CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background
to the Study
Tertiary institutions in Nigeria are expected to play
a major role in the country’s human resources development and to serve as
vibrant centers of productive research and academic excellence. In recent times,
cult violence has become a serious bane among tertiary institutions in Nigeria;
and intensely so in the last two decades. Quite unfortunately too, tertiary
institutions in Nigeria are the major critical target point where the bulk of
adolescent offenders are either students or stakeholders who constitute the
high risks and also pose challenges to institutional managers who are at the
receiving ends of youth violence and psycho-pathological carnage in university
campuses (Austin, 2009).
Most of the extant literatures that have ventured to
study the phenomenon have been preoccupied mainly with magnifying the
implications of secret cult activities in Nigerian universities which includes
youth carnage on campuses commonly referred to as cult wars, thuggery at
political events/activities, motor parks “overthrows”, rivalry for the same
girl/woman referred to as macho-violence, gang rape, drug-related violence,
assault on lives and property, indiscriminate use of light weapons, dangerous
arms, and the resultant disruption of academic calendar (Austin, 2009). According
to Austin (2009, p.1) “a major factor
working in the favour of cult groups is mass ignorance on the part of students
especially the new students who are hoodwinked and deceived in joining their
dead cemeteries”
Secret
cult activities have and are still causing hindrance in the smooth flow of
academic curricula in Nigerian tertiary institutions. There is no doubt that
the phenomenon of campus secret cults is negative development in tertiary
institutions and has destroyed and still destroying the value of academic life,
meaningful co-existence, the pursuit of academic excellence and inter-personal
relations required in academic community. However, students are not prevented from
forming social groups like clubs and other social gatherings but when the
groups turn into culture of violence; posing as factors detrimental to
democracy and inimical to the development of manpower required for the emancipation
of Nigeria, then they should be discouraged. It is against this note that this research study is anchored on
investigating how public relations could be used to eradicate cultism in order
to create acceptable social order in Nigerian tertiary institutions with a
focus on Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
In
doing this, the researcher drew inspiration from George Santayama’s quotation
that “those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it”. For the
purposes of empirical analyses in the later part of this study, a secondary
survey of the history of public relations, cultism, and its various names, mode
of operations, objectives and modes of initiation has been conducted.
1.1.1
Origin and Development of Public Relations in Nigeria
The
development of public relations practice in Nigeria originated from the British
colonial government. As a result of the unpopularity of government policies and
measures (conscription, taxation, scarcity of essential goods, etc.) and
growing tension among the populace, the British colonial government felt the
need for an organ to create a favourable local image for its war efforts.
During the colonial period, a lot of government activities were shrouded in
secrecy, which made the words and actions of the government very suspicious. Consequently,
it established the first information office in Lagos in 1942 with the aim of
disseminating war messages in which many Nigerian service men were involved. As
a result, the colonial government deemed it fit to establish public relations
unit known as War Information Office.
In
1944, the Information Office was renamed Public
Relations Office under the leadership of D.C. Fletcher. In 1947, the Public
Relations Office was renamed Public
Relations Department under the leadership of Harold Cooper. The Public
Relations Department introduced regular press briefings and issued news
releases frequently. It also published magazines such as the Nigerian Review,
etc.
According
to Asemah (2011), the public relations department established branch offices in
the regional capitals of Ibadan, Kaduna, and Enugu in line with the regional
set-up brought about by the Richards constitution. The aim of the public
relations department was to calm the tension of Nigerians and to create an
atmosphere where British colonial policies could face no resistance. During
this period, 64 Nigerians (most of whom were former journalists) including
Cyprian Ekwensi, Peter Enahoro, Ayo Lijadu, and Sam Epelle were employed as
publicity officers. In 1954, the public relations department was also renamed
to Nigerian Information Service and
this was the predecessor of the present day Nigerian
Ministry of Information.
British
colonial government led the way in setting up public relations practice in Nigeria.
This was closely followed by statutory corporations and agencies, The
Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN) now Power Holding Company of Nigeria
(PHCN) was one of the first government parastatals and agencies to establish a
public relations unit when in 1950 it established public relations department
to carry out its mutual relationship with customers. The Nigerian Railway Corporation
set up a public relations department with late Sam Epelle as the public
relations officer. Other government institutions that contributed to the
development of public relations in Nigeria included the University College
Hospital, Ibadan (1956) with Scott Emuakpor as the first PRO, the Customs and
Excise (1960) with Alex Akinyele as the PRO (Asemah, 2011).
