CULTISM

Meaning of Cultism

A cult is a group of people that have a particular way of life or attitude which often operate secretly to carry out some purposes which may be good or bad. Cultism is the act of believing or participating in cult activities for the purpose of carrying out the goals of a cult group which may be good or bad.

However, due to the fact that cultism in schools of today is associated with negative goals, it has become a term used in referring to violence in schools involving some students. These unruly students for no just cause, unleash violence on themselves, on other innocent students and on the entire school environment. Students are expected to acquire functional knowledge and to become instruments of positive change and development, however, some of them turn around to form or join cult groups whose members engage in killing, maiming (to cause permanent injury or damage), and other disruptive behaviours that make the environment unconducive for learning. At the end, some of these student cultists end up dead or maimed, others end up as dropouts. This is bad, not only for the present society, but for the future society as well. 

Origin of Cultism in Institutions

The origin of cult groups in Nigeria’s institutions can be traced to Pyrates Confraternity (PC) at the University of Ibadan in the 1960s. At that time, the PC was made up of a group of responsible men and women with lofty ideas and aspirations such as:

i.                  Upholding the dignity of man,

ii.              Promotion of a just, humane and progressive society,

iii.           Elimination of all forms of discrimination based on race, tribe, gender or religion,

iv.            Promotion of African cultural heritage etc.

It is important to emphasise the PC was not at all involved in diabolical activities such as the ones that characterises cult groups of the present age. Up till today, the PC reportedly still engaged in such patriotic activities such as:

i.                  HIV/AIDS awareness campaign,

ii.              The plight of motherless and abandoned babies,

iii.           The mentally ill,

iv.            Philanthropy, etc.

Reasons for Establishing and Joining Cult Groups Today

The reasons for establishing and joining cult groups by students of today, are different from the reasons for establishing and joining cult groups by pioneer cult group members in the 1960s. They are reasons that have nothing to do with self-development, patriotism and nation-building. Instead, they are reasons that have everything to do with self- aggrandizement (self-enrichment) and destruction. Some of these reasons are:

a.    To have free access to female students of one’s choice,

b.   To have access to the belongings of other students willingly or by force,

c.    To be seen by other students as a lord and a tough guy,

d.   To show that one is from a wealthy family,

e.    To have undeserved marks and grades from lecturers through intimidations,

f.     As a security against the activities of other cult groups,

g.   For companionship or fraternity,

h.   To earn respect of other students.

It can be seen that none of the reasons above is academic, or has any bearing with the main purpose of being a student, which is learning for self-improvement. This is why every student who wants a bright future should avoid cultism and cultists. Doing so will enable the student concentrate on learning, which is the main reason for been in school and which is an avenue for future prosperity.

Effects of Cultism

Cultism has many ugly effects not only on the cultist themselves, but also for the environment and members of such environment. Some of them are:

1.   Violence: this can lead to a lot of regret because the damage it can do in five minutes may not be restored in ten years. This damage can be on properties or even on human lives. In the schools, violence caused by cultist lead to killing, maiming, armed robbery etc. This brings a lot disruptive influences on teaching and learning in schools.

2.   Failure in Examination: cultist hardly concentrate on learning, which is the primary purpose of being in school. They hardly attend lectures or take part in continuous assessment exercises. Quite often too, they do not also take part in end of term or semester examinations. As a result, cultists are always failing examinations.

3.   Examination Malpractices: since cultists hardly concentrate on their studies, they cheat a lot in examinations using different forms like stealing from other students’ scripts (giraffing), influencing invigilators, coveting other students’ scripts, use of examination mercenaries, smuggling of examination materials outside the examination hall and writing examination outside the hall.

4.   Spiritual Problems: during initiation of new members into cult groups, some of them are exposed to various satanic powers which lead them to spiritual problems like insanity, mental disorder, hallucination (nightmare) etc.

5.   Expulsion: because student cultists unleash violence on schools and also involve themselves in examination malpractices, they are the enemies of school authorities. The penalty of these menace is expulsion, which marks the end of the person’s educational pursue.

6.   Dropouts: cultists usually dropout of school on their own. This is due to frustrations they faced arising from their inability to concentrate on their studies. They fail many examinations and when they can no longer cope, they drop out of school.

Preventive Measures against Cultism

a.    Parents should take time to understand their children, create enough time to listen to them at home and satisfy their emotional, psychological and physical needs,

b.   There should be a definite legislation that will pass a death sentence to anybody found guilty of cult activities on campuses,

c.    Moral education should be made compulsory in the primary and secondary schools in the country,

d.   Cultism and its consequences should be treated in the General Studies courses in all tertiary institutions in the country.

e.    Parents should watch the friends their children are keeping in the institutions. They should also take time to watch any strange behaviour put up by their children and correct them immediately.

f.     Aggressive effort to wage war against cultism in all tertiary institutions should be allowed by government and religious groups in the country.

Cult Groups and their Symbols

 
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