PUBLIC RELATIONS AS A VERITABLE TOOL FOR ERADICATING CULTISM IN NIGERIAN'S TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

1.1 Introduction

Public relations is defined as a planned and sustained efforts by a library association or a library authority to promote librarianship within a given community or society. Similarly, according to Harlow, public relations is a distinctive management function which helps to establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and co-operation between an organization and keep informed on and responsive to public opinion defines and emphasis the responsibility of management to serve the public interest, help management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends, and uses research and sound and ethical communication techniques as its principals tools.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background to the Study

Cultism is dated back to 1952, when Wole Soyinka winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize for Literature-and a group of friends at the University of Ibadan formed the Pyrates Confraternity with the motto “Against all Conventions”. The skull and cross bones were their insignia, cultivating a bohemian style that ridiculed the colonial attitudes mode of dress of the day.

This caught on among students and over the next two decades, the fraternity, a non-violent body, became established in all the tertiary institutions that emerged in post-independence Nigeria.

The emergence of campus cults as they are known in Nigeria today began with a split in the Pyrates Confraternity during the early 1970s when a breakaway group formed the Buccaneers Confraternity followed by the emergence of the Black Axe or the Neo-Black Movement. Inter-group rivalry then set in, even though skirmishes between them were limited to fist fights.

The 1980s saw the multiplication of cults in the more than 300 tertiary institutions across Nigeria as new groups such as the Eiye, Vikings, Amazons and Jezebel emerged, bringing with them more intensely violent rivalry. By 1984, when Soyinka initiated the abolition of the Pyrates Confraternity in all tertiary institutions, the phenomenon of violent had developed a life of its own.

By the mid-1980s, reports had it that some of the cults have been co-opted by elements in the intelligence and security services serving the military government such that they were used as foils to the left-wing student unions which, along with university teachers, were among the only remaining bastions of opposition to military rule. Cultism includes the activities of secret cults or societies that are very rampant in our institutions of learning today. The founding fathers of such societies do not have the mind of carrying out evils but as a pressure group that can monitor and defend the interest of the immorality of students' populace without violence. But the activities of the various cults seen day in our institutions are far from the above reasons.

They have constituted themselves into gangs of “never-do-well” set of people. Their mission today is to loot, kill, steal and destroy lives and properties at will. The violence associated with them is reported to be as a result of battles for supremacy among them. They have constituted themselves into a big cog in the wheel of Nigeria's education development. Indeed, the growth and maturation of examination malpractice tendencies in our tertiary institutions have been considered as one of the direct fallouts of cultism. Hardly a month passes these days, without reports of deaths of students or staff resulting from cult-related violence.

This has not only created an atmosphere of insecurity in our campuses, it is also diverting attention from the primary purpose of the universities which is education. At a time when funding of these institutions are inadequate, and the standard of education is said to be falling, cultism and examination malpractices tendencies are clearly a big problem for the concerned authorities.

Taiwo (2004) declared that “what we are all witnessing today in the education sector is a sad reflection of corruption in the society and the low priority placed on standardization and improvement of the intellectual custodians of our time by those in governance”. This is against the fact that most members of these cults are from rich homes and are never serious with their studies; thus prompting their venturing into examination malpractices. Whenever they fail their courses, they react violently through their cult members against the teachers in charge of their failed courses.

They operate at night and conduct initiation of new members at dawn in these institutions coming out with dangerous weapons at the middle of the nights when students who are ignorant of their activities fall victim. The recent arrest of some students who were believed to be cult members at Esa-Oke Federal Technical College serves as typical case in point.

The fire of cult terrorism on the campuses which raged on for about one year, after the half-heated spray of cult antidote by the Federal Government in 1999, has steadily intensified and burst into flames once more. In the first two weeks of August 2004, 33 students of three universities were brutally murdered in cultic butcheries, suspected to have been perpetuated by cult members among students of tertiary institutions.

Therefore, in Federal Polytechnic Auchi where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Public Relations as a Veritable Tool for Eradicating Cultism in Nigerian’s Tertiary Institutions.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

The basic conditions for sustained academic culture have been eroded in OAU. The institution has fallen into disrepute and the products of the institution are no more what they used to be. Cult activities are seriously affecting all academic activities.

Sometimes students are attracted in hostiles classrooms, bus tops etc. daylight and gang raping becomes the order of the day; killing of students by members of cult is no longer news, therefore the need to eradicate this problem in AUCHIPOLY through public relations communication becomes imperative.

Public relations as problems solving communication is expected to create the necessary enlightenment for the students of AUCHIPOLY and awaken then no what is needed of them in an academic community like AUCHIPOLY, especially now that various levels of government and the general over hand of all Nigerian’s Tertiary Institutions.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the Public Relations as a Veritable Tool for Eradicating Cultism in Nigerian’s Tertiary Institutions using Federal Polytechnic Auchi as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To know the reasons for joining cultism on campus.
2. To examine the policies and programmes of AUCHIPOLY management in cubing cultism.
3. To find out if AUCHIPOLY has laws that will help students resist joining of secret cults.
4. To examine the measure the school authority has taken in cubing cultism.
5. To study the various challenges the cultists groups have caused on the school activities.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• To what extent does non-information on cultism and its damager to AUCHIPOLY students have prevented school to cub it?
• What are the reasons for joining cultism on campus?
• Does AUCHIPOLY management have policies and programmes in place to in cubing cultism?
• Does AUCHIPOLY have laws that can help students resist joining of secret cults?
• What are the various problems the cultists groups have caused on campus?

1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: The public relations department of AUCHIPOLY has not been mobilizing and encouraging the students to support any crusade against cultism.
• H1: The public relations department of AUCHIPOLY has been mobilizing and encouraging the students to support crusade against cultism.

Hypothesis Two

• H0: The non-information on cultism has not cursed any damage to AUCHIPOLY students.
• H1: The non-information on cultism has cursed a lot of damage to AUCHIPOLY students.

1.7 Significance of Study

The relevance of this study cannot be over-emphasized in that:

1. The research will help to excavate the evolution and the remote causes of this problem and proffer an enduring solution to it in AUCHIPOLY in particular and the whole nation at large.
2. This study is also significant because it will awaken the AUCHIPOLY management and other educational institutions of the importance of public relations as an effective and wonderful tool for solving any institutional problems of whatever ramifications.
3. The study is equally significant because it will make one know the modus operandi of these secret cults nationwide. Also their names and headquarters are equally covered by this study.
4. The research will help to excavate the evolution and the remote causes of cultism on campuses and proffer and enduring solutions to it. It will awaken the management of institutions on how to use public relations to cub cultism.
5. Students will also benefit from this work, by knowing how to resist joining cultism. Public Relations department will know how to carry out their duties to cub cultism on campus.

1.8 Scope of Study

This research focuses on public relations as veritable tools for eradicating cultism in Nigeria tertiary institution using Federal Polytechnic Auchi as a case study. However, due to time, finance and other logistics the work has been narrowed down to AUCHIPOLY, since it is difficult to study all Nigeria Higher Institutions, therefore, demography of AUCHIPOLY will be considered before distributing the research instrument.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

1.10 Conceptual and Operational Definition Of Terms

CON: Public - is any group or segment with which the organization has relations or interacts with in the course of its corporations or practices.

OP: Public - the segment the organization has relations or interaction with: the workers, students and management.

CON: Public Relations - is a deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its public.

OP: Public Relations - Any form of techniques employed by the school authority influencing students and promoting good will and favorably reputation among its public.