I’m Sure Baruwa Is Not A Lecturer In My Faculty –Prof. Ojikutu, UNILAG Bus. Admin Dean

 

Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Lagos, Prof. Rasheed Ojikutu

In the interview with the Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Lagos, Prof. Rasheed Ojikutu, insists Dr. Akin Baruwa, alleged to have raped an admission seeker, is not a member of staff of the faculty

A lot of Nigerians were confused when the University of Lagos said the suspected rapist lecturer, Dr. Akin Baruwa, was not in its employ despite reports that he allegedly used one of the offices in your faculty to perpetrate his act. How do you react to that?

First, you need to understand that I can only speak for my faculty. If you come in through the entrance of the faculty, you will see a list of our lecturers with their room numbers. I want you to go and check if there is any Baruwa on that list. I want to reiterate that Baruwa is not a staff of the Faculty of Business Administration. He is not a part-time staff, not an adjunct faculty member or a full-time lecturer of this faculty. But there is an investigation going on and I cannot also comment on that so that I don’t jeopardise anything. The panel should be allowed to conclude with its investigation.

Then how come he had an office in this same faculty, according to reports?

There is an investigation going on. I was not at the scene of the ‘crime’. I don’t know when the ‘crime’ was committed. The Vice-Chancellor and myself read about the incident for the first time on the pages of the newspaper. So you have to give us the opportunity of looking inward. This is a very big community. When you tell us that something happened somewhere, we must be able to investigate. There are people in charge of security on this campus, we must ask questions. But what I’m saying is that on the staff list of this faculty, there is no Baruwa there.

How does your faculty engage lecturers?

That is a long process.

Agreed, but you can tell us the various ways by which you engage lecturers in the faculty.

Even if a department wants to engage a part-time staff, the Departmental Appointments and Promotions Committee will meet, consider it and pass it to the Dean of the Faculty. The Dean will call a meeting of Appointments and Promotions Committee of the faculty. Once the paper is ratified, it will eventually get to the University Council, so it’s a long process. It’s not as if somebody will just walk from the main road into the faculty. No!

But you’ve not answered my question.

What is the question?

In what ways does the faculty engage lecturers?

Okay. When you look at it critically, there are only two categories; we have full-time staff and the part-time staff. But there are categories of part-time staff. For example, you have associate lecturers and adjunct lecturers. Mostly, adjunct lecturers are professors. If you’re working in Yaba College of Technology, for example, and you know that you can provide services for our own university, you could apply. But what I’m saying is that it doesn’t stop on the table of the departmental head. It has to go through the process and you don’t engage anybody for any service in a department without the approval of the council. You can’t.

Does the list of staff on the faculty’s notice board include the names of the different categories of part-time staff?

Yes, it’s for everybody. When you’re coming into the faculty and you’re looking for somebody, the list will provide you with directions, where you will find the person. It is done all over the world; it’s not peculiar to our faculty.

When should the public expect to get the findings of the panel set up to investigate the alleged crime?

I think, in the next one week, we should have the report.

Some people are wondering why the university went ahead to set up a panel to investigate the matter if he’s not a staff of the school as it has said.

Aah! What are you talking about? For example, you mentioned the Department of Accounting, Faculty of Business Administration, UNILAG. The following day, I called a meeting of the Heads of Departments (in the faculty) to find out who this Baruwa is. Do we know him in any way? So I need to ask questions. This is a big community. You have said so much in your newspaper that will naturally give the VC some concern. And he has been trying to investigate the matter. I don’t even understand the question. You kept on saying that this man committed a crime within the campus. The PUNCH newspapers kept on saying that and you expect the VC of the school to just fold his arms? That is impossible.

I asked that question because people think that the investigation should have come before the denial.

Oh! I’m very sure that he does not belong to my faculty. How many people are on our list? We have barely 120 lecturers in this faculty, so if you mention any name, I as the Dean, should be able to say that this person is or is not on my staff list. Then because the university is a large community, we have a lot of other activities going on. For example, an individual in the department mentioned by you could have research association with somebody in the University of Ghana. Well, he might take permission to let us know that that person is around, but we don’t need to be following them about. So when anything happens, I need to find out. This is a big community.

Some people still think that finding out should have been the first thing to do under the circumstances.

No, it shouldn’t be because we are very sure. What I’m telling you now is about the Faculty of Business Administration, UNILAG. I’m not speaking for the whole university. The VC would do that. What I’m saying is that as far as the Faculty of Business Administration is concerned, this man is not my staff. I can say it anywhere.

Did you read the report we published last weekend about a lady who corroborated claims about the lecturer? What do you make of it?

I’ve said it; that student was not a student of my faculty. I’m 100 per cent sure. Not 99.9 per cent sure. I’m very sure of what I’m saying. The Faculty of Business Administration will not hire any Baruwa to supervise projects. We have competent researchers around here, how then do we use somebody who is not our staff? That lady didn’t mention my faculty, I looked at the paper.

Some reports linked Baruwa to the Department of Accounting, while the anonymous lady, who said she wrote to complain about Baruwa, addressed the letter to the Distance Learning Institute. Does that mean that students offering Accounting in DLI don’t fall under your faculty?

