Today, there have been reports and arrests of children as young as 12 years caught in the act. Sadly, at some point in the Mushin area of Lagos, a notorious female student confessed to being a member of a cult that killed and extorted money from citizens. The recruitment process has no gender or age biases.In a country with little interest in statistics, it is nearly impossible to follow through all the cases that have been reported in the last few years. That is probably the reason the menace continues to plague the Lagos social environment. There seems to be no end in sight as more gory tales emerge, very often of the havoc these cult members of varied age groups cause law-abiding citizens of Lagos State.

So, the news that the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has signed the Bill for Prohibition of Unlawful Societies and Cultism of 2021 into law, that stipulates a 21-year jail term for convicted cultists in the state, is a welcome development. The law also stipulates a 15-year jail term for anyone found guilty of abetting cultists and residents who willfully allow their property to be used as meeting points by cultists. The new law is more encompassing as it replaces the 2007 law that restricted punishment to only students of tertiary institutions.

This new law, according to the governor, seeks to make parents more responsible and hands-on in checking the activities of their children, to make sure they do not derail and become a burden to society. This is a good step seeing that most parents seem very negligent of their responsibilities. It has been proved that most of the parents whose children derail are known to enjoy some of the spoils of their escapades without caring to find out how such children with no visible means of income suddenly show up with more money than they deserve, and no proof of the sources.

However, while we commend the government for signing of this law, we also know that cultism is a symptom of a more chronic disease. Governments must realise that most people are giving birth to more children than they can nurture properly and that becomes a problem as the children, if they survive the critical age of five, would be forced to cater for themselves, and most often through peer groups that often initiate them into cult activities as a means of obtaining items and services through brute force.

Government must begin to revive the propagation of reproductive health and family planning so that the population per family can be controlled and incentives given for smaller families. The education sector must be revamped for a more functional education rather than the present system where acquisition of certificates is the ultimate. Skill acquisition and vocational schools must be invested in because they are more engaging and the students can be self-reliant on graduation.

Cultism is one of the fallouts of unemployment because, as they say, “an idle hand is the devil’s workshop”. Governments, and that is not limited to any state, given the global nature of crime and criminality, must invest in infrastructure to absorb graduates and give hope to students. Most often, the resort to cultism is a subtle abuse of the power to inflict pain as a retaliation for neglect. Parents would also realise henceforth that their kids are theirs to raise but they too rely on governments for support. There must be a more functionally enduring solution to cultism, especially for young people. The people and governments must think deeper to achieve this goal.