Prince Obioma Oburuoga,
Cultism is derived from the Latin word ‘Occulere’, meaning something hidden, concealed, mystical, secret. Cultism is a kind of engagement by people whose goals are not genuine. Cultism is demeaning factor that has affected the progress of Nigerian Universities.
The growth, therefore, of cultism in Nigerian tertiary institutions have continued to undermine efforts of governments and stakeholders in the education sector.
The evolution of cultism did not turn out well as it was originally planned. In 1952 at the University of Ibadan, Professor Wole Soyinka, the Noble Laureate Prize Winner, started an organization with a group of friends and named it ‘Pyrate’. Their primary purpose was to fight against tribalism, encourage new ideas, among other noble ideals, but that would not last long as another group called ‘Buccaneers’ without the original goals sprout up which ushered in a new era of rivalry, intimidation and bloodshed.
Till today no Nigerian University can boast of a perfect measure on how to avoid cultism. However, Gregory University Uturu, from inception had developed a blue print on how to tackle the menace.
The Chancellor/ Founder, Professor Gregory Ikechukwu Ibe, a renowned entrepreneur, who before now had taught in different Universities in Nigeria, devised several methods aimed at checkmating the cankerworm. With the assistance of the management led by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Augustine Uwakwe, they maintained that every scholar must reside inside the school. This way the overall activities of the students are monitored and cult activities as well as other forms of indiscipline are curtailed.
Secondly, recreational facilities were provided to promote positive engagement with students by keeping them busy. Professor Ibe, believes that if students engaged in activities that instill in them a sense of worth and make them feel assured of a good future, they are less likely to get carried away with promises made by cult groups.
To buttress that fact, the institution engages the scholars in several activities ranging from different forms of sporting activities, music, drama among others.
Thirdly, the university avoids any form of political activities on campus. The President of the students Union is usually selected among the most brilliant scholars, this does not give room for campaigns or other forms of intimidation.
The management made it a punishable offence for any scholar to be found outside his or her room later than 10 pm.
Apart from the internal security employed by the institution, an external security outfit was contracted to ensure strong synergy in protecting both scholars and staff.
The saying that an idle mind is devils workshop, perhaps informed why every scholar in Gregory University Uturu, must learn one or two skills while on campus. Infact they begin their entrepreneurial classes in their second year, with the Chancellor Professor Gregory Ibe as their teacher. All these keep them busy and little time for cult activities.
Recently, sophisticated drug testing equipments were procured by the Chancellor. Using these facilities, the school management is able to quickly discover any scholar involved in drug abuse.
Finally, the school set up a well integrated information system that involves students. Over time it has developed what it called “Spy Students”.
Ten years down the line, Gregory University Uturu can rightly be said to have developed time tested strategies to check indiscipline and cultism.
