Cultism

Cultism seems to be a cynosure of all eyes due to its dreadful aura. Cultism has created an unhappy state of affairs and in view of its malignant and baneful claws, the march towards academic excellence among youths seem punctuated by danger.

What is Cultism really all about?

According to Rev Dr Okere in his paper “secret Societies and us”, cults include those groups in which “the membership, transactions, their ultimate aims, their modes of operation generally are kept secret—a secret protected by terrible oaths, to help members and if necessary, to the detriment of non members”

Secret societies today ring the bell of violence, bloodletting, injustice, wanton quest for riches and a catalog of other vices. There are very many secret societies in our campuses today with very many different titles. Among them are “the Ku Klux, AMORC, Odd Fellows, Reformed Ogboni Fraternity, The Black Axe, The Black Beret, The Temple of eden, the Trojan Horse, The Mafioso, The Vikings, the Buccaneers, the Sea Dogs, and the Mgba Mgba” (Newswatch,  12-3-90) and a myriad of others.

It is an obvious fact that the activities of secret societies have permeated all facets of the Nigerian social life. Their diabolic, irreligious and immoral actions are, like the Harmattan fire, spreading at an alarming rate. Like an octopus, their tentacles have pierced nearly all facets of our institutions of higher learning.

The Police are urged to expedite professional action so that offenders may be arraigned and prosecuted, but it is disheartening to know that many of these individuals who should enforce these laws are in truth, full-fledged members of these societies—so much for lip service and hanky-panky!

Ungodly cult activities have made our citadel of learning into an altar of Moloch with its concomitant vampirism tendencies. These ‘cults of death’ have enthroned a culture of man’s inhumanity to man; they kill, they terrorize students and lecturers alike, they have made our institutions of learning into a Theater of the Absurd wherein they are law unto themselves!

With this mind-boggling state of affairs, couple with the lawlessness that attends to it, examinations have turned into a horrifying rat race. Success now greatly depends on one’s proficiency at malpractice. Cult members even intimidate lecturers to give them the scores they want which they have not deserved. Their infamy also finds them exploiting and abusing the female students sexually—and  are these the leaders of tomorrow?!

Believe it or not, these violent acts cannot but be driven by hard drugs: cocaine, heroin, Indian hemp, and other narcotics. In their temporal ‘madness’, they carry out their dreadful activities  because whatever senses they have are desensitized, and whatever morals they have are demoralized. Consequently, they mete out a myriad of vices without any qualms at all. Poor chaps join these societies in the hope of amassing riches, but, in the long run, they come out worse off and impoverished still. Some others join just to satisfy a craving for vice, a desire to be feared by all.

Conclusion

Menacing cult activities have besieged us all, but as their modus operandi, we haven’t the vaguest idea for it is enshrouded in secrecy. It is aginst the background of their secret and fiendish operations that they are being given a round condemnation. Let us therefore remain unallured and untainted by these cults of terror so that we shall hope they will be nipped in the bud soon enough. Only in that regard can we reasonably expect academic excellence in  our institutions of higher learning.