Economic Survival and Campus Cultism: Towards a Reconceptualization of Violence on Nigerian Universities

Abstract

Purpose: While it is true that concern should be expressed with the incessant conflicts in Africa, it is also true that the ramifications are very wide. One recurring conflict in the 1990s Nigeria’s educational institutions is the conflict generated among rival cult groups that seemed to defy solution. Several students and, in some cases, lecturers have lost their lives yet there seems to be no end to these killings which seem to occur unexpectedly. Methodology: Applying a sub-cultural group theory, this article analyzed the prevalent factor responsible of this phenomenon. Starting with the analysis of the relations between what it takes to survive in Nigeria and the emergence of violence on campuses of institutions of higher learning, the article suggests that the failure of higher institutions to effectively perform its integrative role, thereby becoming a space for delinquent gang groups, may be connected to failed economic policies. Findings: it argues that it may not be totally true to call the various students groups involved in the on-campus conflict ‘cult’ as their activities and rituals are devoid of any spiritual or religious elements but more about contestations about space and survival. It concludes by suggesting some probable solutions. Conclusion: the educational institution needs to rethink the curricula in relation to the survival of the society wherein what is taught is not based on ‘individualistic but communal virtues.