Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, Minister of Women Affairs has swallowed her vomit. She walked back on her ill-advised comment and interference on the University of Calabar’s se£ual harassment scandal which involved Professor Cyril Ndifon, the now suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law.
Kennedy-Ohanenye was seen and perceived to have over-stepped her bounds when she initiated calls to the Professor and the victims, and even, allegedly, asked that the report of the investigative panel set up by the University’s authorities, be sent to her.
She allegedly, also, assured Ndifon of her support, and was alleged to have put the victims under pressure to recant their allegations against the Professor.
The Vice Chancellor of UNICAL, Professor Florence Obi, was forced to speak out.
However, on Sunday, the Minister had a rethink and apologized for her unbecoming behaviour.
The apology came when about 500 Women Groups and Activists petitioned the President, Bola Tinubu, against her. In a bid to calm the situation which was threatening to become a political volcano against her, she walked back on her previous comments.
In a Press Statement she wrote: “I wish to express my sincere apologies to those who were offended by my comments and actions regarding the se£ual harassment scandal at the University of Calabar.
“This is extremely regrettable as my intentions were sincere and aligned with my consistent advocacy for the welfare of Nigerian women and the pursuit of justice.
“I stand for all Nigerian women and I stand for justice; and it is my hope that we can work together to actualise the dream of a country where women’s rights are respected and protected, and where our daughters feel safe in institutions of learning.
“Whereas the United Nations’ definition of sexual harassment is ‘se£ual advances, requests for se£ual favours and verbal or physical conduct of a se£ual nature, whether implicitly or explicitly’.
“The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Florence Obi has said that the university management would investigate the allegations but that the students would be required to provide evidence to back up their complaints.”
The Minister had commented On the August 14th incident where female students of the Faculty of Law at UNICAL held a peaceful rally against the varsity’s Dean, Faculty of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, whom they accused of harassing them.
Amidst the protest from the students and comments from various Human Rights groups, Kennedy-Ohaneye, made a controversial statement that since a female student admitted in a leaked phone conversation with the Minister that she was not ra**d, it means she was not se£ually harassed.
This was the beginning of the Minister’s crisis with activists and several Women Groups who said that the Minister wasn’t gender sensitive and was not championing the cause of the women folks.
This for them meant that only r**e (penetrative se£ual intercourse) is the only form of se£ual harassment recognised by the Minister.
Ndifon has denied the allegation, claiming that the protest was sponsored by lecturers in the faculty who did not like his style of leadership, although the varsity suspended him.
But another Professor at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Sinem Abasi Ekong has narrated Ndifon allegedly ra**d her 20-year-old daughter in his office, alleging that Ndifon tore her daughter’s answer script during a test and subsequently used that to trick her daughter to go to his office, where he allegedly ra**d her twice.
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