Ahmed Lawan, Nigeria’s Senate President, has said the passage of the Sexual Harassment Bill by the Senate was targeted at protecting students and not victimising educators in the county.
Lawan in a statement said the move was necessitated by the prevalence of abuse in Nigeria’s tertiary institution.
The bill sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, follows the consideration of the report of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
Lawan said, “This is a very important and landmark legislation that this Ninth Senate has passed. We have to protect our daughters from predators. 
“In the process, we could see clearly that we wanted fair means of determining what offence somebody is accused of, so it is balanced legislation.
“We want our tertiary institutions to be a very safe environment for everyone, and this is legislation that will ensure that wish.”
Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, in his presentation said, “The piece of legislation attracted unprecedented support from not only Distinguished Senators as demonstrated by the 106 Senators that Co-sponsored the bill but an overwhelming number of Nigerians who see the bill as a necessary legislative intervention that will bring sanity and good order to the educator-student relationship in our tertiary institutions.
“The bill is not targeted at a particular community – the educators and that it does not interfere with the autonomy of the universities – rather, it is intended to reposition and strengthen our tertiary educational institutions to maintain the core values of etiquette and excellence.”
He added that with the passage of the bill, the piece of legislation will bridge the huge gap and give legal backing to any internal rule by educational institutions to check the incidences of sexual harassment.
