Education

Terminating Innocent Souls for their Parents’ Sin: A Peep into a Cult’s World

Published

4 years ago

June 20, 2021

In December 2020, I was invited to a dockyard, and after the meeting, I asked my inviters that I wanted to catch fresh breeze outside their workshop. A huge young man in his mid-twenty ran to me, and I thought my engineer friend sent him to recall me to his office, but I was wrong. The young man stared at me with a mixture of fear and soberness for the first one minute, and nothing was said or done. I noticed that I might have hysteria if I remained on the same spot due to insecurity in the country, so I moved briskly backward. Seeing such leap, he muttered ‘Please help me, I don’t want to die’. ‘Why would you die?’ I asked after a brief silence, he began to narrate how his father joined The Ogboni Confraternity (also known as Fraternity group), and how he has become a target to be killed soon. As I drove back home that day, I had a deep thought concerning his ordeals, trauma, and fear, and then decided to share this phenomenon with the public one day.

In the 21 century, people may not believe that such incidences are still happening; but truly, they are. For clarity sake, Ogboni Confraternity has been existing for centuries and they had members across Nigeria and abroad. In recent years, one faction broke out of the main Ogboni cult group, and called their appellation The Reformed Ogboni Confraternity. This separated Ogboni group may not be as popular as the traditional Ogboni Confraternity, but it is known to be an open social class group unlike the traditional Ogboni group. However, people still classify both Ogboni groups as secret cult societies in Nigeria.

Back to the purpose of this write up, does it even make sense to join a cult group, where one pledges to sacrifice oneself in an exchange for wealth, or power? Does it make sense and civilised to be avenging the sins of one’s parents on their innocent children? Some may lampoon these questions and stand on the principle of give and take, while some may rely on the peculiar ethos of some groups (including the secret societies), which may be known or unknown to a new member prior their acceptance to such groups. However, it should never be forgotten that many secret societies especially the Ogboni Confraternity is highly surreptitious and many children of parents in this cult group may have no inkling that their parents are active members. What this portends is victimization of relatives (especially the children) of any Ogboni members who tries to quit the group. Similarly, those who are at the grave danger are children of Ogboni members who abscond from the cult group without paying their initial pledge (s) like using their first child for ritual purposes.

An online news channel named City Rovers monitored recently threw more light into this dangerous undertaking by members of Ogboni Confraternity group. A man named Yekini Ajibosho (who is now 70 years ) joined the confraternity 13 years ago (i.e. in 2008) but in 2015, he began to regret his action. He explained how he was lured to the group, and made to pledge sacrificing his first son in exchange of wealth and power. He was quoted as saying that once a member ignorantly pledged his/ her child(ren), there is no going back until the child is dead. The septuagenarian said further, “Why I’m so pained now is the fact that after joining, they’ll make you pledge different unimaginable things. The most common is your first son. You can pledge a male child as early as a day old. If you don’t have a male child, they can make it happen for you”. Ajibosho said further, “I don’t care what happens to me, I am ready to face the consequences alone. As long as I refuse to pledge any of my kids, they will have nothing to do with them that is why I came out now so that I will be the one that should be dealt with”.

Emphatically, in the 21 century, not all social acts, religious, traditional, or cultural activities are permissible unless we are to close our eyes and ignore human rights as enshrined by various chatters and conventions such as one from the United Nations, which Nigeria also signed. As the young man earlier mentioned has been made to live in a palpable fear, they have no hope of living beyond teens or adolescent as they may be struck anytime, and have their lives been terminated in their prime. In addition, many who have no hope of surviving such pathetic situation carry along their heavy heart wherever they go and keep living in a dehumanised and psychologically demented manner. Without peeping into the full details of Ogboni Confraternity and the new faction(s), as well as their modus-operandi, it is essential to save innocent children of members of the confraternity by making their father or mother who are the members of the confraternity pay the pledges (which should be themselves) and therefore save the lives of their children.

