The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Commission, ICPC, yesterday, said that it has started the prosecution of Mr. Richard Akindele, a Professor of Accounting at the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, over allegations of sexual harassment that led to his dismissal from the university.
Speaking with the press in Abuja, ahead of a stakeholders’ summit on corruption in Nigeria, organized by the Youth Alive Foundation, YAF, the ICPC and the UKAID, Mr. Musa Abubakar, ICPC Acting Chairman, declared that the dismissal of Akindele by the University was not enough. Abubakar, who was represented by the Commissioner in charge of Education at the ICPC, Mr. Mohammed Ashiru Baba, noted that the decision of the ICPC to prosecute Akindele was initially rebuffed by the University, claiming that it had already dismissed the lecturer.
He added that the ICPC had also discovered a lot of cases that bother on moral corruption, such as sexual harassment in universities and it is unrelenting in its approach to prosecute the culprits. He said, “I am sure you are aware of the Professor Akindele’s case at OAU. We are prosecuting the case right now. Though the university said they have dismissed the Professor, we said that is not enough, we want to prosecute him. “We are handling so many cases like that in a lot of universities. We singled out federal universities, state-owned universities and privately-owned universities.”
Also speaking, Executive Director of Youth Alive Foundation, Uduak Okon, noted that a recent survey conducted by the group and some of its partners revealed that youths are the highest perpetrators of corruption in Nigeria.
She lamented that there is a prevalence of corruption in Nigeria, noting however, that YAF’s was partnering with the ICPC to promote a coordinated and coherent fight against corruption.
She said, “We have a prevalence of corruption in Nigeria, if we do not arrest it our future is bleak. Now we have a generation coming up, who are learning corrupt practices and they would further perpetrate it.
