Cultism and Violence in Higher Institutions of Learning in Nigeria

7/27/2019 Cultism and Violence in Higher Institutions of Learning in Nigeria

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Cultism and Violence in Higher Institutions of Learning in Nigeria

Being Text of a Paper Presented by Mr Ben Oguntuase, NAS Capone at the Anti-Cult Week Symposium

organised by the University of Lagos on Wednesday, November 3, 1999 This Anti-Cult week marks

another important step towards dealing with one of the contemporary problems facing higher

education in Nigeria. The problems of the violence associated with "cultism" in higher institutions

reached a climax with the cruel massacre of five students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in

the early hours of July 10. I can say authoritatively that the trend towards cult violence started in the

early 1980s. I believe the first cult-related violent death occurred in 1984.

It is not very impressive of us as a nation that it took over fifteen years since the violence began and

nine years since the Pyrates Confraternity raised a national alarm on the trend before the nation

decided to rise up to the challenge and deal with the problems. However, under the circumstance, it is

better late than never. In this regard, I praise the organisers of this conference and sincerely hope that

concrete steps will be taken hereafter to tackle this problem once and for all. We really have no choice

on this. OAU must be the very last!

I have been asked to provide a perspective on "cultism" in Higher Institutions andd how to deal with its

associated problems. I hope that this topic is not intended by the organisers to mean that student

cultism is bad, while non-student cultism is good. What is certainly obvious to me is that there is at

present no national definition of the term "cultism". What I can read from the general public is that

fraternity equals cultism. Another shade of interpretation could rightly say that fraternity plus violence

equals cultism. I will attempt to define and distinguish between the two terms in this paper.

I will also attempt to provide some insight into the organisations we call students' cults and suggest

concrete ways to deal with the violence associated with them. I will also be informing you of steps

already taken to ensure a permanent end to this type of violence in all our higher institutions of

learning.

Finally for this preamble, let me state clearly that whatever is said during this conference is done in good

faith and with the overriding objective of terminating a menace, not to destroy or castigate anyone

willfully. Anyone who may be offended by what I say here today is hereby requested to take it as being

in the interest of the nation, the future of our youths and the protection of the dignity and integrity of

our higher institutions of learning which no doubt have been defiled.


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Who really are the so-called "cultists"?

When people talk of students cult groups, they in their sub-consciousness are referring to the following:

The Pyrates Confraternity

The Buccaneer Confraternity

The Eiye Confraternity

The Neo-Black Movement of Africa

The Vikings

The Mafia and lately,

The Daughters of Jezebel

The Black Braziers.

There are a few others such as Mgba Mgba, the Amazons, etc. that are really not significant enough for

discussion here although they should not be ignored.

The first four started out with noble ideals, which no one can really fault.

The Pyrates Confraternity set out to fight moribund convention, neo-colonialism, and tribalism and at

the same time, defend humanistic ideals while promoting comradeship and chivalry amongst its

members.


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Buccaneers set out to pursue the same goals as the PC and in fact broke out of the PC because of some

internal crisis.

The Eiye Confraternity started out as Eiye Group with the objective of promoting a balanced physical

and mental development with emphasis on sports and academic excellence.

The Neo-Black Movement was born out of their determination to fight for the restoration of the culture,

dignity and pride of the black man. Their establishment was in response to the Sharpeville and Soweto

massacres in South Africa. Its newspaper was called Black Axe (so named euphemistically as the Axe

with which to "cut" the white man and those keeping the black man in bondage). This name, Black Axe,

later became the synonym for the movement.

The Vikings and the Mafia were created by government during the regime of General Babangida for the

purpose of fighting student unionism in aid of the self succession programme of General Babangida and

later, of General Sani Abacha.

The Daughters of Jezebel and the Black Braziers were both female responses to the all-pervasive male

chauvinism and domination on campuses combined with the coincidental interest of the girl friends of

the members of the male groups.

The Pyrates Confraternity succeeded in remaining a fraternity without imbibing or internalising the

culture of violence. For various reasons, some of which we shall see later, they have become generally

acceptable to the public and the academic communities although they do not exist on campuses

anymore. They have largely succeeded in shedding the image of cultism.

The Buccaneers slipped into violence at some point and became neck-dip in intra-fraternity violence.However, before the bubble burst and perhaps taking a cue from the PC, they took steps to restructure

and re-organise in a way that rid their organisation of violence. Significantly, the Buccaneers have not

been involved in any of the campus violence in recent times.


