CURBING the spread of cultism is one of the challenges the nation’s tertiary institutions are facing at the moment.
Although violent clashes among cult groups have resulted in the loss of innocent lives, the violence, is however, gradually reducing, compared to the early 1990s when cult wars was at an all time high.
Given the consequences of cult membership, various Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have stepped in to educate students — both secondary and tertiary institutions — on why it is dangerous to be members of cult groups.
One of such NGOs is the Community Leadership Initiative, a.k.a Project Humanity, an organisation that discourages students from joining cults. The NGO held a seminar for students of All Saints College, Ibadan, on what to expect, especially on the overtures they will receive from groups when they are admitted to tertiary institution to become members.
The seminar, which was a collaboration between the school and the NGO, was to prepare the students for the future, so that they would not, due to ignorance, find themselves in illegal associations.
While advising the students, the Project Manager of the NGO, Destiny Emmanuel, highlighted the consequences of students belonging to secret associations.
He said such membership could derail their future, as secret associations encourage that can destroy one’s life, like drug abuse, alcoholism, gangsterism, robbery e.t.c, while calling on students to shun actions that could derail their life ambitions.
While also speaking, an ex-cult member, Evangelist Daniel Osita, recounted how he suffered before he got admission to the university and how he was lured into cultism while at the university.
Evangelist Osita then exposed the gimmicks cult groups use in recruiting their members to the students, saying they usually pretend that the association is out to help the person being lured, but in the end, after the person has joined them, their real activities will then be known.
“At that point, the person would have joined, and there would be great consequences if he says he is no longer interested in being part of the illegal association. While speaking earlier, the principal of the school, Mrs. O. P. Akeju, advised the students to learn a thing or two from the experiences of the Resource Persons.
One of the senior teachers in the school, Mr. Daniel Ogundairo, then charged the students not to forget what they had learned at the seminar, saying their success in life also depended on not being under the bondage of secret societies.
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