Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Ogunyemi Ayodele Oluwasegun: The predictive ability of the world intellectual c...
Ogunyemi Ayodele Oluwasegun: The predictive ability of the world intellectual c...: The predictive ability of the world intellectual class is to study the past and the present in order to lay an empirical analysis on the fut...
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The predictive ability of the world intellectual class is to study the past and the present in order to lay an empirical analysis on the future, which is one of the most imperative capability of intellectualism. Every generation relies on the ability of the youths to take over the leadership of the nation and develop it to a better and conducive atmosphere. In fact, one of the intrinsic objectives of establishing academic institutions is to mould and breed youths that will be instrumental to the development of their nation. Alas, these citadels of learning including secondary schools have been turned into training camps to breed violent and destructive youths.
The recrudesces of cult clashes in our schools in recent times highlights the need for a concerted and a multi-prong action to tame it, if not totally eradicate the cankerworm, which has eaten deep into every fabrics of our academics and social milieu.
At a closer look, the clashes between cult groups suggest the failure of the strategies adopted by the school authorities, state and federal governments in 1999 to curb the activities of these cultists. Most renunciation programmes organised in the past have only done little or nothing to effect the needed changes.
For example, between 1993 and 2000, over four hundred Nigerian students lost their lives nationwide due to cult activities. Ditto between 1999 and 2008 when Nigeria lost over 2,800 youths to cultism. In September 2001, there was a serious outbreak of cult-related violence in Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu. Eight students were brutally murdered. At Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, 12 people died in 2001, the climax of this dastard clashes at the school was when a Business Administration student was brutally murdered in an examination hall! Astonishingly, 11 more students were killed the next day. Later in November 2003, a lecturer, Tony Iloegbona (acting Head of Department, Enugu State University Technology, ESUT) was also murdered.
On the May12, 2003, serial tragedies struck the University of Ilorin with the news of the killing of Geography’s lecturer, Dr. Abiodun Sunday Adeyemi, and four other students. They were shot dead in circumstances traced to cult activities. On March 9, 2004, Vincent Oloho, a final year medical student of the University of Benin was murdered and over twelve deaths were recorded in Benin as a result of the fracas. Before March 9, a popular student, Tokunbo (a.k.a TBS), of Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, the leader of the Supreme Eiye Confraternity fell to the bullets of a rival cultists, he was in Higher National Diploma II (part time) when life was snuffed out of him. Four others died as the war for supremacy continued in the same school.
In February 2004, Yomi Edeki of University of Benin was murdered; this was a prelude to the murder of Vincent Oloho and others. In March 2005, eighteen students were killed at University of Calabar. Four other students were brutally murdered at University of Nigeria. On July 10, 2005, two innocent citizens were murdered by cultist, a passerby and a barber in Yenegoa and on July 11 of the same year, a student was shot dead in front of the gates of the University of Lagos.
Of recent, there have been bloodbaths due to cult activities at the University of PortHarcourt. Three students were beheaded at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. There were also unrecorded cases of cult clashes at University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (UNAB), University of Ado Ekiti (UNAD), Lagos State University (LASU) among others. The big question now is, are the cultists stronger than the government? Why is the society so numb about cultism?
The activities of these cult groups on our campuses call for a new approach if the government is desperate to stop bloodshed on Nigerian schools. Worst still, the vice is fast spreading into the private universities, public and private secondary schools. The question is, was the cult clash like this before? What is happening? What could be behind these acts? What hope is there for reducing or eliminating this vicious crime against humanity? What has gone wrong? The answers to these questions are not far fetched.
Corruption and the insincerity of purpose on the part of school administrators and security operatives had made the campaign against cultism a money making venture. Hundreds of millions went into the jamboree or should I call it carnival that was tagged renunciation between 1999 and 2000, and the result of such experiment was the increase in killings on our campuses. This is due to the shady and shameless manner at which school administrators and others vested with such responsibilities handled the project. In most cases, students (cultists) were either compelled or hired (non cultists) to pose as cultists by school authorities to cover up their inability, inefficiency and incompetence to identify, chasten, rehabilitate, and re-integrate renounced cultists into the academic and social society.