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Much of the violence we have witnessed are traceable to the Eiye Confraternity, the Black Axe, the

Vikings and the Mafites as they are called.

In all, I will say that no less than a total of 150 students and others would have died as a result of intra-

fraternity rivalry in the last ten years. I am still working on this very awful statistics. It is significant to

note that while this amount of crime has been committed, no one has been successfully prosecuted to

the best of my knowledge.

{mospagebreak}

Who is Responsible?

We all are. Let us briefly review the hierarchy of responsibility.

The Government

Violence has for a long time been part of our political culture since independence starting with the crisis

in the West. Also, since independence, we have never had good governance. Even during the

democratic government in the second republic, the image of the Kill and Go police was overwhelming.

The military came and seriously dented civil conduct and deeply implanted in our psyche the culture of

violence. The most significant imprint of violence on our psyche took place in October 1986 when Dele

Giwa was issued the letter bomb.

We all know what followed; the unbridled breach of rights accompanied by torture and murder

sponsored by the state which all contributed to the pervasive culture of violence that enveloped the

land. No institution was spared.

Military governance also gave rise to extreme moral decadence in the society. Honour and integrity

were no longer virtues to be respected.


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The economic decay largely engendered by corrupt governance led to job insecurity, poor pay and

general job dissatisfaction. The result was massive brain drain from the academic community at a time

there was an explosion in University enrolment. This affected student/staff ratio with severe impact on

the quality and intensity of learning.

Alongside all these was failure to invest appropriately in the educational system leading to collapse of

facilities and decay of the academic environment.

Far more significant than all the above was the unwholesome infiltration of the groups and the large

scale impersonation that occurred. Under military sponsorship, a lot of crimes were committed which

were attributed to the fraternities. Armed robbers claimed to be cultists when arrested. The military

sponsored a lot of killings and other forms of violence and blamed it on the cultists in their well known

art of disinformation. Before long, this truth will be exposed.

The Institutions

They too contributed. University administrators became autocratic as they had to obey orders from the

powers that be made up of people who themselves did not have the benefit of higher education. The

impact of a General becoming the Vice Chancellor of a university with sole powers through military fiat

should not be lost. Regrettably, no Professor got appointed even a Brigade Commander, not to talk of

GOC. This major assault on the academia was not enough to trigger an ASUU strike in protest against a

clear debasement of their sphere of influence and control.

"Blocking", a system of grade purchase became rampant. A student need not go to class as long as he is

well connected, preferably if he is a cult member, or if she is beautiful and is willing to deal. Otherwise, if

he or she can pay the price, the grade is assured.

The absence of virile student unionism resulting from the Akanbi Panel recommendation that student

unionism be banned or at most be made voluntary contributed significantly to this problem. Although

five students died following the ABU crisis that gave birth to the Justice Akanbi panel, the adoption of

that recommendation enabled most Vice Chancellors to move in the direction of outright destruction of

student unionism. This created a vacuum that was exploited by the cultists over the years.


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Right under the watchful eyes of the University authorities, students sold bed and floor spaces to fellow

students with the connivance of Students Affairs Officers and Hall Wardens. In some cases, a 90 per

session bed space was sold for as high as 20,000 to 30,000.

We have it on good authority that these so-called cultists were used to settle personal scores on many

occasions. We had student versus student, lecturer versus lecturer, student versus lecturer. After all, a

Vice Chancellor once used them to harass and/or sack lecturers and student union executives.

When in those days, Professors and Lecturers were rushing to take government appointments, some of

us warned on the long-term danger of this unwholesome collaboration with the military and the danger

of erosion of the cherished autonomy of the institutions. Defending their autonomy and integrity clearly

became subordinate to the opportunity for personal enrichment that government appointments

offered.

Some Professors recruited these cultists in their campaign to become Vice Chancellors while others used

them to fight students unions. They were not so recruited because they were the best in intellect.

Rather, their disposition towards thuggery was the qualification required to make them suitable for

those assignments. Banning and un-banning students unions and ASUU became very much a fashion for

the military. The instability in student unionism promoted by the administrators on the orders of their

military masters clearly provided fertile ground for the growth of cultism and its attendant violence.

Given the large number of Psychologists, Sociologists and Social Scientists in the academic community, it

is significant to note that no major scientific study was carried out on the cult phenomenon. There was

no authoritative study and proposals on how to achieve modification in the behaviour of the cultists and

wean them from drug and violence throughout the fifteen-year reign of terror on our campuses.

Elsewhere, books would have been written, journals would have been awash with papers and articles

giving us all an insight into the psychometric profile of the student cultist.

