ARTICLE BY CHIZARAM AWUZIE
According to the Oxford Learners Dictionary, a cult is a small group of people having weird beliefs or practices and imposing excessive control over their members. In Nigeria, cult groups have no constitutional backup towards their existence and therefore are illegal. Their activities are destructive and inimical to public peace. They carry out their nefarious activities mostly in the night and in secret places where their operations are not easily noticeable.
Cultism is one of the problems posing a great challenge to security in Nigeria and has not been properly tackled. It has been an epidemic. In some states of the Federation, governance has been crippled by cult activities. This article looks at how it affects development of the states and the wellbeing of the people.
Cultism has caused untimely death of many people, most especially the youths who are leaders of tomorrow. Recently, Henry Chibueze a notorious kidnapper and dreaded cultist in Imo State popularly known as “VAMPIRE” and Benjamin Obele, a notorious cultist in Rivers State “ aka LORD BEN” were killed by security agencies in different occasions in Rivers State.
Also, William Oluji was set ablaze in Eleme together with his motorcycle by angry youths for being the one who took Benjamin (Lord Ben) to the scene of his operation where he clashed with military men and was gunned down.
Research shows that cultism in Nigeria became pronounced in 1952, when Prof. Wole Soyinka and a group of six friends formed the Pirate Confraternity at the University College Ibadan, apparently, as unanticipated fallout of that Soyinka and Friends venture which may have been set up with noble intentions. After that, other confraternities began to spring up including Supreme Eiye Confraternity formed in 1965; Buccaneer Confraternity, 1972; Neo Black Movement Confraternity, 1972; Mafia Confraternity, 1978 and Eternal Confraternal Order of Legion Consortium, 1983 among others.
The memberships of these confraternities were mainly boys.
But the girls would not be left out! Confraternities formed by female students included Black Bra, Black Beret, Woman Brassier, Daughters of Jezebel, Pink Ladies, Sisterhood of Darkness, among others. As members of female confraternities have boy friends in the male confraternities, they often use such members to trap down anyone perceived to be an enemy.
The menace of cultism which started from the higher institutions has now entered secondary schools and communities such as it is in many States. It comes in different forms and types. In the fight against cultism, it is needful to look into its causes. There is also need to look into the dangers that are associated with it and the measures that could be adopted in ameliorating the scourge.
CAUSES
One of the causes of cultism in Nigeria is the misconception of natural endowment. For instance, it is obvious that many states in Nigeria are blessed with many natural resources. These resources have attracted big foreign and local companies. Such companies include Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Shell, Agip, Intels, Indorama, Saipen, amongst others.
Some of these companies pay money to their host communities which are aimed at empowering the youths and community developments.
Also, under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of every company, there are other benefits the host communities also enjoy from the companies, which include building of schools, roads, health centres, electricity, etc.
Instead of being empowered with these benefits, the youths rather become complacent; they became lazy to work. Some have lost the interest to further their education and have also found it unfashionable to go for skill acquisition.They depend solely on stipends from these companies for their survival. And in the quest to enjoy larger share of the benefits, some of them began to form groups to threaten the life of anyone who will dare stand on their way. These groups later escalated into cult groups. They began to fight over what comes from these companies to their communities.
Parental negligence is another cause of cultism. Some parents care little or nothing about the wellbeing and lifestyle of their children. Many of them have failed in their responsibility of inculcating in their children moral principles and ethical values. They have failed to give parental advice to their children. They are either too busy with their businesses or work. They place priority on making money, leaving their children at the mercy of house-helps or neighbours.
Peer group pressure also makes it fashionable to indulge in cultism. The Bible says that evil communication corrupts good manners. It is impossible for one to mingle with bad people and remain a good boy or girl. What one looks at determines what he looks like. When one’s friends are members of a cult, he or she is bound to follow suit. It is very difficult to resist peer group pressure. Many people became members of cult groups because their friends are members.
Ignorance of the dangers associated with cultism is another underlying factor why people indulge in cult activities. The Holy Bible also says “my people perish because of lack of knowledge”. Some people join cults because they don’t know the consequences. Before one joins any cult, he is enticed with the so called benefits of becoming a member but when he finally joins, he begins to see reasons why he should withdraw. It is easy for one to become a cultist, but difficult to withdraw.
