By Chijioke Okoronkwo
Abuja – The National Association of Nigeria (NAN) has recommended that entry and exit points into school premises should be strictly for students and staff with valid identity cards to avoid access for non-students.
NANS President, Chinonso Obasi, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja on measures to curb cultism in tertiary institutions.
He said that rules should be strengthened to entrench justice and build confidence in institutions of learning instead of considering cultism as alternative means to fight oppression on campuses.
Obasi said that there should be frequent campaigns against cultism and its implications to ensure that students were informed.
Besides, the students leader said that amnesty should be granted to repentant cultists as well as rehabilitating them into the society.
“The measure of students’ performance through character must be prioritised; lecturers must stop compromising students’ attendance to classes.
“Efforts should be made to ensure that every student lives in a school hostel.
“The school security unit must have a data base of all students with a day-to-day surveillance on those whose characters are questionable,’’ said Obasi.
He identified cultism as the genesis of criminality among youths in Nigeria of today which exposed them to arm possession, thurgery and untimely death in the course of rivalry clashes.
Obasi said that the menace of cultism deserved drastic measures to discourage students’ involvement.
“To end this act of cultism on campuses, we must take care of some cogent factors that drag students to join cult groups.
“Institutions must adhere strictly to carrying capacity, mass admission and over-crowding are major causes of cultism;
“over population gives birth to admission of rogues among decent ones.
“Desperation to pass examination at all cost also push students to join cult groups to threaten lecturers and students to influence examination and tests.
“Institutions should be encouraged to ensure that all students including withdrawn students’ parents or guidiants are notified of their wards’ academic performance after every semester.
“This is to ensure the drop outs or withdrawn students do not stay back in the institution’s environment to practice cultism,’’ he said. (NAN)