Re: Sv: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Call for Testimonies from VictimsandWitnesses to Aid Anti-Sexual Harassment Drive in the Relation toDepartment ofEnglish and Literature, University of Benin

Alagba Kadiri.

What you said about chastity held true in certain circles in Nigeria until I got married and there are women even in my own generation that I can vouch for in that regard even in the midst of the putrefaction of Nigerian society.  It is in view of this that the bent lectures seek out the young ladies in their care in order to attack them as a sign of their own perceived failures and emasculation in life and surrogate compensation by proxy.

Even in the West today among some diaspora Islamic groups like the Somali who observe the positive teachings of the Quoran ( agreed there  are many corrupted members of this group also who have imbibed all the corrupting influences of the West and whose women sell themselves to the highest bidder) but some will openly assert that if you marry one of them at least you will have the assurance that you are marrying a virgin.  

Unfortunately the view has gained ground among women themselves in the West and in westernized societies ( spun from the twisted minds of men who want quick and easy sexual satisfaction) that to be 'caught' a virgin on your nuptial night is undesirable as it portrays you as an inexperienced simpleton.

I agree with your view of the cumulative effects of unearned degrees on the national economy by whatever system of cheating is employed

So as far as Nigeria is concerned the case is not totally lost as soon as an enforceable code is put in place for the goal Victor Okafor has in mind with which I am in total agreement.

The situation is not beyond redemption and can be turned around with a renewed systematic enforcement of an enduring ethical re- orientation along the lines I suggested based on PREVENTION of harassment and abuse rather than punishment for infraction.  It only takes  a few years of concerted effort and a new breed of lecturers is created to perpetuate a restored legacy.

OAA.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------

From: Salimonu Kadiri <ogunlakaiye@hotmail.com>

Date: 28/10/2019 17:08 (GMT+00:00)

To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

Subject: Sv: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Call for Testimonies from VictimsandWitnesses  to Aid Anti-Sexual Harassment Drive in the Relation toDepartment ofEnglish and  Literature, University of Benin

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​I have intended not to participate in the discussion of sexual harassments and abuses at Nigeria's higher institutions of learning simply because I consider it a residual part of the general decays that have afflicted our society. Nigeria in which I grew up, chastity was the model and our parents taught us to retain our virginity until we were married. Sexual intercourse was meant to procreate and not for leisure. For us boys in particular, our mothers drew us by the ears and warned us strictly to avoid sexual intercourse with any girl because it could result in pregnancy, and a child which we had no economic means to maintain. I was 26 year old when I lost my virginity in Europe with my would-be wife, who was not an African and virgin. In the Nigeria in which I grew up,virginity stood for purity and it was a thing of pride, especially amongst young women. A woman who on her wedding night got deflowered by her husband used to receive praises from people. Traditionally, and as a sign of appreciation the husband's family would take full pack of matches, a full keg of palm-wine and the bloodstained white cloth used for the deflowering to the bride's house. This depicts that she was brought up well. The bride's parents with shoulders high would receive the gifts and call for celebration. The social control by the community was very strict and the primary purpose of sexual intercourse was to procreate because children were insurance for old age for parents and extended family.

​Time has changed as we copy, and are allowed to copy, only bad things from Europe and America. Many Nigerians who returned from Western Europe and the US in 1960s to take appointments did not possess only certificates but bags of condoms. But Nigerian women rejected them, protesting that they were neither prostitutes nor masturbating machines. Abstinence from sex was the rule if one does not want a child. Educated Nigerians on whom we hoped to develop Nigeria economically and industrially have turned out to be the cause of Nigeria's underdevelopment of which a Yoruba musician, Ayinde Barrister, lamented in a track in the LP, The Truth. On the Nigerian Universities and other higher institutions of learning in Nigeria, he sang about rampant lecturer's strikes and he questioned what kind of knowledge could be impacted on students with one month lecture and twelve months strike. He sang that students have to pay bribes to lecturers to pass examination and girls must submit themselves to lecturers otherwise they would be failed. That LP was released in the 90s and still in 2019, Nigerians are confronted with sex for grades at Nigerian Universities. Whether a certificate is procured through monetary or sexual bribe, the consequences could easily be seen at Nigeria's oil refineries, electric power supplies, infrastructures etc., where people with certificates without knowledge hold sway. That is why I don't think that we should discuss sex for mark in isolation of its general effects on the society as a whole.

