Cultism in Educational Institutions in Nigeria

Activities/Consequences of Cultism

According to Echekwube (1999) cult activities have been very much on in our tertiary institutions, leading to the constant harassment of students, staff and destruction of properties. The nefarious and nocturnal activities of secret cults have also led to the untimely death of cultists and innocent students and staffs/lecturers of our institutions of higher learning. Cult groups have gradually turned the campuses of Nigerian institution of learning into killing fields - threatres of war. Here are some samples of both students and lecturers that have been killed as a result of cultism:

• September, 2005, Bloaji Toniwa, a student of the Lagos State University was killed
• October 2003, three students - Kehinde Dosuma, Omotayo Suraju and Olalekan Ajao of Kwara state polytechnic, were killed
• June, 2005 Gbenga Joseph, a policeman and leader of Anti-cult squad of Kwara state police command was killed by suspected cultists from federal polytechnic, Offa
• March 2005, Ashifat OLatunji Saheed, a student of Ibadan Polytechnic, Ibadan was murdered
• On Tuesday, March 9, 2004, Vincent Uloho of university of Benin, Benin, was killed in cold blood
• February 2004, Yomi Edeki of University of Benin, was killed
• November 12, 2003, Tony ILeogbuna, acting Head of Geology at the Enugu State University of Science and technology was murdered
• July 10, 1999, five students of Obafemi Awolowo University were killed
• July, 2004, Wale Adeyori and Banji of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, were killed

Again, some members of cult groups are caused bodily harm that may result to physical injuries and or death especially during their initiation ceremonies. Closely related to this, is the fact that some of them risk health problems because of harmful drugs they take.

Moreover, some cultists have their educational career terminated abruptly (expulsion or rustication) or they may spend more than the required number of years for graduation. For example, on March 27, 2005, a 32 years olf Ikechukwu Okomah Anthony was arrested. He had spent over ten years pursuing a Higher national Diploma in the Department of Estate Management, Ibadan polytechnic.

Cult groups often used to subvert genuine students' unionism and destabilize university administrations, which do not condone their nefarious activities. For instance, in April, 2004, suspected cultists threatened to kill the then university of Benin Vice Chancellor, Prof. Emmanuel Nwanze for daring to set up a committee on “Renunciation and Cultist” to investigate the killing of two medical students of the institution by suspected cultist.

More importantly, cult activities may disrupt the academic calendar of the nations institutions of learning. The Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, generally regarded as the hot-bed of cultism, was closed for 10 months by the then Lucky Igbinedion in the year 2000 for the purpose of sanitizing the university.

Before and during examinations, students are always organizing night vigil and prayers for a successful end of exams and or semester. They always sleep with one eye closed.

Cult activities are no longer secret or done in the dark. They now operate in the public - under the full glare of the public.

Implications for Counselling

Cultism is an anti-social or deviant behaviour which usually contravenes the norms or social rules of an institution that is meant to pro vide education for the individual or student. It is speculated that cultism does not thrives in the nations higher institutions but that a number of primary and secondary school students are also members of secrets cults. It is in the face of this emerging challenges and other reasons that the federal government deemed it of great importance to introduce Guidance and Counselling to all levels of the nations education (NPE: FRN 2004).

Guidance and Counselling like education is concerned with the all-round development of the student. Cultism as earlier mentioned is a deviant behaviour. And the broad defined objectives of counselling is to help the client/student achieve self-understanding; to help individual towards overcoming obstacles to their personal growth and development wherever these may be encountered and towards achieving optimum development of their personal resources. Thus the resultant effort is the individual having a balanced personality.

It is therefore surprising that some of the nations institutions of higher learning has not deemed it fit to employ Guidance Counsellor so as to help students towards development of a healthy personality. By training, the Counsellor is equipped to devise several preventive and constructive programmes for dealing with maladaptive or deviant behaviours and for inculcating those values outlined in the NPE (FRN 2004), section 1; subsection 3 as follows:

1. respect for the worth and dignity of the individuals
2. faith in man's ability to make rational decisions
3. moral and spiritual values in inter-personal and human relations;
4. shared responsibility for the common good of society;
5. respect for the dignity of labour; and
6. promotion of the emotional, physical and psychological health of all children

To be specific the counselor should:

1. Show films on repercussions of cultism and other anti-social behaviour such as exam malpractice, sexual immorality, robbery etc and giving opportunity for former victims to give testimonies
2. Encourage students to expose any secret, unauthorized group meetings of students as this could lay the foundation to secret cult formation
3. Organize and execute orientation programmes (every semester) for the new and old students pointing out the dangers/evil inherent in their membership of secret cults
4. To assist students and staff/lecturers in better understanding of themselves and emotional conflict that impact their lives, to offer effective means of coping with personal problems and to assist them in effectively pursuing their positive goals
5. Working in close relationship with the students' affairs as well as other service units of the institution to facilitate conducive environment for learning
6. Counsel parents/guardians and seek their cooperation in certain areas as it affects their children and wards; and
7. Organize at least once in a semester, students - Vice-Chancellor/Rector/Provost forum where a dialogue