Last week, the focus was on the Course Notes racket and the way it has undermined scholarship in Nigerian universities. Omitted from the write-up was the allied racket of “expo” – which entails lecturers revealing to those students who bought the Course Notes questions likely to come out in the examination.

Running side by side with the Course Notes racket is the sex racket which is just as pervasive and which had fostered cultism on campuses in ways most people don’t often understand.

The straight forward sex racket is easily understood by everyone. Lecherous lecturers and professors earmark some female students who they must take to bed. One way or another, the victims get the message: you will fail my course irrespective of what you do unless you “see me.” Most easily succumb; more stubborn ones get the message after scoring low marks in one or two tests. Only very few resist to the bitter end.

I first became aware of the extent of the sex racket on Nigerian university campuses in 1989. I was travelling from Kaduna to Kano, when a young lady flagged me down at Zaria begging for a lift. She was extremely good looking and carrying two pieces of luggage. Soon, I was able to establish that she was an undergraduate student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Knowing that the university was still in session, I was curious to find out why she was carrying so much for what I thought was just a brief visit to Kano. She candidly told me she was travelling that night out of the country with her man friend, a Minister. They were going away for 10 days.

“How about the classes you will be missing?” I asked in innocence.
“I don’t have to worry about that; the Head of Department who is my friend has assured me I will pass the exams even if I don’t study. You just have to know your way around the university.”

It was all I could do to hold on to the steering as she recounted the exploits of girls and their lecturers – not only in that university but other universities as well. Much later, I discovered that everything she told me was the gospel truth. Many Nigerian academicians, who routinely condemn public servants, Governors, Ministers, Commissioners etc, would make those they vilify appear like saints if all their own atrocities on campus are exposed.

Invariably, the lecturers indulging in the sex racket become known to the student population and then two things occur. First, most female students who feel they ‘have something to offer’ invariably start to hunt for the lecturers. A great deal of the sexy dressing on campus is not aimed at the male students – who have nothing to offer – but the teachers; who can offer much.

Second, the romance between the lecherous lecturers sometimes instigates cultism or fosters it. Since the boys have nothing to offer and they find themselves studying hard just to barely make good grades, they resort to self-help. Cultism is one of the defences male students have mounted to even the score. Again, let me illustrate with a real life example from Lagos.

One evening, I found myself at one of the watering holes in Lagos and on the next table were two men in their 40s according to my impression. One asked the other why he was resigning his appointment from the university, name withheld. The answer was simple.

“Those cult boys want to kill me.”
To the question: ‘why’, he gave a complete report of how sex and cultism on campuses go together like yam and eggs. Here it is summarized.
He had fastened his hooks on a very beautiful girl in his class and told her, as usual, that she would not succeed in his course unless she succumbed. The girl in turn had told her boyfriend – a level 400 Engineering student – who, as it turned out, was one of the leaders of a cult group. They decided to deal with the lecturer.

He was kidnapped at gun point, a few days after, shortly after closing and taken, first to a safe house and later to the cult’s den. The girl was with them. He did not need to be told what he had done. But, he was told anyway. He was attempting to sleep with the girl of their leader. They could kill him if they wanted and nothing would happen. But, they won’t do that. They have decided to make use of him. But first he must be punished. He was stripped naked; tied to a tree and one of the boys, who was in his class, was ordered to give him 48 lashes. Then his wound was washed with alcohol and he was given more to drink.

His final sentence was then pronounced. He would be given the list of all the cult members in his class. None of them must fail. The girl must receive an A grade; otherwise he would be assassinated.
He was declared missing for two days before he was freed to return home and cover his tracks with a story he made up. Suddenly, he found himself entering the classroom and the boy who had whipped him would be making funny faces at him. He couldn’t stand it anymore.

He revealed a lot more about how cultism dictated who failed or passed examinations in that university and ended up with a statement which has grave implications for the future of Nigeria. He said: “When people say we are graduating unemployable people, they don’t know that many of them should not have graduated at all. But, we send them out with certificates for a lot of reasons which have nothing to do with their academic performance.”

Finally, some day, a study will be conducted to determine the extent of sex for cash or prostitution on campus. Men-about-town holding parties have been known to send to the nearest university campus to recruit young ladies, whose parents are unaware of their escapades, to be shared out like food and choice wines, to spend the night with absolute strangers. Sometimes, the recruiter is a lecturer who knows which girl to call who will bring a whole flock of other girls. Some girl hostels in our universities might as well be called brothels. And the school authorities look aside.