EFFECTS OF CULTISM IN OUR MODERN DAY SOCIETY

Cultism may be defined as any form or organization whose activities are exclusively kept away from the knowledge of others or the public but such activities are carried out at odd hours of the day, often clashes with the accepted norms and values of everyday life.

Despite the fact that all manners of evils (such as rape, robbery, arson, maiming, murder, killings, intimidation of fellow students or youths, lecturers for good grade, clashes with rival cult group, among others), many youths still finds it fashionable to engage in it for different reasons such as: the youths exuberance syndrome and the youths trying to behave like the university big boys around, lack of entrepreneurial development keeps these youths idle at home and an idle mind they say is the devils workshop, harsh economic conditions in the rural areas make these youths feel that membership in gangs will give them access to fire arms for robbery or other means of survival, and the location of university within and around these communities are reasons why youths engage in cultism.

However, in our different communities cultism has become the order of the day, our kids and word are member of different cult groups which unleash irreparable material loss, anguish, hatred, revenge, pains, and moral degradation on youths, families and the society at large.

In other words, I observed that youths groups, otherwise known as cults, were initially a tertiary institution affairs but then crept into all the nooks and crannies of our society, amidst teenagers in neighborhoods and in secondary schools. In the past four years till date in one of the community in Delta state (Ovwian, Udu L.G.A.) several buildings had been burnt with at least over 18 lives lost during clashes between these gangs, armed robbery incidents and drug abuse are on the increase every day.