By Ofonime Honesty
 |
| Cromwell |
The incessant confrontation between
students of secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State has been described as a direct
consequence of cultism.
This was handed down by the
Executive Director of the School to School Peace Initiative (SPI)/ Initiative for Child Education against Cultism
(ICEAC), Comrade Oliver Cromwell, in an interaction with this reporter.
The security expert decried that relevant
authorities are only paying lip service to anti-cultism advocacy and warned
that the issue, if not tackled, portends great danger for the society.
“Cultism which has permeated into the secondary
school system. Presently, there are more than 21 cult groups. Almost every
school has been indicted on these. These problems did not start today. Before
the introduction of the free and compulsory education policy, principals of
secondary schools partnered with advocacy and intelligence groups to tame
cultism, but the new education policy led to some readjustment. Relevant
authorities must rise to the occasion by doing the needful.”
On how the issue should be best tackled,
Cromwell recommended a multi-faceted approach which involves government,
security agencies, parents, teachers and churches combating the scourge and
enlightening children on the inherent dangers of cultism and gangsterism.
He also called on government to support
advocacy groups like the Initiative for Child Education Against Education
(ICEAC) in the task of curbing the menace.
“ICEAC needs support and collaboration in this
advocacy. We need support to print flyers, banners, souvenirs and organize
seminars. So far, we are providing voluntary services”, he concluded.
It could be recalled that recently students of
secondary schools especially those in Uyo metropolis have been at each other’s
throat.
The issue went a notch higher when students of
Ewet Technical College, Uyo, wrote a letter to the principal of Uyo High School
telling him to prepare his students for an impending bloody clash.
No comments:
Post a Comment