On rape, the Nigerian Criminal Code describes it in Section 357 of the Criminal Code Act - Nigerian Law Cap 38, applicable in Southern Nigeria. Under Section 358, The Penal Code - Nigerian Laws, Cap 89, which is applicable in Northern Nigeria, rape is punishable by life imprisonment, with possible addition of caning. According to Section 358, rape is defined as a man who, save in the case referred to in subsection 2, has sexual intercourse with a woman in any of the following circumstances - against her will; without her consent; with her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or hurt; WITH HER CONSENT WHEN THE MAN KNOWS THAT HE IS NOT HER HUSBAND AND HER CONSENT IS GIVEN BECAUSE SHE BELIEVES THAT HE IS A MAN TO WHOM SHE IS OR BELIEVES HERSELF TO BE LAWFULLY MARRIED AND WITH OR WITHOUT HER CONSENT, WHEN SHE IS UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE OR OF UNSOUND MIND. When it comes to sexual engagements, I think men should be held responsible because they have the penetrating ability. Therefore, a man that has sexual intercourse with a woman with whom he is not married or cohabitating with should be judged as a rapist.

S. Kadiri   

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Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 24 oktober 2019 03:01
Till: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Call for Testimonies from Victimsand Witnesses to Aid Anti-Sexual Harassment Drive in the Relation toDepartment of English and Literature, University of Benin

 

I live in Sweden said to be "the rape capital of Europe". There are statistics about rape in Sweden simply because these days with the rise of the Me too movement  and more women empowerment in society, rapes are more often reported. The number of convictions for rape is another matter ( and by the way, it is a crime to buy sex in Sweden…

I tell all-out African brethren, especially the younger ones  who have just arrived, that in Sweden, when a girl/woman/ even an ashawo says, " No" or "NO!" – it might even be at the very last minute ( maybe she doesn't like the colour of your underwear), No – means NO – so that the next morning, as has sometimes happened with some of the brethren, the police doesn't wake you up from your snoring, you rubbing some sleep from your eyes and about to cuddle her once again, only to hear your dear Monica or Susanne saying, viciously or tearfully pointing at you," Yes, that's  him, he grabbed me by the p and raped me last night" … for lo and behold in the morning, whilst you were sleeping soundly, she had tiptoed off to the nearest police station to make a report – again without any remorse, merely baulking at the thought that you were now returning to your wife or girlfriend or indeed merely going back home, never to see her again, or maybe because she didn't like the smile on your face when you were dreaming this morning, or talking in your sleep and calling another woman's name. The trial and about eight years of imprisonment ahead. As for the trial, she will probably wearing that her short red skirt that will make the Oyibo jury convinced that the Nigger must have surely done it because, surely, no Negro would be able to resist that one, one of their daughters  nieces, aunts, and she will surely make matters worse when she starts crying, re-telling in great heroic detail, how you – the animal, punished her…

Over there in the Great United States, another sad story:

 Child support, alimony

Nigeria: I really still don't get it. This reply about some of the steps that can be taken in order to protect the identities of the victims makes for painful reading. Isn't rape first and foremost a case for the police? And the hospital – to obtain forensic evidence as " exhibit A"?

This evening I asked Baba Kadiri, "Isn't rape a crime in Nigeria?" He told me that it is and if I remember what he said rightly, there is a law "538" – that in Northern Nigeria (according to Sharia?)  sexual intercourse outside of marriage is defined as rape; in which case I wonder if there are any ashawoes, alcohol, or hotels in the North, and now we have to add sexual exploitation in educational institutions , on top of all that.

 The laws that define rape in Nigeria

The laws that define non-consensual sexual intercourse in Nigeria

As understood, the victims are vulnerable, are in the same situation as whistle-blowers and need the same kind of protection.

