Review of Nearly All The Men In Lagos Are Mad

INDECENT DRESSING ON CAMPUSES: TO END OR NOT TO END? by Ibrahim Bankole

A sunny Wednesday afternoon at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, chilling with my friends on the stone chairs, a bevy of ladies in skimpy skirts and tight-fitting tops walked across to occupy another set of seats not too far from us

Seated among the ladies was young one whose dressing made it difficult for we guys to pay attention to our conversation.

Then an age-old debate sprung up; is indecent dressing is the cause of sexual harassment on campuses?

There are no empirical facts to support or oppose that, as reports also show that some randy lecturers in higher institutions often prefer to go for well-dressed, vulnerable female students.

Yet, the crisis – though often seen as a female problem – of indecent dressing is not something Nigerian tertiary institutions are taking lying down. Male students have also been guilty by their sloppy, indecorous dress and grooming.

It is against this backdrop that some institutions put in place a dress code for their students. 

In many institutions across Nigeria, there are certain dress types that are prohibited by the school authorities and not to be worn within the school premises.

Since the early 2000s when most of the institutions launched a crusade against indecent dressing, it has remained an integral part of the code for every school that desires to produce graduates who have qualified ‘both in character and learning.’

And with the advent of private institutions, the bar of the crusade against indecent dressing has been raised.

Private universities are making a success of enforcing dress codes on their students. Upon admission, prospective students are usually made to sign an undertaking to follow the rules respecting dress and grooming; what to wear and when to wear it.

The Nigerian Institute of Journalism, at one point had a strict policy (some would argue it still has) against wearing transparent mini and skimpy skirts or dresses, and other clothes revealing sensitive parts of the body, wearing tattered dirty jeans with holes, wearing baggy, saggy, “ass level” and over length trousers, wearing tight-fitting apparels that reveal body shape and contours of the body.

We have to agree with the famous saying, ''My house, my rules" but why some find it hard to actually keep to the dress policies of some institutions can be traced to the orientation of those who feel it is okay to appear the way they do.

A lot of us as kids growing up have been exposed to a lot of the trends from the Western World that preaches being liberal, as well as freedom to be yourself, which is a good thing. But to be honest, some actually take it to the extreme which is why school authorities do not hesitate to frown at some outfits worn on campuses. Therefore, strict rules on what and what to wear arise.

There is no doubt, even when we are done with the four walls of higher institutions, this issue will still be one that will linger as discussions and debates like football GOATs drama, but there is no doubt we should ensure values that we want to be remembered for should be priority which should have positive effects on the ones who are coming behind us.