As an aside, many of us still look forward for that Professor that will provide this nation an insight intothe mind and personality of Abacha (really the principal cultist) and the motivation for his voracious

appetite for wealth, women, power, and control.

{mospagebreak}


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The Students Unions

Many of them lost focus and assumed the very dictatorial and anarchist character of the military

regimes they claimed to be fighting. They became contemptible of all laws of the land. Operationally, it

became difficult to distinguish student union officers from the cultists. Whenever a student leader

wanted to "chop", he creates a crisis that sends the rest of the students out of campus. While managing

those artificial crises, they also managed their pockets. We know of Union Executive members who

collaborated with university administrators to trade bed spaces in the hostels.

Although it must be acknowledged that many students played significant roles in the struggle against

the military domination, they also contributed equally significantly to the moral decay that became the

lot of our higher institutions and the society at large.

Others

The media, the general public, parents, etc. also contributed their quota to the degeneration. We all

inadvertently massaged the ego of the criminals in the schools each time we called them cult members

and painted a picture of them as the ultimate in machismo. As if murder committed by a so-called cultist

is of a different category as that committed by any other citizen and therefore requires different judicial

approach, we failed to show the necessary resolve that would have put those murderers behind bars.

Up till now, I do not think we have learnt the lessons. Otherwise why would those arrested in

connection with the OAU incidence be charged before a Magistrate court which we all know lacks

jurisdiction over murder cases? Some say there is no law under which to try the murderous cultists.

Sounds more like an escape from responsibility. Ladies and Gentlemen, murder is murder regardless of

who the perpetrator is.

The "Cultists"

After all said and done, the cultists bear the most responsibility for the evil they have perpetrated.

Whatever outrage the public is now expressing against them is their own making. They derailed woefully


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from the principles and ideals of fraternity even as defined by them. Present perception of them as

dangerous monsters to be wiped out of existence was largely self-inflicted.

They lost control of their membership as they embarked on unrestrained recruitment of new members

in large numbers with some recruiting as many as 500 students in a session. Supremacy, control and

domination became major drivers of violence. Each group saw the academic institutions as private

kingdoms to lord over. Wars in the academic communities that were traditionally fought at the level of

intellect and scholarship became reduced to war of the barbarians with stone-age ferocity accompanied

by total disregard for the sanctity of life.

Number of personnel, size and sophistication of armory (real weapons) became vital to the strategic

equation of domination. All these were inspired, not by any idealism utopian or pedestal - but by

naked, primitive, raw ego. What baffled me most in all these was the callous manner our security forcesin some cases turned their eyes away and in others actively connived while these students acquired

these sophisticated weapons of mass destruction. Can you imagine a 15-year old student handling AK47

with the dexterity of a professional soldier! Who supplied the weapons and the training? Did anyone

care to ask?

In spite of all these, as I would soon show, the leaderships of these groups were not party to this orgy of

violence a fact that does not however fully purge them of vicarious liability. Once the state apparatus

under the military hijacked the organisations from these leaders through infiltration using the children

of the militaryand the elite who were well armed, the leadership became helpless and abandoned ship.

Yet, there were a lot they could have done.

What really is Fraternity?

Simply put, it is brotherhood. All over the world, fraternities among youths, especially the type

encouraged in higher institutions of learning, exist to foster brotherhood, collective aspiration and

pursuit of noble goals. They provide a platform for leadership capability development and provide aforum and opportunity for active participation in nation building. It was never intended to be an avenue

for exhibiting juvenile delinquency and unrestricted unrestrained, senseless, masochism. Least of all, it

was never intended to become an avenue to take or jeopardise life with impunity.


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Fraternity promotes active intellectualism. It demands a lifetime of sacrifice for the sake of humanity. It

requires fraternal members to place all others over and above their own narrow ego considerations. It

aspires to define and sustain a noble, sometimes utopian vision for society. It seeks to help create an

environment in which all can achieve their potential without let or hindrance. It seeks to destroy

artificial barriers that stand in the way of each and all fulfilling his or her worthy aspirations in life.

Fraternity is about challenge and how to meet those challenges of life squarely. It is about pulling up

those who are down and providing succour to the downtrodden. Fraternity is not about curtailment of

rights, it is about expansion of opportunity. Fraternity does not survive on fear, it flourishes on respect

earned.

