Introduction
According to Ajayi (2000) cultism is defined as a devotion to the doctrine or to the practices of a cult. A cult is a system of extreme religious belief and practices involving a small group of people who indulge in worship activities yet not part of any religious source. Cultism especially among students at the higher institution is not new and has great effect on student’s ability to learn.
Opaluwah (2005) stated that cultism is ranked as higher institution first greatest crime. Nigeria is classified as a leading country from West Africa. One of the reasons students engage in cultism is to intimate their lecturers in order to pass sectional exams. At the end of the day, cultism are promoted while the hardworking student’s grades are lowered. When students are being talked into cultism, they only see the things they tend to achieve not minding the consequences (Effiong, 2009).
A major reason most student’s fall victim to some of the cultist would be linked with poor performance in certain courses, poverty level, peer pressure, insecurity are contributing factors to cultism. Good grades in academic performance in Nigeria tertiary institutions lead to desperation for a lot of her student’s. Most of the cultists are people who want to have better employment opportunities after school and appreciation from parents (Anchor, 2009).
Oluwaseum, (2013) state that cultism is a major social problem in Nigeria tertiary institution at large. It is also seen as a major factor working in the favour of cult groups is “massive ignorance” on the part of students especially newly admitted students who are hoodwinked and deceived in joining their “dead cemeteries”.
Nigerian’s tertiary institutions have been described as a place of origin, training and home for cultism. You barely visit any higher institution without finding at least a group of cultists. Nigerians are been scare of sending their wards into our own institutions of learning rather, they send them abroad to avoid the menace (Ajayi, 2000).
The travails of cultism among the Nigerian higher institutions are better told than experience. Many lecturers have been intimidated and threatened by those so called cultist to pass their examinations. Who will want his or her neck to be cut off? (Opaluwah, 2000).
Conceptual framework
According to Ogunade (2002) secret cult is a terminology coined by a former military head of state Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, between 1983-1984. Before this period, these gangs had always been referred to as fraternity. The members of the cult commit themselves to oath and allegiance which serve as their strong bond. These groups of people are always violent when defending their course.
Adigwu (2000) stated that, there are many types of cults in Nigeria tertiary institutions as of today. From the University of Benin, there emerged in the 800s the Black Axe Movement. From the University of Ife, there emerged the Maphites who are seafarers. From the University of Jos there emerged the Vikings which also started as seafarers with no proper definition or character. The new cult groups in the tertiary institution now includes Eiye family Mafia, the Dragon, the Belf Boys, Red Fox, Klamar, Jurists etc.
However, there are also female cult groups such as Daughters of Jezebel, Black Bra, Virgins and the Amazons etc. Ogunhusi (2003) observed that cult activities are sometimes laden with blood. It may be the blood of an animal or that of a human being. He claimed that during initiation rites or during rival group clashes within the university setting, blood flow during which many lives are lost in the process. There are various secrete cults now in our institutions of learning. They are called different names depending on the institution.
There are cults mostly meant for male students, while there are some mostly for female students, these various cults are usually in conflicts with one another during which many of their lives including those of the innocent non-members are lost.
Reasons why people join cult
Eduowade (2010) stated that, students join secret cults because they believe that they will be respected by their colleagues in school. Once the cult is joined, they mobilize other members of the cult to places where they oppresses other students who are not members by extorting money from them or taking their belongings. Those activities give members of the cult a “false” self confidence which they would not have had if they were alone and not members. In other words, the ideal of being in a group to commit crimes inspires them to join cults. This is because they believes that members of the secret cults discard their real names and assume the cult names once they join the cult and this will make it difficult to identify and finish them individually.
Ogunade(2002) observed that most students who are not well to do join cults because they believe that they can get money to educate and feed themselves by either committing crimes to get money or associating with richer members of the cults who will supply them with their financial needs. Also, some students who are not interested in joining secret cults are forced into them by already existing members because of what they believe that the uninterested students can offer the cult.