In my view, the bottlenecks in investigating sex crimes being reported and being committed by the powerful University teachers is tantamount to the obstruction of Justice

 

 

 

On Wednesday, 23 October 2019 15:29:05 UTC+2, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju wrote:

thanks.

the victims can be protected by keeping information about their locations shielded.

i would recommend skype or other forms of remote interviewing for interviews for victims not currently  in school.

i would do the same for a person working on this drive, urging them to avoid being physically present in the university in qs.

other methods may be devisable for victims still in the university system.

thanks

toyin

On Wed, 23 Oct 2019 at 13:54, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emea...@ccsu.edu> wrote:

A petition (first suggested by you) is a good option- once you can answer the questions raised by Cornelius, the Wise.

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU

---

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2019 10:42:53 AM
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Call for Testimonies from Victimsand Witnesses to Aid Anti-Sexual Harassment Drive in the Relation toDepartment of English and Literature, University of Benin

 

Please be cautious: **External Email**

of course, Gloria.

a valid way to bypass institutional bottlenecks, the very bottlenecks enabling the scourge in the first place.

or  dont you think so?

toyin

On Tue, 22 Oct 2019 at 13:22, Gloria Emeagwali <gloria....@gmail.com> wrote:

Well this seems to be an unauthorized, extra -judicial and extra- institutional investigation.

GE

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 22, 2019, at 12:57 AM, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com> wrote:

thanks Olayinka.

i am expanding the call for testimonies

toyin

On Mon, 21 Oct 2019 at 12:29, OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Definitely there cannot be any justification for limiting the probe to only one department just because Toyin Adepoju studied in that department if the university authorities are being petitioned.

Does that suggest allegations from that department alone far outstrips those in other departments combined?

OAA

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------

From: Gbolahan Gbadamosi <gbola.g...@gmail.com>

Date: 20/10/2019 17:23 (GMT+00:00)

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Call for Testimonies from Victimsand  Witnesses to Aid Anti-Sexual Harassment Drive in the Relation toDepartment of  English and Literature, University of Benin

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Moses,

Interesting take from you. I read Toyin's request differently. I just assumed he was not trying to do any serious empirical investigation, perhaps merely attempting to collect anecdotal information that can be used for some social media banters or speculation.

The issues of sexual harassment in a named institution are as serious as they are sensitive and this clearly would require some ethical approval of some sort. I got a bit confused also with a specific named department of the University of Benin. I am aware Toyin was previously affiliated with that institution and not sure he has gone back there. 

Anyway, you may be right and I probably got it wrong.

Gbolahan Gbadamosi 

GG's Handheld Device

On 20 Oct 2019, at 16:23, Moses Ochonu <meoc...@gmail.com> wrote:

Toyin, I am sure your intentions are noble, but why do you expect victims and people with knowledge of sexual abuses and harassment to trust you, a total stranger and non-professional, with their stories? Would they not naturally be suspicious of how you intend to use the information or what you intend to do with it? And what about confidentiality? You did not even say they could send their stories to you anonymously or that you will anonymize their testimonies.

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 20, 2019, at 6:38 AM, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com> wrote:

 Call for Testimonies from Victims and Witnesses to Aid Anti-Sexual Harassment Drive  

                                                             in the

                     Department of English and Literature, University of Benin

                                                                      

                                <Screenshot (47).png>

All victims of sexual harassment in the Department of English and Literature, University of Benin and witnesses to such atrocities who have definite information on them are hereby urged to send in their testimonies for addition to a petition to the university authorities on this subject.

Information from any point in time and from people from any department or even from those without any history of direct affiliation with the university, such as confidants of victims, is welcome, as long as the information relates to activity centred in the Department of English and Literature, University of Benin.

Healing and justice for victims, cleansing for the department, its incipient glory shining forth, is the goal.

You may contact

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

by Whatsapp or phone text at +234 805 143 9554

by e-mail at toyin....@gmail.com 

on Facebook Messenger

Aoiri Obaigbo

by Whatsapp or phone text at +234 8034006598

on Facebook Messenger  

If calling Obaigbo please send a text with #S4G before calling.

Alumni, current students and present and former staff of the department may also follow and contribute to developments by joining the following Facebook group from where the petition drive originates:

University Of Benin English & Literature Students & Alumni

 

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