DLI has programmes in Business Administration, they have Accounting, they have Business Administration, but there is no communality between the Faculty of Business Administration and the DLI. We run full-time programmes and part-time programmes but we don’t run distance education. DLI doesn’t fall under this faculty; the two are distinct.

But have you questioned your lecturers over this incident?

What do you mean by ‘questioned’?

Well, you said earlier that it’s a large community and lecturers, who can’t be followed around, could have research associations with their colleagues from other schools…

The only person who should be questioned now is Baruwa because he is the one who committed the offence. And during the process of questioning him, if he mentions names, then we can question them. That is what the university is trying to do – find out who Baruwa is. How did he get into this campus in the first instance? If you can trace Baruwa to a route and say he belongs to this particular department, then there is no need for that investigation. Then you can ask Mr. or Dr. Baruwa to tell us what happened. But since this man is not a staff of my faculty, I have to wait till information starts coming out.

Some people feel that it would be necessary to question lecturers who might have shared an office with Baruwa if the accounts say that the man has an office here…

No, he doesn’t have an office here.

People are saying that if somebody claimed that he had an office here and that he shared the office with other lecturers, then it might be worth talking to your lecturers about…

You see, this is a very big community. When you walked into this campus, were you accosted by anyone who asked where you were going?

No! But I did not ask for the key to an office…

That is not what I’m saying, but I want you to be fair to us. When a ‘crime’ is committed anywhere, it does not have to have been committed by an insider. Now, the important thing is that people have called attention to it and the university must ask questions so that at the end of the day, it can exonerate itself or punish whoever is involved. Who told you that rape is a good thing? We are also parents.

But does the school have a standard way by which students can make complaints about members of staff confidentially?

Aah! Aah! We have a big community like this and you are asking if there is a way by which students can make complaints? There are many ways.

Give us an idea of the ways by which students can do that?

There is a process. You can write to your counsellor or course adviser. If he or she is not attending to your prayer, you approach your Head of Department. If your HOD doesn’t attend to you, you approach the Dean. If the Dean is not attending to you then you approach the VC.

But the impression most students have of the university system is that they can be victimised if they report a lecturer to a wrong person. What do you think about this?

That is because you don’t know what is going on within our system. Come to the senate, people are sanctioned almost on a regular basis for minor offences. If you commit an offence, you will be sanctioned. Look at me, at my age, are you telling me that an 18-year-old lady will be raped and I will gang up with anybody? What for?

It’s not about you. There may be other younger lecturers out there who don’t see it that way.

Even younger lecturers; that is because you think we are not human beings. I’ve told you; I know the University of Lagos is capable of unraveling the issue wherever it is hidden. We don’t have any problem regarding the investigation and I want to assure you that this is not a community that protects criminals. No! No! No! We all have names to protect; who will protect a criminal? If Baruwa was a staff of this faculty, we would just hand him over to the police.

Have there been similar complaints from students in the past?

I’ve been here for 34 years and I’m telling you that this is a large community. If you expect saints in any community, certainly, you won’t get it in this world. Sexual harassment is everywhere in the world but the important thing is that when individuals become irrational, it is the duty of the system to flush them out. Are you telling me that in the media, there are no sexual harassments? But the important thing is that when a crime is committed, whoever is responsible should be sanctioned?

What kind of sanction should be meted out to offenders of sexual harassment in our institutions of learning?

I’m not a lawyer. What do you want me to say? But when you commit an unspeakable act, you should be properly punished. Anywhere in the world, nobody should protect rapists. And our community can never protect rapists. I’ve been in the University of Lagos for 34 years and I know that it will never protect rapists. Never! People are sanctioned on a daily basis for minor offences, which include termination of appointments. I wish you could sit in our senate and witness how the school handles offences committed.

The public is aware that no university senate will treat such issues with levity but their concern is that many of such crimes go on in university campuses unreported. So do we have proper channels of complaints in schools, including the UNILAG?

Students are not idiots. Once they feel short-changed, they should complain. And once we receive a complaint, we will act. If you write to me and say you are being sexually harassed, the first thing I will do is to query the person concerned. And I must get a response within 24 hours and the student will be protected. You people just believe that the only crime in the university is sexual harassment. But there are lots of other issues that we address. Offences are not only committed between lecturers and students, sometimes it is between students. And if we don’t address those issues, the peace we have here will not be there. So you think that the students are orphans and that there is nobody to protect them. No. If a report is sent to me and I don’t act, what happens when the student goes home to tell his or her parents? If the student is willing to keep quiet, will the parents also keep quiet?

But a lady confirmed that she wrote a letter to the authorities of the DLI and nothing was done about.

I’ve told you that I keep watch over my own environment. You see, this issue is being addressed. I can assure you that UNILAG will look at the minutest of details of what happened but I want you to know that Baruwa is not a staff of the Department of Accounting as is being continuously mentioned. Baruwa is not a member of staff of any department in this faculty.

And no lecturer has seen him before?

How can I say that no lecturer has seen him before? I can’t say that. If you asked me if I have seen him before, I would say ‘no’. But how can I use my own eyes to judge for others?