Within
the private sector, the United Africa Company (UAC) played the pioneering role
in establishing public relations department in 1949. The department was located
at the old Niger house, Marina Lagos, and from there, it spread out to other
branches of the company at Kaduna and Enugu. Contributions of UAC to the growth
of public relations is reflected in the fact that most of the public relations
experts in Nigeria and who can be referred to as the foundation members of the
Nigerian Institute of Public Relations once worked for UAC (National Open
University of Nigeria, 2010).
Asemah
(2011) posited that the enviable position that public relations has attained in
Nigeria today can be ascribed to the efforts of the Nigerian Institute of
Public Relations (NIPR). To help create ethical standards in the fledging
profession, Sam Epelle, one-time director of information in Nigeria, Tonye
Willie-Harry, Ilhaz Yakubu, H.K Offonry and Bob Ogbuagu founded the Public
Relations Association of Nigeria (PRAN). With the formation of PRAN, public
relations developed and assumed professional status (Asemah, 2011).
After
PRAN was launched in Lagos in 1963, it gradually spread to regional
headquarters beginning with Enugu and Port Harcourt. The effort put in place by
Sam Epelle in 1961 when he initiated the formation of a body that would
“professionally think, plan, practice and live public relations in Nigeria”
finally bore fruit with Sam Epelle as the Coordinator of PRAN. As the number of
practitioners increased with better objectives, PRAN widened and developed into
the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations in 1972, again with Sam Epelle as
the first president. The promulgation of the institution’s decree No. 16 of
1990 under the leadership of Mike Okereke placed public relations on a higher
status. The practice of public relations is so important that every corporate
social responsible institution now take the operation of public relations
seriously including tertiary institutions (Asemah, 2011).
1.1.2 Emergence of
Cultism in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions
Cult,
according to Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary (1990) means the system of
religious worship, especially one that is expressed in rituals. It has its
rituals, which comes up to sacrifices with animals and sometimes human beings
resulting to killings and destruction of property that are rife in the society.
According to The Anchor (1999), a pamphlet on secret cults, in
the late 40s, the higher institutions in Nigeria were not associated with
secret societies. The first secret cult in Nigeria came into existence in 1952
when a group of seven students led by Wole Agunloye founded the Seadogs
Confraternity also known as Pyrate in the University of Ibadan. The sole
objective of founding the cult was to fight colonialism, ensure the dignity of
man and to rid the Nigerian society of elitism and tribalism. Members of the
confraternity engaged in humanitarian services such as donation of blood to
hospitals to save lives and presentation of food items to less privilege.
Although they left school for different locations, yet they remained members of
the organization. Twenty year later, the Pyrates Confraternity witnessed a
significant change. Rancour led to factions and divisions that broke the
monopoly of the Pyrates. It began with the breaking away of a faction of the
group known as the Buccaneers confraternity in the campus scene in the year
1972
According to The Anchor (1999), there was a great deal of
rivalry among members of the Pirate Confraternity that led to the formation of
another group known as the Buccaneers or Sea lords. The Great Split of the
1980’s witnessed the formation of more groups which include the Black Axe, Black
Cats, Maphites, and Vikings among others
Some
of these cults, which describe themselves as “Black this” or “Black
that”, are characterized by militancy and daredevil objectives. With the
liberalization of admission to institutions of higher learning, the adoption of
the “carry over system”, the entrenchment of military rule and easy access to
weapons of violence, the campus cults in the 1990’s became very dangerous
movements. The Black berets and Black T-shirts are insignia of the Black
movements. There were, of course, bloody clashes among the rival cults. The
notoriety of a cult became too obvious as its members engaged in activities
that celebrate violence. Today in Nigeria, there is hardly any tertiary institution
which has not suffered the adverse effects of the activities of secret cults
which are characterized by violence (Hamza, 2012).
According
to Hamza (2012) there are many reasons students join secret cult groups on
campuses. Some of these reasons include search for security, popularity, power,
peer group pressure, poor home training, and indiscipline among others. New
initiates are always eager to taste the feeling of expressing ‘protected power’
by indulging into fight, rape, stealing, and killing. And the end result
usually indicates destruction of lives and property thereby straining an
already existing peace and mutual relationship in the society. This research
study is therefore timely because it is anchored on investigation how public
relations could be used to eradicate cultism especially in Olabisi Onabanjo
University in order to foster peaceful co-existence.
1.2 Statement of the
Problem
Ritualistic
tendencies, display of acts of terrorism and the wanton destruction of lives
and property perpetrated by members of secret cults have become grave social
malady on and outside university campuses. According to Hamza (2012) cited in
Egwu (2003, p.4)
the phenomenon of campus cult is
negative development in tertiary institutions and has destroyed the value of
academic life, meaningful co-existence, pursuit of academic excellence and
inter-personal relations required in academic community.
