Chukwu David 
•It guarantees safety of our students – Lawan
The Senate yesterday passed a bill for an Act to prevent, prohibit and redress sexual harassment of students in the nation’s tertiary educational institutions. The bill, which was sponsored by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo- Agege (APC – Delta Central), passed the third reading following the consideration of the report of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
Presenting the report for consideration, Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC – Ekiti Central), noted that the legislation attracted tremendous support from the senators and other Nigerians from all walks of life. Bamidele explained that the bill was neither targeted at the educators nor did it interfere with the autonomy of the universities, saying that it was intended to reposition and strengthen the tertiary educational institutions to maintain the core values of etiquette and excellence. He pointed out that the legislation would bridge the huge gap and give legal acking to any internal rule by educational institutions to check the incidences of sexual harassment.
He said contrary to Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU) claim that there were extant laws that could sufficiently address sexual harassment in tertiary institutions, the committee found that there were no such laws. “By enacting this bill into law, the Nigerian government would be fulfilling part of its obligations undertaken through the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the Protocol of the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, among others”, he said. During the clause-byclause consideration of the bill, however, lawmakers differed on the retention of clause seven in the bill. Sponsor of the bill, Omo- Agege, who proposed an amendment to clause seven, argued that it was unnecessary for the prosecution to prove the intention of the accused person or the condition under which the act of sexual harassment was carried out.
