It is quite perturbing and alarming that students in Nigerian universities face similar if not the same issues of injustice and unfairness by lecturers.
Almost every student who has attended a tertiary institution in Nigeria has experienced or knows someone who has been a victim of subjugation by lecturers. The situation has become so dire that students now take their lives out of depression and frustration.
A video went viral last week Thursday when the mother of Late Miss Favour Ugwuka, a final year student of the department of English and Literary studies was lamenting the death of her daughter. The corpse of the Late Favour could be seen in the video as the mother called out to Ebonyi state University and Prof Enyi, a professor of English in the department to come and take the corpse for burial.
The student had taken her life on Wednesday night after failing Prof Enyi’s course repeatedly. From the video, the aggrieved mother had said:
“Its Dr Enyi ooh, Dr Enyi should come and carry ooh. EBSU you people should come and bury ooh. I don’t even have money for burial. See my daughter I suffer for. You people should come and carry and bury, I’m leaving it for you people ooh.”
The corpse of the young girl could be seen in the vehicle in the video. Favour’s mother continued:
“Dr Enyi said he went to Unilag, nobody can teach like him, nobody is like him, he is the best in Ebonyi state university. Dr Enyi come and carry ooh”
A voice note was also released where the deceased had complained about failing only Dr Enyi’s course while passing all other courses. The course appears to be a 100-level course. She was crying in the voice note as she complained of not being an indigene of Abakiliki and not knowing anyone, hence the reason for her continuous failure. She lamented about paying another fees to sit for only 1 course and suggested leaving the certificate.
The accused lecturer Prof Enyi on Friday addressed pressmen on this accusation denying his involvement in her demise. He said her death was not related to academic activities (how did he get to this conclusion? Was any investigation carried out?). He also claimed the victim was not victimized as such and didn’t have any reason to end her life because of her result.He said:
“It is not true that her death is related to an academic issue, I don’t see how somebody who was not victimized, someone who failed an exam would decide to take her own life. So, the first question one should ask in this circumstance should be, was she victimized?”
He added that if anyone feels aggrieved, “the process of recalling the papers is there”.
Favour’s case is not the first where family members blame school lecturers for the death of their family members. Early this year, a PhD student of English and Literary studies at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria had reportedly passed on and the family members of the deceased blamed Prof G.Y. Sadiq, a Professor in the department.
The deceased had been a PhD student in the department for 13 years. His parents accused Prof G.Y. Sadiq of frustrating him in his academics which led to their son’s death.
Habiba Muhammed, a graduate from ABU Zaria said she did not experience such from lecturers, but she knows someone who was unfortunate to do so. The said student was a master’s student and his supervisor promised not to let him graduate. She cited politics as one of the reasons for lecturers wielding so much power. She said:
“Politics in the education system prevents lecturers from speaking up. They are aware of what other lecturers do to students but because they are seeking favours, forming alliances and seeking political positions, they do not want to get on the bad side of other lecturers. Heads of departments do not care for the welfare of students. They are only after securing their positions and how to look good. Politics have covered the morality and humanity in the educational sector.”
Although investigations are still underway to ascertain the cause of death of the late Miss Favour Ogwuka, what measures have been put in place for other students to feel safe in their school environment and other higher institutions of learning across the country?
In 2023, students at the university of Calabar protested the Dean of The Faculty of Law Prof Cyril O Ndifo over cases of sexual harassment. He was then suspended by the institution and investigated. This was because the issue was escalated by the students and the media.
Private universities try to conduct lecturers’ interactions with students through CCTV cameras strategically installed in offices, classrooms, and hallways. However, students’ welfare in universities stems more than physical interactions. Sexual harassment, bullying, injustice, and unfair treatment of students by the lecturers go way beyond physical contact with lecturers.
There are no known established systems protecting students from being unduly taken advantage of by lecturers. Maybe this is why some students turn to suicide as the only way out.
An interview with a Lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria reveals that when students have issues of failed courses, they are to write to their departmental secretary who in turn contacts the examiner and informs them of the students’ complaint concerning their result. Only in little cases are the students permitted to meet the lecturer for reviewing their result.
If the student is however not satisfied with the grade given to them by the lecturer, they can write to the HOD in their faculty requesting for a review of their script. This review can go two ways, the student’s script is retrieved and remarked. If the student fails, he or she is rusticated. However, if the script shows the student was unfairly marked, the lecturer is either warned or suspended.
There are cases where students complain of being failed due to irrelevant and unnecessary reasons. Danny tweeted on X that he was failed in a course when he was a student because the lecturer was interested in his girlfriend, and she refused him.
Tife also tweeted on X that a lecturer “intentionally gave me an F in a 1 unit course because he didn’t like the fact I always had A’s in all the departmental courses.”
There are other cases of absurd and unbelievable reasons as to why lecturers fail students. In such scenarios, how do they rectify their grades? What routes do they follow to ensure they get justice. According to a Lecturer in ABU Zaria, you pray to God and leave the lecturer or beg him to handle the matter as he pleases because his word is final and law. This means the Demi gods parading as lecturers should not be offended.
As Habiba Muhammed earlier said, the politics existing in departments is one major reason why justice doesn’t happen as swiftly and effectively as it should. The HODs wish to remain in the good books of the demigods; other lecturers want to garner favour for political positions; the words of the demigods are law and should not be contended with.
Suicide is not the way out but frustration, disappointment, trauma and disillusionment that students face in tertiary institutions permeates. As there are no specialised internal or external (NUC) bodies established to address this major issue, the menace continues and the demigods remain supreme.
