Benin City: From the Ambience of Street Credibility to the ambush of Street Cultism

Benin City: From the Ambience of Street Credibility to the ambush of Street Cultism by Eromose Ileso

The streets of the ancient city of Benin the capital of Edo state, old Bendel state and the Former Mid Western Region used to be a place where serenity reigns to a certain degree. It was a place where healthy competition for educational achievement was the pursuit of majority of the youths especially in the days when the Bendel and later Edo state Library Board was still a semblance of a library. 

In the different locations where these libraries were, there was a striving verve for a pursuit of excellence through studying. A case in point was the library located in the suburb of Okhoro. This library aided in shaping the educational destinies of various youths that lived in this area of the city when it was still functional. And many including this writer could attest to that fact. The library had two sections: a general reading section, and also a section that housed different books on various subjects.

It was easy then to see youths who after their daily school activities would proceed to the library after their domestic chores. The place was a Mecca of some sort especially during examination period. It was a place for the serious minded and the indolent. They all converged to do justice to their books. The indolent eventually ended up being influenced by the positivism of the serious ones who saw reading and studying as a tool to unravel the miseries of their life.

Besides the library, there was a striving artisan industry which was a glowing way by which those who could not cope with school education either by reason of finance or their inability to cope with the rigours of education. 

Those in this category where able to build a profession for themselves in the areas of being involved in carpentry, welding, mechanical, electrical , technical works, fashion designing  and learning the trade of buying and selling in different goods. It was easy to see those involved in this taking to it as a duck takes to water. It was a case of verve and fervour from those who found their way to this part of the divide in whatever circumstances it was that took them there.

In a nutshell, the library and artisanship were avenues through which youths and teenagers alike could channel their energies for the improvement of their lives.

Another very important tool that many used to occupy themselves besides education and artisanship was sports especially football. There were several known centres that were breeding grounds for emerging talents to display their skills. Areas like Iyaba Street in the Suburb of New Benin where the playing field inside the popular third cemetery was a field akin to the theatre of dreams. And it was from there the dreams of footballers like Yakubu Aiyegbeni were realized. That field today now houses a health centre and a wood processing industry. But, it still being used for football. AmbroseVansekin remains a regular visitor to the field.

Sadly the library and many other things highlighted above that were avenues through which youths could occupy themselves have all been confined to the vehicle of historical oblivion where the scenario now is a case of replaying the cards of nostalgia.

Although, there were remote and immediate causes which made things to go bad. 

Two significant issues accounted for why things have nosedived.

Firstly, the military administration of Adamu Iyam in 1994 and 1995 made several government agencies to be self sustaining without funding from the government. This complicated policy affected the running of the library board in Edo state. They could no longer sustain the previous template and several of its complexes were closed with workers going unpaid for months. The collapse of the library system in the state gradually eroded the reading culture prevalent in the past and a vacuum began to emerge and the spare time the youth had had to be spent one way or the other.

Besides that, the massive retrenchment carried out by that administration affected the growth of education in the State. A particular teacher known to this writer eventually resorted to selling wood and planks to keep life moving and that’s what that teacher still does till date.

The collapse of the school system brought about an educational vacuum that affected the psyche of students and teachers alike.

The vacuum spilled over and of major significance to the present state of affairs in the streets of Benin was the domino effect of what transpired in a particular institution in the city several years ago.

The Vice Chancellorship of Professor Aburime Anao of the University of Benin embarked on a policy of public renunciation of cultism from students who were members of different cult groups with an incentive of amnesty granted to them.

This policy while novel in outcome at the time it was implemented eventually led to a vacuum just like the vacuum created by the collapsed educational system, and the only way this vacuum could be filled was via the streets. The streets became a breeding ground where willing and unwilling youths were recruited and inducted into various groups as activities in different campuses scaled down due to the public renunciation.

Today in most suburbs of the city, you could easily see all categories of people involved in this social menace. From primary school students and to the rampant activities of those in secondary schools where students go as far as holding teachers and the entire school to ransom. Even those in the artisanship cadre are heavily involved in it. The menace is more serious in some suburbs in the city than others.

An instance is the suburb of Uselu. Which happens to be a cathedral of street cultism where there is always an under current that flows like a time bomb which when ignited inevitably leads to nearer to thee I have come.

The present state of most youths and teenagers in the city is no longer a case of going to library after school or on weekends, combining school with artisanship or attending lecture houses whose retainer where to sharpen the skills of students. 

Rather the situation now is a case of bickering amongst youths. It is on record that cult related killings amongst youths are now rampant in the streets especially when there is a supposed ‘war’ between rival cult groups. Then you would easily notice that many would completely go into hiding and the streets suddenly become hollow for a while. When the tension dies down, those that initially disappeared into thin air would make a return like a whale that initially went into the deepest part of the ocean.

The libraries and competent lecture houses which hitherto served as avenues of transformation have been replaced by mushroom private schools and lecture houses whose main calling is to perpetuate examination malpractice in various forms and shapes.

In the areas of artisanship, the fervour from apprentice of yesteryear have been replaced by inertia and slothfulness with the get rich syndrome now the crave of the moment amongst youths. Practically nobody wants to engage in the act of artisanship in the present times.

The effect of this state of affairs in the ancient city of Benin has reshaped many lives. The past festive season also witnessed the killing of several youth as a result of the same cult activities with the police making several arrest.

It is difficult to gauge whether such a menace can be tamed for the simple reason that it is a complicated network of passages that involves many people even to the top echelons of the society.