The Chairman, Congress of University Academics at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Dr Niyi Sumonu, has spoken on the case involving a professor at the university, Richard Akindele, accused of requesting for sex from a female student in order to raise her scores.
Professor Akindele was on Monday fingered in sex allegations after a leaked conversation between him and the student emerged online.
In the said phone conversation, the professor could be heard asking the student to have sex with him five times to upgrade her scored from 33 to a pass mark.
Reacting, Sumonu asked the university to investigate the matter.
He said, “If it is established that this is true, the person, who perpetrated that does not belong to the academic environment. We are supposed to mould the lives of the students – males and females.”
Also Reacting, the immediate past Deputy Coordinator of NANS in the South West, Mr. Saheed Afolabi, called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
He said, “This is becoming too rampant these days and I want the management of the OAU to investigate this. Although we are still making efforts to know the female student, this should not be swept under the carpet.”
The Public Relations Officer of OAU, Mr. Abiodun Olanrewaju, had earlier stated that the university would set up a committee to ascertain the veracity of the telephone conversation as the matter was a serious one.
Olanrewaju was quoted as saying“We have listened to the audio and we cannot conclude on it now because this is the age of ICT; anything can happen. The university has a way of dealing with such.
“First and foremost, we will set up a committee to determine the veracity or otherwise of the conversation to establish the authenticity of the characters involved. If those involved happen to be our lecturer and student as it is portrayed, the university has a machinery of dealing with such.
“Let me make it clear, OAU has zero tolerance for sexual intimidation, sexual harassment, and sexual coercion. So, we will not accept it from staff to students; from the workers; from superiors to subordinates and even from students to students.”
