BEWARE OF CULTISM – THE GATHERING OF DEMONS
Sola Fosudo
Department of Theatre Arts and Music
Lagos State University, Ojo
INTRODUCTION
The play Beware of Cultism…. is an expose on the horrific, dreadful and bloodcurdling activities of Cult organizations in our institutions of learning. It is a tragic enactment of how new and innocent University students are lured, coerced and oftentimes compelled to join cult groups even when it is against their wish to do so. Cult is described by the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2005:398) as an extreme religious group that is not part of an established religion, interested in a particular thing, with certain beliefs and ideas that influence its members’ lives in particular ways. From the definition above, it is clear that Cultism is a system of religious beliefs and practices. It has affinity with witchcraft, according to Awake (Watchtower Bible and Track Society) of February 8th 2002, and it is adduced to “Satanism”. Commenting on the origin of Confraternities and Cultism in Nigerian Universities, Professor Muyiwa Awe, himself a founding member of the first ever – Pirates confraternity confesses in an interview with Akin Okunowo (2010:xv), that:
Anyone with spiritual insight will not fail to agree that the seed of evil and the descent into decay and violence had been planted even when the benign confraternities were being founded, (in the 50’s).