At the background of scandals trailing sex for grades by lecturers in tertiary institutions across the country, Special Assistant on Attitudinal Change to Ebonyi state governor, Hon Ray Okpani Nkama, has called for attitudinal change and value reorientation of citizens.
In an exclusive chat with Blueprint, Nkama said many university graduates are unemployable, as they go to tertiary institutions to acquire certificates they cannot defend, adding that sex for grades is a product of a very poor and comatose value system that tries to justify it.
He said Nigeria can still attain greatness as a state or nation if citizens work collectively to build sound institutions that thrive on strong value and belief systems, even as he said social concerns like poverty, illiteracy, tribalism and sectionalism should also be tackled.
He said: “Sex for grades is a product of a very poor and comatose value system which tries to justify it. Our collective folly of placing higher premium on academic certifications over skills and innate ability has become our greatest undoing. This is the reason you find that most of our graduates are unemployable; they have gone to tertiary institutions to acquire certificates that they cannot defend. And this is why our girls and women would trade their bodies for grades because, as they say, ‘the end justifies the means’. The BBC SexForGrades documentary is only a tip of the iceberg.
“How do we reconcile the sad fact that our girls and women would now have to sleep with their teachers before they can pass exams to the sordid reality that even ‘men of God’ are involved in this attitudinal malady. There have been cases of sports women who were dropped from tournament camps because they refused to open their legs for their coaches. Even the award of contracts is now a matter which woman is ready to play ball with those in charge.”
Furthermore, he said: “We can still attain greatness as a state or nation if we work collectively to build sound institutions that thrive on strong value and belief systems, just as our amiable Governor, Engr. David Umahi, is doing through the office of the SA, Attitudinal Change. The mission is that no Ebonyi state indigene will be associated with criminality henceforth.
“None of our girl children and women will be caught trading sex for grades. And it is our un-monopolistic belief that all Nigerian states would share this mission by setting up value reorientation mechanisms within their territories to help in the war against the avalanche of social maladies that are crippling our youths, especially the girl children and women.”
