WHAT A PITY. The very hands we expect to hold the lantern of truth are the ones snuffing it out for a crumpled stack of Naira. The guardians of our future, the impartial intellectual leaders, have now turned the sanctified space of academia into a marketplace. The “A” grade is no longer a badge of brilliance or a mark of distinction; it is a commodity, traded in dark offices and through unofficial communication. In Nigerian university slang, “sorting” refers specifically to giving money or material goods to a lecturer to influence them to award undeserved scores.
This language of bribery in Nigerian universities has developed its own coded words; terms like “sort,” “follow-up,” “subscribe,” “peace offering,” and “upgrade” all refer to paying for marks, with examination officials in some cases deliberately changing candidates’ original scores for a fee.
The “A” grade is no longer a badge of brilliance or a mark of distinction; it is a commodity, traded in dark offices and through unofficial communication.
The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), through its University System Study and Review, has documented widespread infractions across campuses in Nigeria, including substandard handouts, bribery, gratification, and sexual exploitation of students in exchange for grades.
This act has been controversial over the years, and the consequences have always been real. Professor Cyril Ndifon, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar, was prosecuted and found guilty on some charges related to sexual harassment and abuse of office — a case that the ICPC described as a watershed moment. Another disturbing case involved Dr. Balogun Olaniran, Head of the Department of Religious Studies at Tai Solarin University of Education, who was arraigned for demanding sex or ₦100,000 from a female student in exchange for increasing her grades from failing to passing.
Even more, in 2018, a former lecturer of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Prof. Richard Iyiola Akindele, was sentenced to six years imprisonment for demanding sex to pass his student, Monica Osagie. Akindele was eventually sacked by the school management.
Academic corruption in Nigerian campuses is no longer a rumour whispered between students; it is a documented and escalating crisis.
More recently, in January 2025, an investigation by The Informant247 exposed how Mr. Abdul Olarewaju Hassan, a senior Lecturer at Kwara State Polytechnic, was extorting students through a class representative. It was a lucrative business that fetched him millions of naira while students who refused his demands faced dire consequences. Consequently, Kwara Poly dismissed the lecturer.
While the foregoing are a few among many of reported cases , the situation reveal tha academic corruption in Nigerian campuses is no longer a rumour whispered between students; it is a documented and escalating crisis.
Sorting has become rampant and continues to thrive because many students suffer in silence out of fear and shame. But there are a few simple steps to fight back as a victim.
- Document everything: Screenshot every message, save payment receipts, and record the amounts, dates, and names of the lecturers involved.
- File a formal complaint: Report the case to the ICPC, your school management, or the Student Union Government.
- Protect yourself if necessary: If you fear victimisation, reach out to investigative outlets anonymously.
On this note, know your rights and understand that your story matters. Speaking up can help to combat the culture of academic corruption, whether your identity is public or private. No lecturer has a legal authority to demand money or sexual favours for grades. Sorting is a criminal offence under Nigerian law, and those who commit it can and should be prosecuted.
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