Adigwu (2000) opined that each individual has their own reason for joining a cult/secret. Millions of Americans are eager to slough off their familiar and social obligations, abandon their homes and forsake long beloved truths to dance on street corners, castrate themselves, follow diets that could kill a Billy goat and take up weapons in pensive anticipation of the end times. People join cults because they are weak, who are desperately yearn for a sense of purpose, authority, discipline, purity, community, power, wisdom, revenge and salvation. Cults recruit those who are confused and looking for a new place. Students who are away at school and teenagers looking to belong and have a place where they are important and in control are major targets for cults.
However, when people join these cults and religions groups, they don’t believe it is a cult. Cults recruit those are most vulnerable, because these people are less likely to see through the layers of deceit. Cults target friendly, obedient, altruistic and malleable people because they are easy to persuade and manage. They do not deal with disobedient or self centered type, as they are too hard to mold.
Awareness level of students before joining a cult
According to Evans (2012) cult members include the young, the old, the wealthy, the poor, the educated and the uneducated. There is no easily identifiable “type” of person who joins cult. Nevertheless, clinical experience and informal surveys indicate that majority of the cult joiners lack awareness about cult activities and were experiencing significant stress (frequently related to normal crises of adolescence and young adults, such as romantic break up, school failure, vocational confusion). Prior to their cult conversion because their normal ways of coping were not working well for them, these stressed individuals were more open than usual recruiters selling “roads to happiness”.
Hassan, (2009) observed that, new members were lured into the confraternity by various spurious means and empty promises. Recruits were enticed by the prospect of having access to money and increased employment opportunities. Confraternity claimed that they could grant new members the powers to defend themselves and loved ones, improve their reputations and social standing and facilitate contact with influential people and those of the opposite sex. These promises were often never realized.
Wallace (2002) stated that, most students lack awareness about cult activities hence they are naive, knowing little or nothing about cult doctrine and practices or what he/she knows is shallow or misleading. In the former instance, the lack of knowledge leaves the potential recruit defenseless to the charges, claims and promises made up by the cult, whereby the recruit find something about the sales like pitch appealing. It answers a need or want I life, even though the pitch is merely a rudimentary. Play to entice the recruit to become more involved in the more obscure and irrational beliefs that may only be learned much later or down the line. In the letter instance, the information that has been learned by the recruit is either false or partial and the cultist can easily convince the recruit of sampling correcting the falsehood. Therefore, it would be in the best interest of everyone to not only becomes informed about the basics of cult beliefs, but that they are planning as well. To do so will not only prevent life wasted by being duped into cult involvement, but a life time of heartache as well, by trying to live up to cult standards that often insult both human dignity and intelligence.
Cultism and examination success
According to Deikman (2005) solid existence of cult groups within the university community has completely made life unsafe and meaningless for both staff and students as female students who refuse the amorous advances of cult members are disdainfully manhandled. Lecturers who insist on merit for passing exams are openly attacked and disgracefully beaten up or sometimes killed, thus paving way for the free reign of fear, violence and a palpable feeling of insecurity. This ruinously comatose situation is a veritable recipe for academic immorality national impotence and ruin as it is an inescapable truism that no nation can rise or develop beyond the capacities of her tertiary institution and if her future leaders the youth who are the trustees of posterity are trained in such a milieu, nothing then awaits such as a nation, a future that is built and strives on violence.
Effiong (2009) observed that, the possible effects of cultism on the learning process cannot be exhausted as both intra and their inter cult clashes negatively affects students in stupendous proportions. Cult clashes lead to outburst of violence on the campus which leaves many students wounded, maimed or killed as the case may be. It sometimes leads to the both incarceration, rustication or expulsion of both innocent and guilty students. There is no gain saying the effect that when any of the afore mentioned happens, the learning process, the psyche of students and the peace of the campus is adversely affected. In case of closure, hospitalization, suspension, or incarceration, the resultant effect is that learning is suspended for some period of time, possibly a year or more.
Anchor (2009) stated that, what we are all witnessing today in the educational sector is a sad reflection of corruption in the society and the low priority placed on standardization and improvement of the intellectual custodian of our time by these in government. This is against the fact that most members of these cults are from rich homes and are never serious with their studies. Thus promoting their venturing into examination malpractices. Whenever they fail their courses, they react violently through their cult members against the lecturers in charge of their failed courses. They operate at night and conduct initiation of new members in these institutions coming out with dangerous weapons at the middle of the night when students who are ignorant of their activities fall victim.
