“TAKE LITTLE WINE FOR YOUR STOMACH†(1Tim 5,23) AN EXCUSE FOR CULTISM, ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE IN NIGERIA TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS?

Abstract

On the 1st of May 2019, Nigerians were greeted with the news of a hundred (100) level student of Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) who passed out in a room. It is not news that somebody died because death is what we experience virtually every day. The death of this hundred (100) level student of Engineering became news because she was found highly intoxicated with hard drugs littered all over the room. Involvement in drug abuse among our youths especially in institutions of higher learning has remained consistently on a geometrical rise. Some get into this for fun and ecstasy. Close to drug abuse is the ever-increasing number of youngsters enrolling into cultic groups. Often clash between different cultic groups lead to loss of lives and properties yearly. University freshers are often easy victims to initiations into confraternities. To be sure they get deeper into their cultic life and the consequent criminalities, they are pressured into getting “high†with hard drugs and strong alcoholic drinks. It is the belief of this paper that the culture of drug abuse, cultism and alcoholism bedevilling our tertiary institutions are the remote causes of many social problems in these higher institutions ranging from insecurity, unrest, suicide, robbery and poor academic performance in our schools of higher learning. This paper studies these issues highlighted from the perspective of historicity, statistical data collection and referential points to prove that unless something is done about cultism, drug abuse and alcoholism in our institutions, our youths will continue to drift from worse to worst. 1Tim 5,23 is interpreted with exegetical lens as some cite it to excuse their addictions.