Fraternity is about brotherhood that lets each one be his brother's keeper, it is not about parochialism

and narrow mindedness. It is not about secrecy, neither is it about cultism. It is a clear manifestation ofweakness and inferiority complex to result into cultism. No one aspiring to leadership does anything

noble under the cloak of secrecy or cover of darkness. Whatever anyone does that cannot be subjected

to public scrutiny and emerge unscathed is not worth it. Nobility does not thrive on empty bravado.

{mospagebreak}

And Cultism?

The term cultism as currently popularly used in Nigeria will seem to refer to any students' organisation

engaged in physical violence either on self or others and is suspected to engage in ritual or quasi-ritual

practices. Some wide opinions suggest members are charmed, drink blood and have no fear of anything

or anybody. For these and other reasons, anything cult is seen as bad.

In reality, this is not necessarily so. Not all cult groups are bad. Even in those cults that are considered

bad, some of the frightful ritually inclined activities they are alleged to engage in are more myth than

reality. There are Religious cults, Traditional cults, Social/Professional cults, and now Students cults.

Universally, there are two broad categories of cults namely:

Benign Cults - the good guys.


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Destructive Cults - the bad guys

On our campuses we have the two types. All usually set out as benign cults while some especially those

of concern to us today slip into the destructive category. We should not make any mistake in our

evaluation and classification of which category various students groups belong. There are clearly several

religious groups on campuses which on the surface appear benevolent but deep down are far more

destructive than those we currently associate with violence. If you are in doubt, read Professor Femi

Osofisan's analysis of the cult of ignorance in his article in The Comet of Sunday, September 12, 1999.

Religious fundamentalism enjoys more prominence today on our campuses than scholarly activities,

sports and research. We are all waiting on the Lord!

But let me use the following true-life stories to warn our fundamentalists and those encouraging them

over and above vigorous pursuit of academic liberalism and excellence on the potential problems they

might have to deal with in future if care is not taken.

Heaven's Gate which was founded by Marshall Applewhite, had 37 of their members commit suicide in

1997. They regarded their bodies as mere containers of their souls. Theirs was a curious mix of

Christianity and unusual belief in UFO. Their suicide mission was seen as a journey to the next plane of

blissful existence.

Solar Temple which was founded by Luc Jouret in 1977 was a form of Christianity mixed with New-Age

philosophy, homeopathic medicine and high finance. Their leader, Jouret, believed he was Christ.

Believing the world was coming to an end and the need not to be part of the apocalypse, a total of 43 of

their members transited voluntarily or by force in 1994 in a well-coordinated international suicide

enterprise.

Branch Davidians, Students of the Seven Seals was a group founded by David Koresh out of Seventh-dayAdventist Church in 1942. It's own doomsday theory anticipated a major battle when Christ comes back

to earth. Thus when 76 heavily armed officers of the American Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

(ATF) visited them in 1993 in Waco, Texas, they saw the invasion as the start of the Battle of

Armageddon. After the initial battle, 51-day siege and the final battle, 81 members and 4 ATF agents lost

their lives.


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One group that really shook the world was The Peoples Temple founded by Rev. Jim Jones. After facing

harassment in the US, the group moved to Jonestown, Guyana where they set up an agricultural

commune. The group's philosophy evolved from a social gospel that preached human freedom, equality

and love to what they later called Translation, a belief that all members must die together in order to

move to another planet for a life of bliss. In November 1978, this group murdered a US Congressman,

Leo Ryan, and four members of his entourage following which the group embarked on mass suicide and

murder that claimed the lives of 914 members.

At home, we know of our own "Jesus of Oyingbo" whose edifice at Maryland stands today as a

monument of religious pervasion and moral decadence. They called on the Lord, yes; but clearly it was

in vain. That was a clear example of a destructive cult in action in Nigeria.

All these groups were characterised by:

A strong charismatic but highly morally perverted leader well versed in mind control techniques. This

leader ultimately is usually seen as the Christ or even God.

A strong intra-group apocalyptic belief

A rabid obsession for eternal celestial purity even if that is to follow a life of moral bankruptcy on the

terrestrial plane. For them, an exalted end justifies whatever unorthodox means are employed in

arriving at that end.

Mostly intra-group directed violence arising happily from their selfish arrogation of celestial bliss to only

their members.

A secluded existence accompanied by an arrogant belief in their chosen superiority over others including

family members outside their group.

We should all look out for these traits in our religious fundamentalist groups we today epitomize as the

ideal students we would want all our students to become.


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I therefore say that the challenge before us today is how to eradicate all forms of violence in our higher

institutions without destroying the students constitutional right of association. At the same time, we will

like to see our campuses restored to their status as citadels of learning and development of character

based on the principle of liberal academic pursuit.