Martins Henri, martinshenri455@gmail.com, an author, and an advocate of socio-cultural, economic, and religious reformation in Nigeria.

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Education

NELFUND assures students of smart system to improve loan access

Published

4 weeks ago

May 7, 2025

The Gleamer

Mariam Abeeb

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has assured students it was working assiduously towards building a technology driven system that would improve easy access to its loans.

This was as the FUND disclosed that no fewer than 320,000 students have thus far been paid with many more currently undergoing verification process to enable their payments.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr gave the assurances in Abuja, while addressing Polytechnics , Monotechnics and Institutes at a Stakeholders Engagement Session/ Technical Workshop on NELFUND System Automation and Loan Application Processes.

Sawyerr noted that the FUND was targeting a platform where students could access loan with confidence and without stress in a manner that was transparent and accountable.

He said: “At NELFUND our mission goes beyond giving loans. It’s about opening doors, it’s about making sure every young Nigerian who is willing to learn and grow has a real shot regardless of their background, location, or chosen path of study.

“For too long, many students, especially in technical institutions, have faced steep financial barriers; some drop out, others have never even applied. This is the gap we at NELFUND are here to close. But we know we can’t do it alone.

“This is a shared mission. It belongs to all of us, government institutions and the private sector alike. This technical workshop marks a major step forward.

“We’re not only providing financing, we’re building a technology-driven system that makes it easier for students to apply, for institutions to verify, and for funds to be disbursed with speed, fairness, and accountability.

“We’re aiming for access without stress, a platform students can use with confidence; transparency and trust so that no one is left wondering where their application stands; partnership with purpose because your feedback, your data, and your cooperation are critical to making this work. We rely on you as our institutional partners to help us bring this vision to life.”

Sawyerr who commended the institutions for providing technical expertise, practical hands-on training that fuels industries and empowers communities over the years, said besides teaching skills, they have built careers, created employers and strengthened economies.

“You know your students, you understand their struggles, your insights will help us tailor this system to reflect the realities on ground, not just assumptions on paper.

“To NBTE, we value your steady leadership in shaping and regulating technical education. Your collaboration is key as we move forward fully.”

The NELFUND boss urged the institutions to partner with the FUND to deliver a system that was not just functional or sustainable, but one that was transformative

“As we move forward fully, integrating NELFUND processes with institutional systems and standards, let us remember at the heart of all of this is a student, a young Nigerian with dreams, with ambition, and the courage to pursue them. Everything we do must serve that student.

“The only way to make it happen is by working together, listening to one another, and staying grounded in real-world challenges. I encourage you all to engage fully today share what’s working and what is not, and together let’s build something that lasts.”

NELFUND ‘s Executive Director, Operations, Mr. Iyal Mustapha, disclosed that apart from the 320,000 students who have so far been paid, more verifications are currently ongoing.

Mustapha, who explained that the failure of not having the number of registered students tally with the number of students whose application process was deemed successful was from the part of students and not NELFUND, said there was an urgent need to bridge the gap.

He also disclosed that the FUND was considering connecting directly to institution’s portal to get the data they need, and how student could apply to their institutions portal without necessarily reaching out to NELFUND.

“One other thing that we’re trying to do going forward is to send some of our IT to all the institutions so that we can see how possible it is we connect directly to your portal instead of saying please send us data. How can we connect using an API which makes it easier to get the data of any student coming to us directly from your portal and not from our portal. So we don’t need to be collecting any data again.

“At the same time, we’re thinking of seeing how is it possible that a student can apply to your portal without coming to us. So it makes it so easy for the student when they’re doing registration, when they’re doing payments, they can select either to apply for NELFUND loans and the process will go through your portal. So you have all the data without ever reaching to NELFUND. All we need is for you to give assurance these are your students and if we have that, we pay you directly. It makes it simpler and faster for all the students.”

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