“It is damaging our reputation and we must do everything to stamp it out. Whenever you sanction somebody, let their names be advertised in newspapers, so that the public will be aware that they have been punished," NUC stated.
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has asked universities in the country to take active steps to curb sexual harassment in tertiary institutions across the country.
Professor Adamu Rasheed, Executive Secretary of the NUC, urged universities to publish names of lecturers found guilty of sexual harassment in newspapers.
He stated this at the 33rd Conference of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, held at the Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the growing rate of sexual harassment of students by lecturers and called for decisive action to put an end to the menace.
“Sexual harassment is a major challenge in our universities and we must take decisive action to curb it. Universities should be determined to curb this and we just have to be very serious about it.
“It is damaging our reputation and we must do everything to stamp it out. Whenever you sanction somebody, let their names be advertised in newspapers, so that the public will be aware that they have been punished.”
Adamu noted that publishing the names of lecturers found guilty would dissuade others from taking advantage of students.
Speaking on the state of education and quality of graduates produced by Nigerian institutions, he noted that most students who graduate with First Class honours cannot defend their grade.
“First Class Bachelor degrees have become too common and some of the First Class graduates cannot defend their degrees. The number of First Class graduates in private universities is higher than public universities," he stated.