Illiteracy is another cause of cultism. There is a saying that when one is not informed, he is deformed. Information is power. Education helps to widen one’s knowledge and sense of reasoning. When one is not educated, he will be drastically limited in experience because education comes with a lot experiences. When one does not have knowledge of something, he will be easily dribbled into confusion. This is the case with many cultists.
Finally, lack of youth empowerment contributes to cultism. When youths do not have jobs to keep them busy, they will end up generating evil ideas and causing nuisance in society. An idle mind, they say, is the devil’s workshop. The youths need to be engaged with jobs.
DANGERS
Cultism poses great danger in many states. Waste of life is the most alarming danger of cultism. A lot of people have been killed, including innocent ones. Young people who are leaders of tomorrow have fallen victims of the trigger-happy cultists. Cultists have also lost their lives during clashes or shootout with security agents.
Sexual harassment is one of the hazards of cultism. Many young girls have been abused sexually by cult members. Some unwanted pregnancies can be traced to cult activities.
Cult activities also cause economic instability. Bombing of pipelines; kidnapping and killing scare investors away. Investors are scared to invest in some areas in the states due to high level of insecurity. Investments help an economy to boom.
REMEDY
Having examined the causes and dangers of cultism in Nigeria, it is expedient to outline measures to curb the menace.
The family is the first step in the war against cultism. An Igbo proverb says that someone whose house is on fire does not pursue rat. Parents should be vigilant over the activities of their children. They should watch closely the kind of activities their children carryout. They should try to know the kind of companies their children keep and endeavour to inculcate moral values in them.
Also, parents should try to create time to spend together with their children. They should not be carried away with their jobs. Leaving their children at the mercy of house-helps or neighbours is dangerous.
Decree 47 of 1989 spells out jail term for anyone found guilty of cultism: This law should be enforced. Nigeria government may however grant amnesty to cult members as the federal government granted amnesty to Niger Delta Militants in 2011 under the leadership of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. This will enable cultists to voluntarily surrender their weapons and embrace peace. Government should absorb cultists who have surrendered and give them jobs to do. Repentant cultist can be used for intelligence gathering.
Government should organize skills acquisition for repentant cultists to enable them realize their potential. The youths need empowerments. They need to be busy and when they are, they would not have time for unlawful activities, or those involved in unlawful acts will be greatly reduced and law enforcement agencies can be able to handle them.
Government, churches, schools, and media amongst others should carry out continuous campaign against cultism and its destructive tendencies. The dangers that are associated with cultism should be brought to the notice of the people on radios, televisions, newspapers, magazines; handbills etc. Public lectures and seminars should also be conducted to awaken the consciousness of the people towards cultism.
Government should also improve social amenities and infrastructures which help to make life easier, meaningful and enjoyable. Roads, electricity, pipe bore waters, schools, markets, etc. are highly needed. They are highly needed to improve the living conditions of the people.
Government should grant scholarships to young people, especially indigent students to encourage them to embrace education.
School authorities should set-up squads to monitor cult activities within the school. Teachers should work with them and watch closely the behaviours of each student in other to know when a strange behaviour or attitude has crept in and when such is observed, the parents or the guardians should be duly contacted.
Security agencies need information in fighting cultism. They should be informed promptly about any cult activity within the state. Security agencies such as the military, police, vigilante groups, among others should respond immediately whenever they are served any intelligence.
Government can also create special anti-cult squads that will go round cities and villages to search for cultists. They are known for indecent dressing, sagging, drawing of tattoos, abnormal haircuts, fixing ear rings by males etc., security agencies should therefore arrest such persons and screen them adequately.
In summary, cultism affects everyone directly or indirectly. Everyone must be on the battle line. To make the environment tranquilized, peaceful and favourable is a collective responsibility. For the menace of cult groups within the state to be curbed, everyone has a role to play. The war against cultism should not be left for the government and security agencies alone. When all efforts are integrated, we can achieve a better result.
Mr. Chizaram Awuzie is a student of Mass Communication of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, doing his one year industrial training in port-Harcourt, River State.
Comments