A University lecturer and Professor of Theatre, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA, Mrs. Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka has warned that the scourge of sexual harassment in Nigerian in higher institutions of learning would not only affect women who are the victims of such abuse but also set the nation back in its attempt to become a viable nation.

Prof Ajayi-Soyinka is the younger sister of Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, stated this yesterday in Ilorin at a public lecture organized by the University of Ilorin Centre for International Education, CIE, entitled: "The Gendered Space of Knowledge: Interrogating Nigerian Women in The Academe".

According to the university don, "Unless we face this squarely, we are destroying the potentials of not only our young women and men, but also further diminishing our already precarious status as a viable nation in the global arena".

She, however, noted with displeasure that sexual harassment is clearly an anathema to what the university is all about; adding that no university that is worth its name wants to be bogged down with the implications to its reputation. Ajayi-Soyinka further stressed that the existence of sexual harassment creates a hostile atmosphere that simply nullifies this primary requirement, submitting that the issue "is a difficult subject to explore, let alone admit it exists within the hallowed space of a university", and that "it is counterproductive to the mission of the university."

She added that, to end sexual intimidation in the universities, there is need to take cases of sexual intimidation and harassment seriously, and take positive actions to stop this abuse. "It diminishes the perpetrator, and the institution that covers it up. Internal mechanisms should be set up to prosecute guilty parties to the fullest extent of the law.

Earlier, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor AbdulGaniyu Ambali, in his address tagged: "Positive Change", noted that women play critical roles in nation-building. He also pointed out that women academics have achieved tremendous successes in various areas of academic interests, citing the example of Prof. Grace Alele-Williams, who became a Professor in 1976 before becoming the first Nigerian female Vice-Chancellor in 1985.