ABUJA – The Academic Staff Union of Universities yesterday kicked against the Bill seeking to enact a law prohibiting sexual harrasment in the Nigerian higher institutions, saying it is superfluous, dangerous and restrictive.
The union made its position known yesterday during a public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Human Rights, on the Bill titled ‘Sexual harrasment Bill 2016’, which was sponsored by senator Omo Agege (PDP, Delta Central).
In his presentation at the public hearing, the President of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, said from the intent of the Bill, the lectures in the higher institutions are targeted and has become endangered.
He argued that the Bill has many ambiguous clauses, which anybody can exploit to blackmail and intimidate innocent lecturers, adding that the Bill is only a waste of time, resources and unnecessary repetition, given that the remedies it seeks to provide are already taken care of in sections of the 1999 Constitution.
According to him “Any law that seeks to violate the rules which is already in existence in our universities supplants the autonomy of universities given the agreement between the federal government and universities regarding autonomy”.
He further argued that any law that targets a person is considered as adhominem, adding that the Bill is in clear violation of the 1999 Constitution, considering that it is an act that is general in the society and the law should not be targeted at specific persons.
While pointing out that there is need to indicate clearly that the problem has assumed unusual dimensions in schools without efforts by the authorities to apprehend it, the ASUU President said the school authorities have strong mechanism to deal with it.
Speaking also, the National Universities Commission (NUC), represented by the Head of Legal Units, Moses Awe, said though the commission is not against the legislation to consolidate the fight against the issue since it has assumed a serious dimensions, he said there is no doubt that there are many laws that have taken care of the fears being addressed by the Bill.
He said it is a duplication of the offence created by other laws because the higher institutions have administrative structures to handle the issue, even as he wondered why the Bill did not accommodate the bye laws already in existence for the same purpose.
“The law is two restrictive, because the issue at hand has wider dimensions. The code of conduct issued to lecturers should be encourage and published in students handbooks to enable them know the position of ASUU and their schools on such issues. There should be room for redress and expanded to include staff sexual harrasment against fellow staff”, he said.
Similarly, the Legal Aide Council of Nigeria, represented by Mrs. Bob Manuel, observed that there are some legal issues that get rubbished by the technicalities involved in prosecution of cases and at the end, such law will be defeated.
“Like the age bracket can create defeat for the Bill when passed, and making the law to affect only students will be a defeat because those seeking admission may not be protected. There is also need to have criminal commencement. Seven days for report is not enough given that the schools don’t have time. The seven days to report the findings of the committee is not enough”, according to her.
In there submissions, the National Law Reform, said the Bill should cover the people that live on campus from sexual harrasment and not only female students, including academic and non academic staff.
It also suggested that the age limit of 18 should be removed from the Bill, since anybody can be sexually harrassed irrespective of age, adding that the standard of proof and punishment should be graduated to make lesser offences attract lesser punishment and serious offences require more distinct proof.
