It is a great privilege to stand before this august gathering to give this treatise on how to curb cultism in Edo State.
Firstly, we need to understand what Cultism is all about.
Meaning of cultism
Cultism can be defined as a ritual practiced by a group of people which membership advantage, policy and initiation formalities as well as their mode of operations are done in secret with their activities having negative effect on the society. It means that cultism presupposes two scenarios – ritual and secrecy. It does mean that Cultism is not just illegal, it is nocturnal and an activity of the underworld.
The emergence of cultism is tied to the existence of occultism as an integral part of the pre- colonial Nigeria without mentioning any name. There have been secret societies that have dominated and still dominate our national scene.
The first breakaway from the occult system to cultism is tied to the activities of a prominent Nigerian Intellectual who birthed the concept of a group of students in Nigeria’s premier University that fought the oppressive tendencies of lecturers.
These oppressive tendencies of lecturers in the University generated the tension that birthed cultism.
The amazing thing is that this group is still intact, admitting only graduates who have a particular grade in any Nigerian university.
This group however had a splinter group that also had another splinter and kept going on and on until we got to this perilous stage of mindless killings tied to cultism and cult related activities.
We are presently now in a dire state and membership of cult groups are now in the millions, nationwide and even worldwide.
The constitution provides for a Right of Freedom Association and Peaceful Assembly. This right is an inviolable right, which is one of the Fundamental Human Rights. You can therefore belong to any organisation of your choice in so far you engage in lawful activities.
However, where you begin to procure guns, organise yourselves into terror cells, for which your major objective is to kill your neighbour just because he wears a different colour of T-shirts that you do, then you are a terrorist. That is why a state like Delta State enacted the Delta State Anti-terrorism Law, which is used to curb cultism.
One of the sore points of the fight against cultism in Edo State was the way and manner that the government of former Governor Godwin Obaseki had handled cultism with kid gloves.
I am particularly enthused by the grave measures being taken by the current Edo State Governor, His Excellency Senator Monday Okpebholo. Desperate situations, require desperate measures.
There were almost daily killings of young promising Edo youths due to the intractable issue of cultism. Cults were treating human beings as scores, as if was a football match. That was indeed a season of blood, as human beings were treated like animals, killed with reckless abandon.
The actions of the Edo State Governor, His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo, upon assuming office, with the help of the respected Commissioner of Police, Edo State, CP Monday Agbonika, FDC, were firm, profound and deep. His Excellency hit at the root of the issues and the actions taken have created a huge success in the fight against cultism. Desperate Situation requires Desperate Measures. The positive actions of the Edo State Governor have contributed immensely to the utmost reduction of cult related activities in Edo State.
The successes recorded in the fight against Cultism in Edo State is an indication that we can achieve our set goals as a people if we are sincere in our approach to fight any vice in our society.
There are, however, some issues that require some attention. The fight for the leadership of communities for control of land is one of the drivers of cultism in Edo State.
There is an unwritten rule of the division of some parts of Benin City along the command and control of some cultists. This issue should be looked into with a semblance of proprietary as the cult war appears to have been subsumed in the leadership of communities’ control wars. If this is allowed to happen it will make cultism more lucrative and it could drive the vices to other control points like politics and commerce.
The way forward
There is a Benin aphorism that says “Akugbe E’ etin” meaning “Unity is Strength”. It is important that we find other thriving ventures that will occupy our youth and give them a better life.
The strength being used to fight one another under the guise of cultism, can be used to fight for resource control in Edo State. The Edo State resource control trimester is something that should be discussed, as the state’s huge human resources are being frittered away by those who are taking advantage of us, while our youth kill themselves over colours.
The Petroleum Industry Act, (PIA) provides that 5 percent of the operational cost of oil companies operating in any community in Nigeria be used to set up a community trust, to be controlled by the community, for the development of the community and growth of human resources. This has not been done by the Oil Operators and Oil Regulators, but our youth are restive in reverse, choosing to kill themselves over frivolities, while the real deal is taken out of Benin through weekend flights, to Lagos and Abuja.
It is important that we redirect the strength of our youth to champion resource control and developmental strides due to our natural resources, that Edo State is endowed with.
In this vein, our youth should drive the purpose to set up Community Trusts to get the sum required by the Petroleum Industry Act. It is also important that our youth get surveillance contracts and get a share of the production sharing contracts of oil majors and oil servicing companies.
The Ologbo Modular Refinery remains the only one in Nigeria that does not have a pre-construction MoU, construction MoU, and post-construction MoU.
The NNPC E & P did an employment recently and only employed one Edo indigene against the Federal Character provisions in the Constitution.
My team is ready to provide substantial legal support to give legal bite to this issue as the ripple effect can keep our youths occupied, thereby making cultism no longer attractive.
It is important for us to find a way to keep our youth occupied with economic activities, which will bring progress to our communities and prosperity to our homes.
The Edo State Police Command under leadership of CP Monday Agbonika, has shown that proper law enforcement can lead to decimation of crimes. The far-reaching efforts at ensuring there was a sweeping enforcement process made some dreaded cultists to relocate from Edo.
To our youths that are presently here, I call on you to abhor cultism. At the university which I attended, I know at least five of our contemporaries that died from their involvement in cultism. They are gone and buried six feet under the ground and dead men don’t tell tales.
I advise you face you book and forget about Facebook for now, or you face your book on Facebook.
Social media has a way of influencing our Youth negatively and I advise you to abhor the worst of social media and accept the best.
I will suggest the setting up of Anti-Cultism Clubs in schools. This will help us to engage our youths in productive activities.
All these will go a long way in solving the cult related issues in Edo State.
It was a great privilege to share this stage with you and hope to see you all at the top.
Thank you for listening and God bless you!
Douglas Ogbankwa Esq.,
Convener,
Security Situation Room.