{mospagebreak}

What of others?

Before I go into solutions, let us briefly review the experience in the United States of America whose

path we seem to have decided to follow. College fraternity started in 1776 with the establishment of Phi

Beta Kappa at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia as a student revolt against English

discipline. It was also a revolt against the authority of the college and a student assertion of the rights of

assembly, free speech, independence and freedom.

Fraternities in the US adopt Greek letters as their names, and so we have Kappa Alpha, Chi Chi, Alpha

Delta Phi, Zeta Psi, Alpha Phi Alpha, etc.

Women also started their own and are called sororities with the establishment of the Adelphean Societywhich was a forerunner of I. C. Sorosis now called Pi Beta Phi. It was founded at Monmouth College,

Monmouth, Illinois in 1867. Kappa Alpha Theta soon followed in 1870 at the Indiana Asbury University.

America today has Social fraternities, Professional fraternities, Honor fraternities and Service fraternities

(and sororities in each case).

These fraternities and sororities operate in USA and Canada with chapters in some European

universities. According to statistics, by 1970s, American universities and colleges have approximately

300 intercollegiate societies with more than 21,000 operating chapters that had initiated nearly 10

million male and female students. They include 75 men's social fraternities with 2.8 million initiates; 35

women's social sororities with 1.5 million initiates; 65 men's professional fraternities with 1.3 million

initiates; 23 women's professional fraternities with 290,000 initiates; and approximately 4 million

members of honor, service and recognition societies.


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What these statistics portray in my view is that having fraternities on campuses is not the problem. It is

what they stand for, how we manage them and the environment under which they operate.

How did they do it?

Because they were borne out of dissidence, American fraternities also had their own ups and downs in

their relationship with the authorities. They were banned in some campuses at different times. For

example, all fraternities were abolished at Princeton University in the later part of the 19th century. In

1878, fraternities were banned at Virginia Military Institute and Virginia Polytechnic Institute. In the

1890s and early 1900s, reports have it that several states in the South prohibited Greek-letter

fraternities in state institutions. But today, fraternities in the US are nationally regarded as a vital source

of leadership training. They can boast of having produced many presidents of the United States,

senators, state governors and Supreme Court justices.

When fraternities became widespread and national control and order became imperative, the state

promoted with legislative support the establishment of various national bodies to exercise

administrative guidance and control over the various types of fraternities and sororities. Thus we have

the Association of College Honor Societies, the Professional Pan Hellenic Association, the Professional

Inter-fraternity Conference, the Pan Hellenic Council, the National Pan Hellenic Conference, and the

Inter Fraternity Council (IFC).

IFC for example is made up of representatives from member fraternities and regulate rushing

(recruitment) programs and procedures, promote amity among their constituents and inspire good

public relations through the conduct of Greek week and other inter-Greek functions. In many cases, a

Dean of fraternities is appointed to coordinate these programs and serve as Counselor to IFC leaders.

I cannot imagine any parent in America sending his child to a college or university today and will notlook forward to that child becoming a member of one fraternity or the other. They know clearly this is

not a voodoo enterprise.

Now let us come back home.


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What do we do?

Historical approach

Our approach to dealing with this problem had always been to view these organisations as evil to be

exterminated. We never saw anything positive about them to warrant encouragement and

collaboration. The more each organisation struggles to gain recognition, the more the repressive

machinery of state is visited on their members driving them underground only to re-emerge more

virulent, more vicious. In some cases however, others simply adopt new strategies to pursue their desire

for public recognition and acceptance.

The story of the Pyrates Confraternity clearly demonstrates the latter case. The PC is an organisation

that started out with very noble ideals in 1952, continued for a while along this path, slipped

momentarily into cultism, re-discovered its original identity, then took conscious steps to build on and

sustain those ideals of the founding fathers. The PC became an organisation that evolved out of campus

existence to an international organisation that continuously look for ways and means to be strategically

relevant to the society. Members of the Confraternity in fact do have an obsession for service to the

community while shying away from whatever privileges might eventually result from such service.

Thus, it campaigned against all odds to eliminate corruption at the Lagos and Ibadan tollgates but shied

away from the economic opportunity offered on a platter of gold to handle the contract to collect the

tolls. Even when it was clear to all that its members were making vital contribution to the Federal Road

Safety Corps as volunteer Special Marshals during the Corps glorious days, the organisation as a whole

avoided deriving any economic benefits from FRSC for fear of being seen as opportunistic with the

possible loss of integrity.

