Cultism: Oni urges committee of VCs to adopt common front

The Deputy National Chairman (South), the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Segun Oni, has advised the Committee of Vice- Chancellors of Nigerian Universities to adopt common approach to solving the cultism in the country.

Oni, also a former Governor of Ekiti State further urged the committee to adopt similar approach for stemming other vices rampaging the nation’s higher institutions.

Oni gave the advice in a statement signed by his media aide, Steve Alabi in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday.

He said the common approach would ensure that former cultists, who sometimes returned to the universities as members of staff and students were prevented from infiltrating the campuses.

“The Committee of Vice-Chancellors must brace up to the challenges of cultism, which has become one of the most potent evils of the recent time.

“They need to organise those students who do not belong to cults and security agents into anti-cult vanguards to monitor and check the activities of cultists on our campuses.

‘’They should report cult members to the university authorities and law enforcement agents,” Oni further advised.

The former governor was reacting to the spate of killing at the Ekiti State University (EKSU), where three students were killed in the last one week by people suspected to be cultists.

“All of us: parents, university authorities, religious groups, government and non-governmental organisations and agencies must join hands to combat this menace in our tertiary institutions once and for all.

He expressed concern that the moral fabric of the society might be torn into pieces, if such approach was not adopted.

“The greatest threat facing our tertiary institutions today is cultism.

‘’The menace and the aggressiveness of cult members and cult related violent clashes and activities in most tertiary institutions have caused the sudden death of lecturers and students.

‘’We must bring this to a decisive end.”

Oni identified other evils afflicting campuses in the higher institutions to include: examination malpractice, rape, robbery, intimidation of fellow students and lecturers for good grades.

Oni also urged government, non-governmental organisations and the media to step up their campaigns against cultism and its destructive tendencies.

He said that evil nature of cultism should be explained to young people in schools at all levels through sensitisation, seminars, workshops, symposia, posters, handbills and public lectures.

Oni also advised parents to desist from being members of secret cults and also prevent their children from joining bad group.

“Religious and moral instructions and education should be re-introduced in all spheres of lives and the decadent society should be spiritually reawakened by joint effort with parents, religious organisations, and governments.

‘’Parents should be more vigilant concerning the activities of their children within and outside the home.”

Oni, who is an aspirant in the 2018 Ekiti state governorship election, promised to improve facilities and living conditions in the state’s institutions of higher learning, if re-elected.

The deputy national chairman expressed optimism that his vision for the state in this regard would effectively check cultism on the campuses in the state.