____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract
This study examines the issue of cultism and gansterism in Nigerian tertiary institution, focused on Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education Oto-Ijanikin and Lagos State University, Ojo as case study. The current aggressive tendencies and violent behaviours of Nigerian students were investigated the genesis, causes and their effect on moral development of the learners were equally considered. One hundred students, 50 from each institution were involved in the study. The findings reveal that cults and gangsters’ activities in the two campuses and other tertiary institutions in Nigeria is an epitome of moral decadence thus, affect their academic and moral development. It therefore connotes that if hands are not on deck to wage war against these two virulent school diseases, Nigerian institutions will constantly nurture and breed indisciplined people. It is recommended that parents should be made to sign a deed of undertaking before their children could be admitted in school, the school security department should be equipped with modern and sophisticated security gadgets, universities and colleges should established a well equipped guidance and counselling unit and that Religious Education as a core subject should be made compulsory. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Keywords: cultism, gansterism, tertiary institutions, undergraduate students __________________________________________________________________________________________ ITRODUCTIO
Research on cultism and gangsterism has long being the interest of educational sociologists and psychologists experts. An examination of the Nigerian Tertiary Institutions today would reveal the use of dangerous weapons, sexual harassment, dwindling in the standard of the undergraduate, uncommitted and less dedicated lecturers to mention few. Raufu in Pemede (2000) reported that the problem of secret cult with its associated problem like killing, extortion, rape, maiming, stealing and other social vices in our tertiary institutions have permanently imprinted the issue in the mind of the average Nigeria. Odubunmi (1998) pointed out that many members of the society including the high placed one tend not to worry about these two pathogenic and virulent school diseases and so on. The question is, if education is regarded as the process by which the new members of the society are equipped with acceptable skills, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, moral and values of the society then what model of moral standard are we inculcating through the process of education?
Ogunsanya (2000) reported that Cultism on campus emerged as a result of social unacceptable behaviour of media explosion, importation of foreign culture, the internet and junk magazine inclusive which overwhelm the Youths so that they fall prey to their effect. In view of this Mohammed (2004) asserted that the level of hooliganism among the students of tertiary institutions has risen very highly. It is a common phenomenon to see our students (male and
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female) conducting themselves in manner not different from what tout do. In the same vein, Badejo (2004) quoted Oyediran (1996) opined that secret cult menace in our universities might not be unconnected with drug which some students use. Oni (2005) in his thesis reported that aggression has the second high effect on cult membership. Direct effect 4.33% of the total effect, indirect 0.24% of the total effect. Thus, aggression account for 0.5% of the total effect of cult membership. On this note, Holloway (1989) explains that the view that aggression or violence is mindless, random, or inexplicable, has been seriously questioned. Two alternatives but opposed conceptions of human aggression have been offered instead, one suggests that human violence is based on evolutionary mechanism for regulating social conduct. The other proposes that human societies impose stresses which in turn produce aggression as an abnormal response. Concept of Cultism and Gangsterism
Odubunmi (1998) sees gangsterism as Secret Cult in our campuses. Gangsterism is seen as a group of criminals especially those who are armed and use guns or group of students acting as terrorists within the school system. He further asserts that once the group holds their meeting in secret, they are Secret Cults. The word Cultism may be referred to as the formation of a group of initiates or adherent round the figure of a god, a saint or even a living being. It may involve the practice of a particular doctrine