By Alie Turay
The Vice Chancellor of Njala University and Principal of the University’s Moconde campus, Prof. Abu Sesay has condemned cultism and called for a united force to fight and ban its existence in institutions of higher learning in the country.
He said heads of higher institutions of learning should join hands to fight against cultism in colleges and universities in Sierra Leone and to ensure its extinction. He made this call during the convocation ceremony of the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology at their Goderich campus.
Prof. Sesay said tertiary institutions have become “hotbeds of cultism”. He noted that repeated warnings to students to refrain from establishing cults in these institutions have so far fallen on deaf ears. He stated that most disappointingly to him is the fact that many staff members including lecturers are seriously involved in cultism practiced by the students.
He described the practice as “satanic and the way of the devil” that involves “horrible acts that violate the rights of the perpetrators and their victims”.
Prof. Sesay therefore called on all institutions of higher learning in the country to come together in unison to find a lasting solution “to this uncivilized practice being practiced in our institutions of learning that are to produce educated citizens that should take responsibility for the country’s future.” He maintained that no one institution can succeed in this fight alone. He pointed out that if not curtailed, cultism, with the rate of growth and the influence it is having on students, “this menace will tarnish the image of our institutions and our nation,” he warned.
He further stated that it is the sacred responsibility of the college administrations to ensure that students are allowed to indulge only in those practices that are acceptable in civilized communities.
He recalled that fraternities and social clubs have existed almost as long as the universities have existed, with some of them being members of some of those fraternities and social clubs, but noted that the goals and practices then were purely social and were in perfect conformity with civilized norms as outlined in rules and regulations of those institutions.
