Monica Osagie may have thought she was empowering other women and doing the right thing when ‘she shared her sex for grades’ story with CNN but instead of praise and consolation, a few Africans have admonished her.
Osagie says that her professor gave her two options when she got low marks in a course for her master’s degree: Sleep with him, or fail the class. She refused and recorded one of their conversations using a cell phone app which was later leaked online.
Osagie’s school, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Osun State, south west Nigeria, has confirmed that the voice on the recording is that of Richard Akindele, an accounting professor at the university, sharing in a statement on its website that,
“Professor Richard I. Akindele, of the department of management and accounting, is now established to be the lecturer in the controversial “marks for sex” audio recording. The female voice has also been identified as that of Miss Monica Osetobe Osagie, a postgraduate student on the Master of Business Administration Regular programme.”
Many have come to Osagie’s defense, sharing their thoughts in tweets such as this:
If you’re a female in Nigeria and you’re not #StandingWithMonicaOsagie you are doing a disservice to your daughters and granddaughters – present or future! Fight abuse of power in schools and the workplace! No to sexual harassment!!!
— Ronke Ogunleye (@RonkeA_Ogunleye) April 22, 2018
Still, some Twitter reactions seem to put the blame on Osagie, with some even asking why she released the video in the first place.
This girl’s should be dismissed from OAU; when you are so confident that uve been marked down…the honourable thing to do is to call for your paper for remark..prof.Akindele of political science was dismissed after a lady had similar experience and remarked
— Baba Abbey (@TAIWOISAACABIOD) April 25, 2018
Osagie says she has received severe backlash in public as well.
“A guy came up to me at the bank and said, ‘Is this not the girl who harassed a lecturer?’ and he called me a prostitute. The security guard then had to push me away to go withdraw my money inside the bank,” she told CNN.
Still, she stands firm in her decision.
“I am actually happy I came out. I am helping many ladies that have gone through the same thing I have gone through, and most of them can’t talk about it.
“They are scared of coming out in public. But I know it happens everywhere, not just in Nigeria. For me, speaking up will bring more women to speak and eradicate what is happening around young women and older men,” she explained.
See more reactions to Osagie’s story below.
Since the beginning of this #OAUsexscandal, I have been trying to figure out if this Monica is the slutty and devilish Monica I know so well, but I wasnt convinced till after d tweets I saw this night. Y’all remember my tweet some days ago of what a friend told me about Monica? pic.twitter.com/YbngR84Ntk
— Adewuyi (@adewuyipeters) April 27, 2018
What about students soliciting to bribe or to give sex? It’s in the same proportion right now in most tertiary schools. And of course it’s easier to blackmail a lecturer before society…
Any measures should address the issue both ways.— B. E. Bassey-Esang (@GreatBassey) April 12, 2018
Honestly based on the tape I heard I would say the girl isn’t wise at all. She could have easily blackmailed him into passing her and gaining lost more and now a lot of lecturers are going to be hating her she should have added wisdom #OAU #profAkindele
— Gbolly (@gbola96) April 10, 2018
Any student caught soliciting for marks should miss a calendar year as well.
Any student caught trying to bribe a lecturer for mrks/grades should be expelled. Lecturers too na humans.
— Silas13 (@El_Athens) April 11, 2018