PC is one organisation that is very sensitive to public opinion of it. To the PC, perception is stronger than

reality.

The point being made here is that the Pyrates Confraternity since the 1980s took conscious steps to

ensure a good image and strong positive contribution to society. The logo was changed from the

"frightful" skull and crossed bones to one that is more friendly - the Sail.


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The PC, in order to be part of the new world of information, opened a web site that is very active in

discussing and disseminating news and commentary on contemporary events. Its coverage of the series

of elections leading to our new democratic order is fully reported on the site.

{mospagebreak}

All these changes were inspired by:

The active involvement and strong guidance of the leader of the founders, Professor Wole Soyinka. If

any possibility existed for drifting into violence and drug inspired behaviour, his Nobel Prize in Literature

put paid to that as that achievement represented a new level of aspiration for all members. Almost all

members are fired by the inspiration and the sudden realisation of the possibilities of global recognition

and honour if Professor Wole Soyinka could attain that height.

Many members are in positions of responsibility in the society and could trace their success partly to the

discipline acquired on deck while in school. The moral standard required of all members was so high that

it was almost impossible to go through without one form of infraction or the other. The practice was,

rather than lower the standard, it is the member violating the standard that must go. After all, it was no

friend, no foe. These senior members identified strongly with the organisation and resolved to re-shape

its character and reinforce it as a platform for developing leadership capacity among the youths. To

ensure this new direction is not jeopardized, the PC registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in

order to operate within acceptable legal framework and later pulled out of campuses in 1984.

Strong commitment to intellectualism, a discipline inculcated right from the school and reinforced by

the presence of Professor Wole Soyinka. During the student days, every deck was entitled to only 15

members as the "fifteen men on a dead man's chest". If no member graduates, you cannot take any new

member. Members having re-sits or recording outright failure were therefore seen as blockers of

rejuvenation. Rather than keep the PC stagnant, they were thrown out. No wonder members committed

themselves seriously to their studies which was a condition of continuing membership.

In spite of all the above, the Pyrates Confraternity as an organisation still suffered attack from the

authorities as recent as 1997 when 65 of its members were paraded before the Miscellaneous Offences

Tribunal accused of belonging to a secret cult. 10 others were detained in Enugu for attending the

wedding of their zonal leader just because the State Military Governor also attended the wedding not

minding that he too was just as much an invitee (or perhaps less) as the members.


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Happily, the judgements that came out of those cases are so profound that such treatment can never

happen again to the Pyrates Confraternity, at least so long as we are governed by the rule of law.

Unfortunately for others, the response to this assault from the state would have been to amass

weapons, mobilise and attack relatives of the oppressors in the cover of darkness and under the

influence of drugs and alcohol. The Pyrates Confraternity chose the legal approach which yielded far

greater dividend that no amount of killings and other forms of counter-torture would have ever

produced.

Current approach

Current approach to dealing with cultism is what I have characterised as the Search and Destroy

strategy. The Federal Government has provided large sums of money (10 million for federal and 5

million for state universities) to fight cultism. Total amount released is estimated at 500 million. Each

university has a panel set up to identify student cultists and have them renounce their membership.

We have seen in the newspapers and television stations various confessions and expressions of

penitence sometimes followed up with admission into the new religion to be born again. One university

claimed to have achieved the feat of having over 500 student-cultists surrender at a go. Just out of

curiosity, where were this university's administrators when such huge numbers were recruited into the

cults? Paradoxically, it was in that same university a former Vice Chancellor once used one of the so-

called cults to sack the entire Students Union government.

While I can understand why this approach was ordered, I am afraid, it will not solve the problem in the

long run, at least not given the method being adopted to induce these confessions and what is known of

the character of the leadership of one of the coordinating or collaborating movements, the Global Peace

or something like that.

I am aware that as much as N10,000 is being paid secretly to purchase these confessions by the

university committees. In some cases, students with existing disciplinary cases are being coerced into

agreeing to surrender or face expulsion. It does not matter if these students never belonged to any of

these groups in the first place.


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The Polytechnics and Colleges of Education are now proclaiming the existence of cults in their own

schools and therefore should enjoy the windfall. If money had not been involved, I bet they would have

proclaimed to high heaven the zero presence of cults on their campuses and demand a reward for their

outstanding success in keeping the evil at bay.

It is very clear that our present approach is wasteful, has the capacity to breed fraud and cannot solve

the problem. Whatever solution it achieves will at best be tentative. In all the circus shows going on, I

have not seen the involvement of our trained psychologists and sociologists. Yet, this is a psycho-

sociological problem.

