The management of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, has cleared the air on a trending circular announcing a dress code purportedly for students of the university.
The Public Relations Officer of the university, Abiodun Olarewaju, in an interview with our correspondent on Monday, said the trending circular was not from the management of the university.
Olarewaju who added that even though the management was considering the decision, noted that the management would not want to step on toes.
In the circular that has been trending since Sunday, rustication for one semester was highlighted as punishment for students that commit misconduct such as putting on “sexually provocative dresses, backless clothes, transparent wears, off-shoulder clothes, bomb shorts’, etc. Another misconduct contained in the circular includes “unwelcome touching, kissing, and hugging of the opposite sex, massaging or sitting on the laps by the opposite sex,” all liable to rustication for two semesters.
Male students were warned against “Hair plaiting or weaving,” among others.
But Olarewaju said, “It (the circular) is not from the university administration. Although we’re working on our own, I think those who brought that out are just being mischievous. Maybe they’re trying to gauge the minds of the people and the students, but definitely, this is a university and we cannot accept any kind of dress, we have decency.”
Reiterating that the university was considering a dress code policy, the school PRO said, “Of course, we’re on that but we want to be sure we are not stepping on toes.”