The recent call by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education to step up the war against cultism is a welcome development even if it is well overdue. The fear of the general public is that of mistrust and apprehension, a stakeholder asked: “Will D Banj or 2face be invited to perform in the forth coming jamboree? What system have they put in place to make these derailed youths renounce their membership of these fiendish groups? How much money will they, again, waste in this process? What have they been able to learn from the past mistakes?
It is an established fact that most of the school security networks in most institutions are very porous. Many cultists are parading themselves as students on campuses whereas they are lay about (non students) that do not have anything to loose or gain in an academic setting. They often hide themselves under the umbrella of paramilitary organizations e.g. Cadets, Man “O” War and the Student’s Union Government (S.U.G). It is a known fact that 70 percent of student’s leaders are deeply involved in campus cultism even to the national body (National Association of Nigerian Students). The fight against cultism on campuses should not be solely left in the hands of schools’ administrators because they themselves benefits from the violence. From experience, they use them (cultists) to achieve one aim or the other.
Our political leaders should also come out straight in the quest to rid our nation of these academic and social misfits called cultists. In September 2006, the Senate Committee on Education chaired by Senator Joy Emordi in collaboration with Exam Ethics Project organized a retreat at Rockview Hotel, Abuja, tagged “Education Stakeholders Consultative Retreat on Combating Campus Cultism”. But it was a very rude shock to participants who after paying the N35, 000 (thirty five thousand naira participation fee), Emordi backed out of the retreat due to her alleged threats from cultists. If Emordi can be threatened by cultists, then what can the school administrators do? Are these cultists invisible? Is it really true that they have a strong political backing? Can this war against cultism be won?
It is high time the appropriate authorities and agencies started taking more conscious, sincere and proactive steps towards bringing a lasting solution to the menace plaguing not only our academic society, but our social and political societies. The government of President Umaru Ya’adua has done well in his fight against anti graft and wastages in our federal ministries; it will also be appreciated if he will take a serious look into this menace that is almost becoming a phenomenon. we aall have to join hands to bring about a change, please join us lets save the youths of Ngeria
The recrudesces of cult clashes in our schools in recent times highlights the need for a concerted and a multi-prong action to tame it, if not totally eradicate the cankerworm, which has eaten deep into every fabrics of our academics and social milieu.
At a closer look, the clashes between cult groups suggest the failure of the strategies adopted by the school authorities, state and federal governments in 1999 to curb the activities of these cultists. Most renunciation programmes organised in the past have only done little or nothing to effect the needed changes.
For example, between 1993 and 2000, over four hundred Nigerian students lost their lives nationwide due to cult activities. Ditto between 1999 and 2008 when Nigeria lost over 2,800 youths to cultism. In September 2001, there was a serious outbreak of cult-related violence in Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu. Eight students were brutally murdered. At Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, 12 people died in 2001, the climax of this dastard clashes at the school was when a Business Administration student was brutally murdered in an examination hall! Astonishingly, 11 more students were killed the next day. Later in November 2003, a lecturer, Tony Iloegbona (acting Head of Department, Enugu State University Technology, ESUT) was also murdered.
On the May12, 2003, serial tragedies struck the University of Ilorin with the news of the killing of Geography’s lecturer, Dr. Abiodun Sunday Adeyemi, and four other students. They were shot dead in circumstances traced to cult activities. On March 9, 2004, Vincent Oloho, a final year medical student of the University of Benin was murdered and over twelve deaths were recorded in Benin as a result of the fracas. Before March 9, a popular student, Tokunbo (a.k.a TBS), of Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, the leader of the Supreme Eiye Confraternity fell to the bullets of a rival cultists, he was in Higher National Diploma II (part time) when life was snuffed out of him. Four others died as the war for supremacy continued in the same school.
