CULTISM

SS 1 CIVIC EDUCATION

3rd Term

CULTISM

Definition of cultism: Cultism may be defined as a secret or extreme organizations or groups whose activities are kept away from non-members of the organization. Most of their activities are done in secret because such activities have negative connotations. Cults exploit their members in so many ways. They have signs and symbols that are known only to their members and they also have stringent rules and regulations that must be kept judiciously by all members at all times no matter the circumstances.

Different cult groups

1.       Pyrates confraternity

2.       Black axe

3.       Buccaneer

4.       Eiye

5.       Vikings

6.       Red devils

7.       Knight Cadets

8.       Red Sea Horses

9.       Black Cats

10.   The Green Barets

11.   The Klu Klu Klan (K.K.K)

12.   The Mgba Mgba Brothers

Female secret cults include:

13.   Daughters of Jezebel

14.   The Dirty bra

15.   The Black Queens

16.   The White Angels

17.   Dirty Virgins

Origin of cultism

The first secret cult established in Nigeria was the Pyrates confraternity, popularly known as the Seadogs Confraternity formed in 1952 at the University College, Ibadan, by a group of students including Wole Soyinka, Sylvanus Egbuchie, Olomuyiwa Awe, Ralph Opara and a host of others. Their symbol is the skull and cross bones. The reasons for its establishment at that time were majorly to ensure freedom and nationalism, to protect  and promote human rights, to engage in public sanitation and so on.

After some years, those members who were dissatisfied with the methods of operations of the pyrates decided to form their different confraternities. Buccaneers Cnfraternity was formed at UNIBEN in 1970 by Nolaji Carew. Eiye Confraternity was formed in UNI-IBADAN by Adogoke Adeniyi. Supreme Vikings was formed in UNIPORT. Black axe was formed in UNIBEN  in 1984. The early part of 1990 saw an influx of the other secret cults mentioned above.

Reasons for establishing and joining cults

1.       Academic weakness: some students that are academically very lazy believe that they can force their lecturers to increase their scores by letting them know that they are members of a cult.

2.       Parental influence: some children from a family with history of cult membership might take pride in following the footstep of their forebears in joining a cult.

3.       Broken homes: broken homes give rise to many malfunctions in child development, and this may make the youth from such family to seek and find a more consolidated family in a cult.

4.       Lack of moral discipline: this makes the child to see nothing wrong with the indecent activities of the cult, and therefore desire to join them.

5.       Youthful exuberance: some youth seek various means of expending their excess energy, and they think that cult activities could be a viable means. 

6.       Anger against society: some youth who feel neglected by the society join cults in order to vent their anger on the society.

7.       Perceived injustice: some people join cults just to pay someone else back for the wrong done to them.

8.       Inordinate ambition: an ambition that contradicts common good can lead someone into joining a secret cult. E.g. the desire to become extremely rich at all cost.

9.       Influence of the mass media: through untrue stories and edited videos that make impossibility look possible, and this inspires a failed attempt for which the youth might seek supernatural powers to put up such feats.

10.   Corruption in Government: when the exiting government is too corrupt, some people constitute themselves into a cult to push them out of power and bring new persons of their own making.

Consequences of cultism.

1.       Expulsion

2.       Violence

3.       Murder

4.       Unfulfilled dreams

5.       Shattered destiny

6.       Increase in crime rate

7.       rape

Preventive measures against cultism

1.       Appropriate family setting

2.       Child upbringing in the fear of God

3.       Inspiring a wholesome ambition in the child or youth and following it up

4.       Counseling

5.       Public awareness against cultism

6.       Clearly defined rules and regulations:

7.       Eradication of corruption

8.       Legislation against cultism

Government’s effort in preventing cultism

1.       They make legislations against it

2.       They establish anti-cultism squads

Some states have neighborhood watch