{mospagebreak}

Rather than promote solutions that will reinforce the liberal culture and adventurism rooted in guided

curiosity that make Universities flourish in learning and research, our Universities have again embarked

on a path of regimentation of students rooted in one of the principal psychotropic agents indulged in by

a deprived people, religion. Born againism flourished today as one of the symptoms of our military

trauma. When democracy takes roots, what we will do when human souls begin to re-claim the beauty

and realities of this plane and gradually give up what is clearly a temporary solace in heaven propelled

by the frustrations of the moment?

In some cases, some university administrators have advocated that parents and guardians must sign

undertakings that their wards will be of good behaviour. Some have threatened that they will demand

photographs of each parent and guardian to enable their publication in the event of their ward

belonging to any of the assumedly undesirable groups. I hope we will extend this to University

Administrators who must provide photographs of their sureties when they take office so that those

photographs can be published in the event of any misdemeanor on the part of any of the

administrators. Quite apart, isn't there a point when an individual legally becomes an adult and is

therefore legally responsible for his or her behaviour? Our law books say it is 18. Or is one group of

adults more adult than others?

My plea is that we abandon this charade with its attendant illusion of success and deal with this problem

in a more fundamental and enlightened way that will achieve a lasting solution. Please let us remind


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ourselves we are no longer in the military era. We are now moving into the age of intellect and

excellence.

So which way forward?

I hereby submit that higher education in Nigeria has collapsed and require urgent attention. We have

arrived at a state of emergency in our educational system. The environmental issues that need to be

addressed include but are not limited to:

New admission procedure in which the continuing relevance of JAMB as the recruiting agency must be

reviewed. JAMB should at best do no more than set the national minimum standard of entry into the

higher institutions playing their role as the US Educational Testing Service that conducts the Scholastic

Aptitude Test (SAT). This role is of course necessary since the standard across secondary schools vary,

hence the need for JAMB to establish and sustain a universal standard. Each institution should

thereafter be free to admit its own students. One immediate fallout of this is that institutions with poor

record of performance will lose patronage while secondary schools with low college enrolment of their

students will either improve their standard or fold up.

Raise the staff/student ratio through improved condition of service for the lecturers and professors to a

level that will reverse the brain drain of the military era. Doing this will ensure students are better

engaged, better supervised, and better trained. A lecturer coping with over 250 students in one class

cannot produce the best trained graduates that can compete at international level.

Upgrade facilities in the hostels, libraries, bookshops, laboratories and lecture rooms with appropriate

teaching aids. We must return to academic excellence through research and scholarly pursuits.

Additionally, the institutions must be equipped with adequate sporting and recreational facilities for

their community. After all, they exist to promote character and learning.

Decongest the schools. Certainly not all who are in these institutions today are cut for higher education.

Many purchased their way in and bribed their way through. A return to merit has become imperative.

Embrace active and dynamic student unionism. This is even more imperative in a democratic setting.

Student Unionism through their elections, Executive, Student Representative Councils, all combine to


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provide informal training to these students in the art of democratic governance and assimilation of

democratic culture. After all, they are the leaders of tomorrow.

Conscious efforts must be made to develop and promote liberal academic culture. Restrictive approach

to education can not be in the long term interest of the society. Curiosity and adventure are part of the

attributes necessary for building a rich and diverse academic culture such that can ultimate deliver value

to the society. It is curiosity that triggers research into the unknown where all possibilities of nature are

explored without any hindrance.

The above are part of the ways to deal with the factors that make cultism and violence thrive. However,

more specifically, I will propose the following as the way forward to a permanent and lasting solution to

the problem of cultism and violence in our higher institutions.

{mospagebreak}

Rather than eliminate them (a potentially futile exercise), let us embrace what I have described as a

Rescue and Reform approach which assumes we are willing and have the capacity to embrace

fraternities as veritable platforms for leadership training and nation building. We cannot all be Lions,

Hyenas and Jackals! There is room for more within agreed boundary and rules of relationship.

The leadership of all the groups namely the Black Axe, Eiye Confraternity, the Buccaneer Confraternity

and of course the Pyrates Confraternity should be called upon to work with administrators of the higher

institutions (through sub-committees of the Committee of Vice Chancellors, the Conference of

Registrars, and the counterpart bodies in the Polytechnics and Colleges) under the co-ordination of the

Federal Ministry of Education to clean up the mess.

