Emmanuel Omobolaji A. September 28, 2018


I recommend you read this on the original post at https://www.campustrends.com.ng/2018/09/history-and-origin-of-cult-groups-in.html.



What is commonly know in other Countries as a confraternity in other countries is mostly called Cult groups here in Nigeria, well they are more or less the same.




Confraternities or Cult-groups are secret-society like student groups within higher Institutions(Yeah, higher institution because that's my focus).


History of Confraternities In Nigeria



In 1952, future-Nobel Prize winning author Wole Soyinka alongside Ralph Opara, Ikhehare Aig-Imokhuede, Sylvanus Egbuchie, Nathaniel Oyelola, Pius Oleghe, Olumuyiwa Wonderment formed the Pyrate Confraternity at the elite University College, Ibadan(now University of Ibadan), then part of the University of London.

According to the Pyrates, the "Magnificent Seven", as they called themselves, observed that the university was populated with wealthy students associated with the colonial powers and a few poorer students striving in manner and dress to be accepted by the more advantaged students, while social life was dictated by tribal affiliation.


Soyinka would later note that the Pyrates wanted to differentiate themselves from "stodgy establishment and its pretentious products in a new educational institution different from a culture of hypocritical and affluent middleclass, different from alienated colonial aristocrats".The organization adopted the motto "Against all conventions", the skull and crossbones as their logo, while members adopted confraternity names such as "Cap'n Blood" and "Long John Silver".

Also Read: 10 Things To Avoid If You Are After A First Class Degree

When fellow students protested a proposal to build a railroad across the road leading to the university, fearing that easier transportation would make the university less exclusive, the Pyrates successfully ridiculed the argument as elitist. Roughly analogous to the fraternities and sororities of North America, the Pyrates Confraternity proved popular among students, even after the original members moved on. Membership was open to any promising male student, regardless of tribe or race, but selection was stringent and most applicants were denied. For almost 20 years, the Pyrates were the only confraternity on Nigerian campuses.


What happened next, they splitted.
I guess the question on your mind is how right,

Also Read: 7 Effective Steps To Studying Better

read on.




In the late 1960s, campuses were greatly affected by the Nigerian Civil War. Details of which I couldn't get, but it appears that in 1972 Bolaji Carew and several others were expelled from the Pyrates for failing to meet expected standards. In reaction to this and other events, the Pyrates registered themselves under the name National Association of Seadogs (NAS) and, at least one source states, pulled the confraternity out of the universities. Carew went on to found the Buccaneers Confraternity (also called the National Associations of Sea Lords and it is popularly called 'the slots'), largely copying the Seadogs' structure, symbols and ceremonies.

Buccaneers Confraternity (also called the National Associations of Sea Lords)


So before you continue I want you to note that a Pyrate rejectee created the Buccaneers.

Also Read: 6 Steps To Getting A Good Job As A Graduate With Second Class Lower or 3rd Class Or Pass Grade

Let's move on,


A major impetus for the creation of new confraternities was the fact that members of the new groups simply did not meet the high academic and intellectual standards set by the Seadogs, and thus considered the original organization to be elitist (So it was only 'efiwes' that were cultist then).

However, Soyinka would later point to individuals who became accustomed to exerting power in the rigidly hierarchical confraternity, and were unwilling to give it up, as to blame for the initial schism. As new groups formed, inter-group tensions led to fighting, though these were initially limited to fistfights.



Also Read: How To Calculate Your CGPA

The Supreme Eiye Confraternity (also known as the National Association of Air Lords) was formed in the University of Ibadan in 1965.
In the 1980s confraternities spread throughout the over 300 institutions of higher education in the country.






The Neo-Black Movement of Africa (also called ) emerged from the University of Benin in Edo State. In 1983 students at the University of Calabar in Cross River State founded the Eternal Fraternal Order of the Legion Consortium (the Klan Konfraternity), the Supreme Vikings Confraternity (the Adventurers) the following year.


