In many Nigerian Universities, sexual harassment involving female students and male lecturers is no longer a hidden matter. It has become one of those problems people know exists, yet very few are willing to confront it openly.
And behind this silence, almost every campus has a version of it. A lecturer who insists on unnecessary private meetings. A student who is indirectly made to feel that her grade depends on her level cooperation. A young woman who suddenly begins to avoid a course because the learning environment no longer feels safe.
And still, silence remains the most common response.
The truth is simple. In a lecturer-student relationship, power is never equal. Lecturers control grades, assessments, recommendations, and sometimes even a student’s academic future. That imbalance alone makes speaking up difficult because many students already
understand what they stand to lose.
So they stay quiet not because they do not know what is wrong, but because speaking out can feel like risking everything they have worked for.
Studies across Nigerian universities have shown how widespread the issue is. A report published by University World News in November 2024 revealed that nearly 63 percent of female students in tertiary institutions have experienced sexual harassment from lecturers or fellow students.
Yet despite how common the problem has become, there is still no strong legal framework fully in place to address it.
The Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions Prohibition Bill passed by the Nigerian Senate in 2019 recommends up to 14 years
imprisonment for offenders, but it is still not law.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari left office in 2023 without signing the bill, and it remains pending under the current President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Meanwhile, students continue to face the same reality on campuses across the country.
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have repeatedly warned that the delay encourages a culture where offenders believe they may never face serious consequences.
Many students, as a result, no longer trust the system enough to report cases.
Because beyond the harassment itself, there is always the fear of what follows: Failing a course, repeating a semester, being targeted in the department, or being tagged as troublesome.
One of the cases that pushed this issue into national conversation was that of Monica Osagie at the Obafemi Awolowo University. She accused a lecturer of demanding sexual favours in exchange for grades. A recorded phone conversation later surfaced online, sparking nationwide outrage.
The lecturer was eventually disciplined.
But the case exposed something deeper. It revealed how far some students are pushed before they feel safe enough to speak, and how much evidence is often required before they
are believed.
And not every victim has proof. That is why many stories never leave hostel rooms.
Even when anonymity is promised, students still hesitate. In close academic environments, identities can often be guessed through small details like timing, department, or context. So they remain silent. And that silence keeps protecting the problem.
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Another concern is how institutions sometimes handle these cases after they are reported. In many situations, protecting the image of the school appears more important than confronting the abuse itself.
Complaints may be delayed, quietly settled, or ignored entirely. In some cases, influence from senior staff affects how far investigations go.
Students notice these patterns. And once they do, reporting begins to feel pointless. The message becomes clear. Nothing will change.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Suleiman Ibrahim, also acknowledged in 2024 that sexual harassment leaves deep emotional and psychological scars on survivors. Yet support systems remain limited. While there were previously 47 Sexual Assault Referral
Centres (SARCs) across 22 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the number has now risen to about 50 across 24 states and the FCT, providing free medical, counseling, and
legal support to survivors of sexual violence. Beyond institutions, society itself also plays a role in sustaining the silence around sexual harassment.
When cases become public, attention often shifts from the abuse of power to the victim.
Questions about what she wore, why she went to an office, or whether she encouraged the situation still arise.
And once blame shifts to the victim, the real issue is buried.
That alone is enough to stop many students from speaking out at all.
Some people still dismiss sexual harassment as exaggeration, or assume students sometimes invite it. But the consistency of reports across different universities shows that this is not about isolated incidents.
It is a pattern.
And it has been ignored for far too long.
The sad reality is that sexual harassment in lecturer student relationships has become so normalized that many people now discuss it as though it is simply part of university life.
But it is not normal. And it should never be accepted as normal.
Behind the statistics are real students who still attend lectures, submit assignments, and sit in classrooms while carrying fears they rarely speak about.
Until universities begin to take complaints seriously, until reporting systems genuinely protect victims, and until society stops blaming students instead of those abusing power, silence will continue to protect the problem instead of solving it.
And in that silence, more students will continue paying a price that is rarely reported.
By: Suleiman Jumain Shuaibat
The post Inside Nigerian campuses where culture of silence leaves female students vulnerable to sexual assault appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Top Stories from Ripples Nigeria.
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