Zone 2 Police Command host youths, preaches against cultism

The Oluwo of Iwo, Alaske Lori Orisha, Oba Abdulraheed Akanbi has cautioned the youth to shun cultism and other anti-social vices saying it is criminal and would damage their lives.

Speaking at the Prof. Ade Ajayi Auditorium of the University of Lagos during a one-day programme tagged “Police and the Youths” with the theme: “Cultism, Internet Fraud and Drug Dealings, the concert brought together celebrities who lectured the youths on the benefit of staying out of drugs and have quality life.

The traditional ruler explained that the youths are the leaders of tomorrow noting that any country that gambles with the lives of its youths, would certainly have no future.

“Secret cult/society is not part of our culture. It is criminal. It should be eradicated because it is genocidal. Secret cult will damage your life and your future.

“What I see is a people with a blank future. Change your way. The black race has a problem because things are not working. When you are in that negative mindset, your mind is colonised to do negative things like alcoholism, drug addiction, cultism and smoking will not solve your problems,” he reiterated.

The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr Ade Aderanti, who was represented said that the youths are the set of people to be taken care of to be able to live well at old age and even in death.

According to her, “The youths form the fulcrum of development and should be engaged to reduce insecurity.”

She observed that with about 80 million Nigerian youths and about 50% of them unemployed, some of them are engaged in restiveness, drug abuse, political thuggery and other antisocial misdeamenour.

On the basis of that, she further explained that the Lagos State government has created unique programmes in Sports, Information Technology (ICT), Agriculture and provision of soft loans to engage them in order to reduce crime rate in the society.

“Crime rate has considerably dropped in Lagos. We would continue to empower our youths because of the critical role they play in national development.”

With avalanche of entertainers and comedians like Bello Koredo, who is the police ambassador, Dr Sid, it was sort of Carnivals with huge attendance by students of the University of Lagos, students from different private schools and individuals from cooperate bodies.

Advising the youths, Koredo called on them to take the bull by the horns by being “responsible for your own safety, your lives and properties.”

He called on them to brag about with high “sense of valve and morality” noting that as a people and a nation, we have a problem adding that it was not the time for blame game but cohere, love ourselves for a better nation.

The Legal Attaché to the United States Consulate, Rolland Avedician observed that no country in the world is immune to drug related problems as every country, including the United States is grappling with drug abuse challenges.

“Drug is everywhere. It is a plague ravaging every nation of the world. Therefore, you as an individual is responsible for your life,” he reiterated.

However, the Zonal Command Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Dolapo Badmus, the host, said the driving force behind the programme was to talk out the youths from those negative mindsets and think positively that would make them shun all vices and contribute to the development of the country.