The leadership of the groups together with representatives of the academic community and the Ministry

of Education should constitute a National Inter-fraternity Council. If for whatever reason government

finds it uncomfortable at this time to openly be part of the Council, they can, through the Ministry ofEducation, provide the enabling environment for the council to exist. Whichever way it is achieved, the

Council will be charged with the following responsibility:

Identify all student members of each group including those groups not listed above and prepare the

comprehensive (complete) register of student members. There is no need to deal with people who are

faceless but perpetrate the worst of crimes.


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Screen all student members and identify those with criminal orientation and drug/alcohol abuse and

recommend them for appropriate treatment. Those who committed crimes especially murder and rape

should be made to face the law while those merely suffering from drug/alcohol addiction should be

provided expert treatment for rehabilitation. Those whose mental conditions are suspect and those withpoor orientation should also face expert psychologists for necessary treatment and de-briefing.

Establish guidelines for the existence and operation of fraternities on campuses and the means to

monitor and regulate their conduct. For any fraternity to exist, it must be accredited by the National

Inter-fraternity Council based on approved charter and as a condition of its recognition by any

institution.

Develop appropriate framework for minimising and dealing with inter-fraternity conflicts as well as

formulate programmes that will enhance inter-fraternity harmony through collaborative activities aimed

at providing service to the communities, and competitive activities as in sports and academics. For

example, a national fraternity day can be organised to promote inter-collegiate science, literary and

other competitions even at secondary school levels. There is nothing really frightful about fraternities.

We need not make monsters out of them.

Develop framework to monitor and report on the composite academic performance of each group and

their members and recommend appropriate rewards for academic and moral excellence therebyimbibing some of the traditions of the American Honour societies.

Develop a comprehensive programme to de-mystify all fraternities and bring into the open all activities.

Ritualistic tendencies and physically excruciating tasks associated with initiation should be expunged

thus placing more emphasis on the intellect than on the physique. In the same vein, all vestiges of terror

and danger contained in their paraphernalia should be jettisoned in favour of symbolism that will enjoy

public appeal.

In tribute to all those who have lost their lives, the National Inter-fraternity Council should compile a

complete catalogue of all violent activities that took place over the years and the losses that attended

each violence. The lists of all those who died should be compiled on a monument to be erected on each

campus to serve as permanent reminder to all fraternity members and indeed all students of the pain

and agony of violence. The monument so erected should contain the pledge, NEVER AGAIN. The Council


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will then formally apologise to the nation on behalf of their members for the horrors of the past.

Meanwhile a campus peace endowment should be set up by this Council to be awarded each year to the

best student and/or students' organisation in the name of these victims of the senseless violence of the

past.

Put up a programme to disarm all their members and surrender the weapons to the authorities. Those

not willing to give up their weapons voluntarily should be reported to the authorities for necessary

action. Those who supply the weapons to the students and those who train them should be identified

and appropriate actions taken by the government to terminate their sinister activities. Action to be

taken by the government need not be punitive considering they too might need the services of our

psychologists. Please note carefully that present efforts do not seem to address this vital part of cult

violence in schools.

In addition to all these, each institution should establish a Students' Societies Registration Council (SSRC)

comprising students' representatives, the faculties and the Students Affairs Office. This council will

review the charter of each student society, register them including their members, approve and monitor

their activities. They will also deal with all issues that may arise in the course of students' rights to form

associations. The Council, SSRC, will maintain the record of all students' societies, their membership as

well as programme of activities. This council will also publish at the end of each session comparative

academic performance of these societies, a practice that will definitely awaken the consciousness of

each group to their realities. This should be the basis for the expression of any ego.

In conclusion, please consider

If we say because these organisations have committed so much acts of terror in the past we should

therefore eliminate them, we may be throwing away the baby with the bath water. Some day, they will

come back. I submit that no other organisation has committed the worst acts of violence against this

country than the military. Yet, we are not throwing away the military. Instead, we went ahead to elect

one of them as our President and agreed that what they require is re-orientation and re-structuring. As

it is with the military, in my humble view, given the potentially beneficial impact fraternities can and

should have in managing our restless youths, so let it be with the fraternities.

Ladies and Gentlemen, ours should be a nation governed by men who have the capacity to forgive and

heal wounds. We should not be a nation that will deny opportunity for reform for her aberrant citizens.

We must be willing to rescue and reform the worst of us while protecting the bests of us. If we have the

will, we can find the way.


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Thank you.

Documents

Cultism and Violence in Higher Institutions of Learning in Nigeria