Millions of Nigerian girls have access to university education, however the challenges faced in the system diminishes the quality of education they get. Nigerian girls are constantly faced with a myriad of challenges which make the university environment a dangerous place. Here are 4 reasons why Nigerian universities are unsafe for girls:

1. Gender discrimination

Nigerian universities do not offer equal opportunities to boys and girls. This discrimination is visible right from the admission process, example: The proportion of girls who apply for core science courses and the proportion who get in.

Also, in the school environment there’s rarely equal opportunity for both sexes. Some Nigerian universities do not allow girls to contest for all the seats in the student union government. Specific seats which are often insignificant are reserved for the girls.

Lecturers also play a big role in gender discrimination. They occasionally lend support to the idealism that girls ought to serve the boys. When conflict arises between males and females they are quick to reprimand the girls with, “don’t you know he’s a man?”

2. Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment of ladies is one of the biggest issues in Nigerian universities today, Ladies face harassment from both male colleagues and lecturers who believe a woman’s body is theirs for the asking.

Girls fail courses, drop out in droves or bag extra years when they try to resist sexual harassment from lecturers. Even where evidence of harassment is presented to management, they still prefer to support one of their own (the lecturer). Girls are blamed for getting harassed.

If a girl is raped and she dares report, her image is dragged through the mud. Even when rape case is between two students you hear questions like, ‘haven’t you done it before [haven’t you had sex before]? ’, ‘why did you go there?’ thrown at the girl. Butt grabbing and sneer comments which constitute sexual harassment in saner climes are laughed off in Nigeria.

3. Internal welfare crisis

A lot of Nigerian universities have welfare issues – poor accommodation, no water, no basic health care, poor sanitation. One of the most challenging being no security.

Security is especially important because from homes, the safety of girls have always been outsourced. In university environment where there is little or no security, it becomes risky for girls to walk around freely at certain times of the day as they considered easy prey.

In terms of sanitation in universities, the issues faced in the Nigerian society are magnified in the university environment. Being more susceptible to infections, girls end up with all sorts of infections. Certain infections are a shameful thing in our society so these are hidden by the carriers leading to bigger healthcare crisis.

4. Economic hardship

Girls are often worse hit by economic hardship in Nigerian universities as the welfare of males are prioritized. Parents and guardians pay basic tuition and cut the girls loose. Our universities in Nigeria are poorly equipped to handle these economic hardships faced by such girls.

While there are always awards for best graduating female student there is no fund to support girls in achieving the goals. Lots of girls are forced to make ends meet by themselves if they must graduate.

Full Credits: www.nigerianbulletin.com

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