The Nigerian education system is bedeviled with a myriad of malaise, hampering effective teaching and pleasant learning, chief among which is cultism. The overall effect of cultism leaves much to be desired in the education system, as education is an instrument par excellence for achieving national development. The trust of this paper, therefore, is to investigate the crushing effect of cultism, on the Nigerian education system. The paper traces antecedents of cultism; its pervasiveness at particular level(s) of the education system; causes of cultism; as well as panacea to the cankerworm, with a view to salvaging the Nigerian education system and making it the bastion of development, as affirmed by the National Policy on Education, which considers education as an instrument par excellence for national development. Among other things, the paper proffers panacea in form of recommendations which include mass re-orientation against violence in Nigerian schools, emphasising moral and religious teaching; provision of welfare/recreational facilities in-school(s); as well as enacting and enforcing stricter laws, among other measures. Article visualizations
