. You will do it next year.
Student: I was calling to confirm whether you were serious about it.
Lecturer: Me that agreed to do something. I know what I meant. If you don’t trust me, forget about it. If I wouldn’t do it, why should I give you audience in the first place? If I am not interested in doing it, I won’t give you audience in the first instance. The other person has come and I told her straight away because there is nothing I can do to bail that person out and her mark is even better than your own. The person scored 39 while your own is 33. Only two people failed the course so what else do you want me to do. You can see it anytime you come, we are at Moro doing exam, we are doing MBA executive exam. They are just starting. I will finish by 4:30 and maybe 5, I should be in the office. If you are ready, come by 5:00. Why did you tell me you were on your period the other time.
Student: I was really seeing my period, Professor Akindele.
Lecturer: Stop mentioning my name. And now nko?.
Student: I am not on my period now.
Lecturer: Your boyfriend has done it yesterday?
Student: Is it every time that someone will be doing with the boyfriend? Is it every time you do it with your wife?
Lecturer: Yes
Student: It’s a lie, not possible. So what’s the plan now?
Lecturer: Let’s have the first one today and then we will do another one tomorrow. Is our agreement not five times?
Student: Is it B that you want to give me or C? Why would it be five times you will knack me?
Lecturer: That’s what I will do.
Student: Prof, you know what? Let me fail it. I can’t do it five times. For what nah? No worry. Thank you, sir
Lecturer: You are welcome.
Reacting, the spokesperson for OAU, Abiodun Olanrewaju, told journalists in the school that the management was aware of the scandal and has begun critical investigation into the matter.
“The university is aware and we are setting up machinery to critically look at the issue to determine the veracity, otherwise there won’t be conclusion,” Olanrewaju said.
OAU must act immediately on this episode to restore confidence in the university, if it has any. Also, the over hundred organizations operating in the country purporting to be defending women rights, children rights, etc should act in unison if indeed they were not formed to cover sectional interests. I believe, if such an event had happened in a university in another part of the country, by now almost all the press in the south and particularly in Western Nigeria would have been in arms, condemning and blackmailing the region.