Effiong (2009 stated that, the growth and maturation of examination malpractices tendencies in our tertiary institutions have been considered as one of the direct fall outs of cultism. Having a month passes, these days without regrets of deaths of students or staff resulting from cult related violence. This has not only created an atmosphere of insecurity in our campus, it is also diverting attention from the primary purpose of the universities which is education. At a time when funding of these institutions are inadequate and the standard of education is said to be falling, cultism and examination malpractices tendencies are clearly a big problem for the concerned authorities.
Both of the most frequent discussed problems in the education sector today, since indiscipline in schools is central to the factors contributing to that fast dwindling, declining and deteriorating educational standard. The various acts of indiscipline commonly perpetrated by students such as truancy, stealing, hooliganism, examination malpractices, sexual immoralities and cultism among others are all destructive to the educational system.
Ross (2008) stated that, most of our higher institutions-this evil is the order of the order of the day where people employ various means of passing examinations, some through exporting extraneous materials to the examination hall, which is the old fashion, with the advent of GSM phones and telecommunication gadgets. A lots of students in our various schools have develop a way of using these gadgets to cheat in an examination. Also other students have develop other means like getting the questions before the examination with the support of their lecturers, some by way of threatening the lecturers perhaps because they are cultists while some ladies offers their bodies to gain favour from lecturers. One astonishing revelation is that some students take it to the next level by using diabolical means to perpetrate examination malpractice, charms of all sorts are being used by students just to pass examination.
Measures to mitigate the activities of cultism
Rotimi (2005) stated that to make cultism unattractive and an unnecessary option, there must be improved facilities and living conditions on campuses so as to minimize perceived strains in the social system which underlines cultism on our campuses. Our institutions must be over handled in order to be capable of providing for all who live within them and be able to correct the injustice against any student or group of students by peaceful and lawful means. We cannot ensure domestic tranquility unless we establish justice in a truly democratic society. Nigerian students should therefore as a matter of urgency, be engaged in the irreversible business of total recrimination with the shallow ingredients of corruption, neocolonial enslavement, jaundiced and retrogressive economic policies, ethnic manipulations and electoral malpractices that pervade and predominate our country’s landscape as well as the unwarranted destabilization and intimidation of the nation’s academia by the psendo-bourgeos and hegemonic class of politicians.
According to Oluwaseum (2013). the government should step out to improve the university environment, which tends to be a fertile ground for breeding cultists. Given the condition of the university’s benefit of teaching and learning materials, teacher’s incessant strikes, examination malpractices and school shut down, students have found cult activities quite appealing. Their utmost goals of vain glory and supremacy are cheaply attainable through enlistment in cults. If universities are meant to impact knowledge and mould character, while their degrees and diplomas are awarded only to people found worthy in learning and character, then any students identified as a cultist, murder or robber should be punished accordingly. They must not be allowed to remain hit-squad and agent of destruction of lives and property. Only the full weight of the law can warn them that cultist is evil and pays no dividends.
Opaluwah (2005) observed that the establishment of nongovernmental organizations like the National Anti-Cult Movement, the Evolution of Federation of Parade against Campus cults (FEPAC) and the United Network of Institutions and School against Campus Cults (UNISACC) are all recording success in promoting anti-cultism in tertiary institutions, what is required, in addition is the determination of purpose and sincerity of the collective will of the society to address the issue. There is the need for a total re-education of roles and values and indeed an overhand of the curriculum of our tertiary institutions. For instance in 1994, a high powered federal government officials, university administration and low enforcement agents, met, examined the problem of secret cults in all its ramifications and come out with what were believed to be far reaching recommendations for stamping out cultism in the tertiary institutions; some of these includes; the re-examination of Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB). Admission procedure to enable individual universities to further screen students.
This policy has been implemented by all universities as result introduction of the Post JAMB-(UTME) examination by the Federal Ministry of Education. Other remedies proffered for the eradication of cultism in our university campuses includes that government should improve the deplorable social and infrastructural conditions in the campuses of higher institutions in the country that, there is high need foe adequate funding of higher institutions in the country to ensure effective teaching and learning. That there is need to improve recreational facilities in tertiary institutions so as to enable students channel their energy to useful and creative purpose (Atayi, 2000).
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