Speaking on the issue of cultism among Nigerian students, President of National Association of Nigeria Students, NANS, Comrade Taiwo Bamigbade EGALITARIAN, listed the following reasons students join fraternities in school. According to him, students join cult group for so many reasons which include but not limited to : Peer group influence, poor parental upbringing; course curriculum in school which makes students less busy in school; oppression from lecturers and poor security system in and outside the campuses and poor institution management. Bamigbade added that cult and cult related activities are spreading like wild fire across Nigerian campuses and urgent steps need to be taken to stop this ugly trend.
His words, ” Curbing cultism on campuses requires a collective approach which ranges from parental efforts, higher institutions inputs and government. Parent should bring their children up in God-fearing ways. Also, management of institutions across Nigeria should enact strict punitive measures to discourage students from joining cult or other anti-social groups. Suspected cultists Mr Maxwell John from the Department of State Security Service, DSS Lagos Command spoke recently in Lagos at a Summit organised by the National Union of Lagos State Student NULASS tagged, ” Cultism and drug abuse among Nigerian Youth:A Threat to National Peace and National Security.”
The DDS representative defined cultism as any organisation that is kept away from the public whose activities can cause threat and dangers to the peace of the community. According to Mr John, the following can be traits that a youth belongs to a fraternity. When a youth become a heavy driver and smoker, moves in groups, has no definite home address, lives in constant fear, uses charm, suspicious dress sense and most times a fighter. For Chimobi, 300 level of Structural Engineering, University of Benin lamented that lack of principle and not peer pressure is the reason students join cult organisations in school.” For me lack of values and principles are the reasons majority of youths join fraternities. As you will know, before peer pressure there is principle, peer pressure may not influence one if we have the right people around us.”