This time period saw a drastic change in the role of the confraternities. The coup of Ibrahim Babangida in 1983 caused a large degree of political tension. Military leaders, beginning in the 1980s, began to see the confraternities as a check on the student unions and university staff, who were the only organized groups opposing military rule. The confraternities were thus provided payment and weapons to use against student activists, though the weapons were often used in deadly inter-confraternity rivalries.



Read Also: All You Need To Know About Every Cult Group On Campus

During this period the confraternities introduced a new tradition of carrying out traditional religious practices, including Vodun, before any other activity. Perhaps in reaction to the changes, in 1984 Wole Soyinka declared that the Seadogs should not operate on any university campuses.



So how did Cultism grow away from Campuses?



In the early 1990s, confraternity activities expanded dramatically in the Niger Delta as confraternities engaged in a bloody struggle for supremacy. The Family Confraternity (the Campus Mafia or the Mafia), which modeled itself after the Italian Mafia emerged. Shortly after their arrival, several students were expelled from Abia State University for cheating and "cultism", a reference to the voodoo-practicing confraternities, which marked the beginning of a shift of confraternity activities from the university to off campus.


The consolidation of confraternity activities outside Nigerian University campuses was boosted by the nationwide renouncement of cultism by university students and the breakdown of traditional campus cults all over the country as a result of amnesty granted to all renounced cultists at the onset of the present democratic government. This led to migration of cultists from the campuses to residential neighbourhoods and streets as campuses were no more safe haven for them.


Incompetence of government officials and inadequate facilities to police campuses by University Authorities led to the resurgence of cultism in the campuses as renounced cultists who could not be protected by the Law, went back to their cult groups to seek protection from rival groups who had discerned their identity as a result of the renouncement ceremony. This resulted in a situation where cult groups were now well established in- and outside the campuses.




Recommended Post: Ways To Avoid 'Cultism' In Any Institution In Nigeria

The Brotherhood of the Blood (also known as Two-Two (Black Beret), another notorious confraternity, was founded at Enugu State University of Science and Technology. Another cult, the Victor Charlie Boys, was established by Augustine Ahiazu when he was vice-chancellor of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology. The cults established in the early 1990s are legion; they include Second Son of Satan (SSS), Night Cadet, Sonmen, Mgba Mgba Brothers, Temple of Eden, Trojan Horse, Jurists, White Bishops, Gentlemen Clubs, Fame, Executioners, Dreaded Friend of Friends, Eagle Club, Black Scorpion, Red Sea Horse and Fraternity of Friends.

Read Also: All You Need To Know About Every Cult Group On Campus


So while I trust that you would read all my recommened articles and also share them, I strongly stand with the movement #NOTOCULTISM.

I love reading comments from my readers, so please leave your comments.


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Wetin we wan carry this thread do?

Yambee:
Wetin we wan carry this thread do?

since AFONJA (soyinka) was mentioned ..


u don have anything to say abi??

miracood:
since AFONJA (soyinka) was mentioned ..

u don have anything to say abi??

didirin but it's rampant in ur muhfuckin region

nowadays nothing like cultist jhor we only have weed smokers and Yahoo boys in universities

etzskillz:
didirin but it's rampant in ur muhfuckin region

ANU PAMA

Before Nigerian universities existed there has been cultism around the world. We need to learn how to stop looking at the human vessels through which it was birthed in our schools and start being conscious of the devil behind it.

Controlling spirits exist in people who didn't pass through the four walls of schools also.

blingxx:
nowadays nothing like cultist jhor we only have weed smokers and Yahoo boys in universities

most yahoo bois are into rituals that make cultism look like child's play.

According to the Pyrates, the "Magnificent Seven", as they called themselves, observed that the university was populated with wealthy students associated with the colonial powers and a few poorer students striving in manner and dress to be accepted by the more advantaged students, while social life was dictated by tribal affiliation.

Now did the poor student go to school to be accepted by the more privileged students? or this is just another way of saying the non aristocrats wanted to have some feel of the aristocrats enjoyed?