This is why some people feel that if the lecturers are questioned, they might say they have seen him before or even know him.

That is what is going on now. But didn’t you say we should not investigate?

No, I said people are saying that the school should have investigated the matter before coming out to deny the man.

No! The first day I read about the incident in the newspaper, I looked at the name-Baruwa- and thought that I didn’t have a staff by that name in my department. I still called my HODs to a meeting and I also called a Board meeting about the report by The PUNCH. What we are saying here is that Baruwa is not a member of staff of this faculty.

In the last two weeks, people have read two cases of sexual harassment involving same lecturer. As a stakeholder in the education sector, can you honestly say that the university system, including that of UNILAG, is doing enough to curb sexual harassment?

Is the university doing enough? Yes, because any case that comes before the university will be investigated and any lecturer found wanting would be sanctioned. This is under Section 17 in our regulation. Once your infraction comes under this section of the Act setting up the UNILAG, it is a serious matter. It deals with minor issues up to the most serious ones. But when you start running after people when there are no complaints, then it has become witch-hunting. If for example, I see that a crime is being committed even without complaints, I’m supposed to investigate. But things can be different if complaints do not get to the authorities. Probably the lady you were talking about didn’t copy other people when she sent the letter or didn’t even send it. But once it is submitted, there will be action. Is there a stamp on the letter to show that it was submitted?

Remember you said you cannot speak for others. What if the letter was sent and there was no action taken?

No, I’m not speaking on behalf of others. This is still about the issue. For example, you want to know if we act. You asked if we are doing enough and I’m telling you that any case that is reported will be investigated. You don’t expect me to keep files on the table. How do I know if a copy of the letter that was sent to me was not also sent to the VC? The truth is that we try our best. People are just trying to criminalise the name of UNILAG, thinking we have monsters around here. People have forgotten that we are also parents.

Do such cases as this embarrass lecturers as some people already wonder why some male lecturers sexually harass female students? Is it because they are in an environment where they are surrounded by many beautiful women?

We are ashamed. I’ve told you that we are parents. Now most of us are concerned by what is being reported by The PUNCH. I’m a father of four girls and I don’t want anything to happen to them. If you tell me that girls are raped, do you want me to be happy? The issue is that the larger society has its problems. The university is part of the society. We are not claiming that university lecturers are saints but we cannot because of one or two people indict the entire community. Based on what I see in the media, I ask myself- is this the whole of the United States of America? But I’ve been to the US and I know that there are many good people there. The opportunity that the media can give to us is the opportunity to express ourselves. You also have the opportunity to come to the university and find out what is happening. That is not the way to arrive at conclusions. So it’s not about beautiful women. Look at me, what will attract me to an 18-year-old lady?

They seem to have attracted Baruwa, allegedly?

I don’t want to pass comments on that, but personally it makes me angry that an individual, due to his indiscretion, has created a lot of problems for us. It’s more annoying when one realises that he is not even one of us because we don’t know him. The media has mentioned the Department of Accounting which has produced governors. Three of Nigerian governors today are from that department. The media has been unfair to that department and the faculty.

We hear some students doing dissertation contribute to buy things like tyres and other things for their supervisors in exchange for good grades. How does this affect the quality of graduates produced?

I am Rasheed Kola Ojikutu and I have taught hundreds of students. You can put it in your paper that I said I’ve never collected a dime from any student in my 34 years (of teaching), let them come out and say no, he collected money from us. I have not collected ‘pure water’ sachets from students in that period. In Nigeria, nothing can be news. Yes, we don’t have saints in the system but here if we get them, we sanction them. Appointments are terminated on regular basis. You may bring someone in on the basis of his or her qualifications and so on. But when you find them to be morally bankrupt, you kick them out of the system. That was why I mentioned Section 17. If you are looking for saints anywhere, then go to paradise. A university community is a micro part of the larger society. As small as this community is, if we bring in somebody and find him to have moral issues, we kick him out. When we announce positions for appointments, strangers apply. We investigate but that is not enough because they can come in and still be found to be morally bankrupt. But once we find that out, we kick them out of the system. If somebody is collecting money from students, that person is unfit to be a lecturer. If somebody is demanding for sexual gratification from students, that person is unfit to be in this community. Once reports come to our table, we will investigate. We would not have had the peace that is experienced on this campus if we have not been dealing with bad eggs that smuggle themselves into the system.

But is there a slight chance that a lecturer who is not known to the Dean of the faculty can somehow find his way into the system?

How come I won’t know my lecturers? It is not possible. People receive visitors here. If for example, you are a staff and your wife comes to see you, will you first of all bring her to the office of the Dean? You can do that but you may not. This is not an autocratic environment. You are responsible for your own office; you receive your students and visitors from outside. I can’t answer for individuals but if the person is a staff of my faculty, I would know him. The management of this university is as concerned about this issue as anybody. Now, you don’t expect the VC to fold his arms which is why the panel was set up. So let’s wait for the report of the panel. I’m sure that when the report is ready, the media will be contacted. I can assure you that we are equally concerned about the issue.

Culled from Punch