In February 2004, Yomi Edeki of University of Benin was murdered; this was a prelude to the murder of Vincent Oloho and others. In March 2005, eighteen students were killed at University of Calabar. Four other students were brutally murdered at University of Nigeria. On July 10, 2005, two innocent citizens were murdered by cultist, a passerby and a barber in Yenegoa and on July 11 of the same year, a student was shot dead in front of the gates of the University of Lagos.
Of recent, there have been bloodbaths due to cult activities at the University of PortHarcourt. Three students were beheaded at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. There were also unrecorded cases of cult clashes at University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (UNAB), University of Ado Ekiti (UNAD), Lagos State University (LASU) among others. The big question now is, are the cultists stronger than the government? Why is the society so numb about cultism?
The activities of these cult groups on our campuses call for a new approach if the government is desperate to stop bloodshed on Nigerian schools. Worst still, the vice is fast spreading into the private universities, public and private secondary schools. The question is, was the cult clash like this before? What is happening? What could be behind these acts? What hope is there for reducing or eliminating this vicious crime against humanity? What has gone wrong? The answers to these questions are not far fetched.
Corruption and the insincerity of purpose on the part of school administrators and security operatives had made the campaign against cultism a money making venture. Hundreds of millions went into the jamboree or should I call it carnival that was tagged renunciation between 1999 and 2000, and the result of such experiment was the increase in killings on our campuses. This is due to the shady and shameless manner at which school administrators and others vested with such responsibilities handled the project. In most cases, students (cultists) were either compelled or hired (non cultists) to pose as cultists by school authorities to cover up their inability, inefficiency and incompetence to identify, chasten, rehabilitate, and re-integrate renounced cultists into the academic and social society.
The recent call by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education to step up the war against cultism is a welcome development even if it is well overdue. The fear of the general public is that of mistrust and apprehension, a stakeholder asked: “Will D Banj or 2face be invited to perform in the forth coming jamboree? What system have they put in place to make these derailed youths renounce their membership of these fiendish groups? How much money will they, again, waste in this process? What have they been able to learn from the past mistakes?
It is an established fact that most of the school security networks in most institutions are very porous. Many cultists are parading themselves as students on campuses whereas they are lay about (non students) that do not have anything to loose or gain in an academic setting. They often hide themselves under the umbrella of paramilitary organizations e.g. Cadets, Man “O” War and the Student’s Union Government (S.U.G). It is a known fact that 70 percent of student’s leaders are deeply involved in campus cultism even to the national body (National Association of Nigerian Students). The fight against cultism on campuses should not be solely left in the hands of schools’ administrators because they themselves benefits from the violence. From experience, they use them (cultists) to achieve one aim or the other.
Our political leaders should also come out straight in the quest to rid our nation of these academic and social misfits called cultists. In September 2006, the Senate Committee on Education chaired by Senator Joy Emordi in collaboration with Exam Ethics Project organized a retreat at Rockview Hotel, Abuja, tagged “Education Stakeholders Consultative Retreat on Combating Campus Cultism”. But it was a very rude shock to participants who after paying the N35, 000 (thirty five thousand naira participation fee), Emordi backed out of the retreat due to her alleged threats from cultists. If Emordi can be threatened by cultists, then what can the school administrators do? Are these cultists invisible? Is it really true that they have a strong political backing? Can this war against cultism be won?
It is high time the appropriate authorities and agencies started taking more conscious, sincere and proactive steps towards bringing a lasting solution to the menace plaguing not only our academic society, but our social and political societies. The government of President Umaru Ya’adua has done well in his fight against anti graft and wastages in our federal ministries; it will also be appreciated if he will take a serious look into this menace that is almost becoming a phenomenon. we aall have to join hands to bring about a change, please join us lets save the youths of Ngeria
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