THE COUNCIL of the Federal University of Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) has clearly demonstrated bias in handling the allegation of sexual harassment against the Vice Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Fasina, thereby perpetuating injustice in its judgment against the victim — Engineer Folasade Adebayo, a senior staff member and Director of the Works Department at the institution.
The case became public knowledge after an independent press exposé revealed how the innocent woman was intimidated and oppressed for refusing the Vice Chancellor’s unwarranted advances.
The new Acting Vice Chancellor has called for reconciliation to resolve the crises plaguing the university since its inception. FUOYE has been notorious for recurrent instability. However, many in the university community ask: Can true reconciliation be achieved without justice? Sweeping sexual harassment under the rug and vilifying the victim is a grave miscarriage of justice. For meaningful resolution, justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done. The old methods have failed; the recurring crises of authoritarianism and corruption prove that internal mechanisms cannot resolve these deep-seated issues.
According to the report, she was issued a series of queries as punishment for her refusal, amounting to an abuse of power by the VC. Soon after, Mrs. Folasade Adebayo was stripped of her position as Director of the Works Department and transferred to the Ikole Campus of the university. On another occasion, she was reprimanded and expelled from a management meeting without justification. This serial maltreatment of a senior staff member was unbecoming and led to severe depression and deteriorating health, leaving the woman sleepless and traumatized.
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This blatant victimization became a topic of widespread discussion within the university, impossible to conceal from the community. Rather than showing remorse, the Vice Chancellor reportedly displayed arrogance, spreading falsehood by shamelessly claiming that Mrs. Adebayo had attempted to seduce him—a narrative contradicted by the known facts. Unsurprisingly, no one believed his lies, rendering his defense hollow and unconvincing.
The initially suppressed story resurfaced in the public domain, sparking debates on proper university governance. The scandal drew the attention of the university’s visitor, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who promptly directed the institution’s Council to intervene. Unfortunately, the Council chose to defend the Vice Chancellor without conducting the thorough investigation the case demanded, ostensibly to “protect the university’s integrity.”
This travesty of justice does not safeguard the institution’s reputation; rather, it inflicts untold damage. A similar justification —”saving the integrity of the institution”— was invoked in the sexual harassment case involving Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, which also failed to deliver justice.
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The Council’s investigation was deeply flawed from the outset. In a matter of this gravity, the accused VC reportedly demanded to go on leave instead of being suspended, effectively dictating the terms of his own investigation. Moreover, since the case is criminal in nature, it falls outside the university’s jurisdiction; the proper course would have been to refer it to the police for diligent investigation, upon which the university could then act. Instead, the Vice Chancellor, exhibiting his criminal mindset, colluded with the police to have Mrs. Adebayo invited (or arrested) based on a petition from a third-party collaborator. During interrogation, she revealed circumstantial evidence of sexual harassment but clarified that the VC had not physically touched or raped her. Astonishingly, this nuance was distorted in the police report, which disproportionately emphasized her statement that she was “not touched” as a defense for the VC. The Council shamelessly relied on this flawed police report in its own findings.
Consequently, the Vice Chancellor escaped justice and was absolved of all allegations. The Council even claimed that no formal petition had been filed by the accuser, yet it proceeded with an investigation—wasting the university’s time and resources on what it later deemed a “frivolous” matter. In its conclusion, the Council scapegoated the victims: Mrs. Adebayo and the chairperson and secretary of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), FUOYE branch. They were ordered to apologize for “bringing the institution into disrepute.”
Moreover, it is foolhardy to believe oppression can be quelled by forcing injustice down the throats of victims. History has repeatedly shown that such an approach only suppresses resistance temporarily before triggering an uncontrollable backlash. Nigeria’s ruling elite must learn to hold their own accountable when guilty, rather than shielding them. Only then will people act responsibly, understanding that no one is above the law.
The new Acting Vice Chancellor has called for reconciliation to resolve the crises plaguing the university since its inception. FUOYE has been notorious for recurrent instability. However, many in the university community ask: Can true reconciliation be achieved without justice? Sweeping sexual harassment under the rug and vilifying the victim is a grave miscarriage of justice. For meaningful resolution, justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done. The old methods have failed; the recurring crises of authoritarianism and corruption prove that internal mechanisms cannot resolve these deep-seated issues.
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Therefore, an unbiased investigation must extend beyond the Council. A high-powered external panel, constituted by the university’s visitor, should examine all unresolved cases of sexual harassment, corruption, and maladministration under past administrations—issues that were brushed aside but refuse to fade from public memory. Only such decisive action can salvage the institution from the calamity of self-serving leadership.
Moreover, it is foolhardy to believe oppression can be quelled by forcing injustice down the throats of victims. History has repeatedly shown that such an approach only suppresses resistance temporarily before triggering an uncontrollable backlash. Nigeria’s ruling elite must learn to hold their own accountable when guilty, rather than shielding them. Only then will people act responsibly, understanding that no one is above the law.
Comrade Olamosu is the Coordinator of the Centre for Social Policy and Labour Research (SOPLAR) and the National Secretary of Socialist Labour.