Cultism has created a dangerous sense of
insecurity due to destruction of lives and property in Nigerian tertiary
institutions.Secret cult activities
in Nigerian universities are creating fears in the social interactions among
students and lecturers. Many researchers have suggested ways in which cultism
can be eliminated in tertiary institutions and the society at large but the
problem of cultism keeps increasing. Therefore, the problem this study seeks to
resolve is that how can public relations be used as a tool for eradicating
cultism in Nigerian tertiary institutions especially Olabisi Onabanjo
University, Ago-Iwoye?
1.3 Objectives of the
Study
The
aim of this research study is to use public relations to eradicate cultism and
its activities in Nigerian tertiary institutions especially in Olabisi Onabanjo
University, Ago-Iwoye. In order to achieve this aim, the following objectives
were formulated to:
1. Investigate
how public relations can be used to eradicate cultism in Olabisi Onabanjo
University, Ago-Iwoye.
2. Find out the
extent to which public relations has been used in eradicating cultism in Olabisi
Onabanjo University.
3. Investigate
the factors that can hinder public relations as a veritable tool for
eradicating cultism in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
4. Ascertain
other means in which cultism can be eradicated in Olabisi Onabanjo University,
Ago-Iwoye.
1.4
Research
Questions
To
guide this research study, the following questions were used:
1. How
can public relations be used to eradicate cultism in Olabisi Onabanjo
University?
2. To
what extent has public relations been used as a veritable tool for eradicating
cultism in Olabisi Onabanjo University?
3. What
are the factors that could hinder public relations as a veritable tool for
eradicating cultism in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye?
4. What
other PR strategy could be used to eradicate cultism in Olabisi Onabanjo
University, Ago-Iwoye?
1.5
Scope
of the Study
According
to Asemah, Gujbawu, Ekareafo and Okpanachi (2012) there are two types of scope
of study. The first scope of study in any research work is content scope while
the second scope is the geographical scope. Thus, this research study has
public relations conference and cultism as its content scope while Olabisi
Onabanjo University stands as the geographical scope.This study is anchored on Olabisi Onabanjo University as a scope
because cases of cultism have been seen around High-Court and Angwan-Lambu
residential areas of the institution.
1.6 Significance of the
Study
According
to Asemah (2011) knowledge is gained in every research work because researchers
in no small measure add value to existing knowledge in different fields of
studies. As the study investigated
how public relations can be used to eradicate cultism in tertiary institutions,
the results of the study are of significance to the myriad of groups and
individuals whom are exposed to these activities and practices. The
implications for education and human resource development in tertiary
institutions, their communities, the law enforcement agencies, policy makers
are that the cult activities and practices undermine the functions and
activities of these institutions and policy makers would be in better position
to formulate and enforce preventive measures to cultic activities.
For tertiary institutions especially Olabisi Onabanjo
University, the findings provide information on cultism and violence which they
may need to come up with informed policies to address the issue of cultism on their
campuses.
Further, the findings bring out the ills of cultism
and its effect on students, the learning process and the communities, thus
creating awareness in the minds of all stakeholders in education and
galvanizing them for positive action to end the menace and create awareness for
change of attitude and behaviour.
The study also provides information for law
enforcement agencies in order to improve existing laws, rules and regulations
regarding students engaged in cultism and violence on tertiary institutions and
the public.
Also, the study is significant because it provides
suggestions on how to combat the problem of cultism on campuses and engender
and inject good values and practices into the minds of those students who might
be supporting cultism on tertiary campuses.
Communities associated with cultism will find
significance in the results of the study because it will create awareness about
the ills of the menace and collective effort will be made to end it.Students, lecturers and other researchers may find this study
useful in the area of research.
1.7
Operational
Definitions of Significant Terms
The following terms are defined as applied in
the study:
i.
Public
Relations: A communication practice that
establishes and maintains mutual understanding and relationship between two
parties in order to have a peaceful co-existence.
ii.
Management:
This refers to a combination of human and material resources in order to
achieve either a self or institutional goal
iii.
Conference:
This is a well-planned and organised
discussion in a particular place between or among two or more parties for the
purpose of arriving to an agreement on how to live a better life.
iv.
Veritable:
This refers to something that is
special.
v.
Tool:
An instrument or implement either real
or abstract that can be used to achieve a goal
vi.
Eradicating:
literarily,
this means putting an end to something such as cultism
vii.
Cultism:
Cultism refers to a group of people who
indulge in worship activities that is not part of any established religion.
Their activities include occult practices such as initiations, blood covenant,
oath taking, and stealing, killing, raping and other demonic activities.
viii.
Tertiary:
This refers to an advanced level of a
practice or course.