Bianca Iboma
Executive Director, House of Rammah Foundation, Mrs. Adisa Risikat Adeola, said her organisation is set to take the fight against drug abuse to government-owned primary schools in Ogun State one of them being NUD Primary School, Ijaiye close to Lagos.
Adisa stated that the way young children consumed drugs was shocking.
“I decided to embark on a drug prevention campaign for primary school pupils because substance abuse has eaten deep into the fabric of Nigeria.
“The painful part of this is that parents, stakeholders and the society at large continue living in disbelief, but the truth is we are sitting on a time bomb waiting to explode.
“This campaign involves other relevant stakeholders in the educational sector, who need to also get involved in the campaign to save the youth of the state from drug menace.”
Chairman at the event Mr. Abdul-Fatai Adewunmi, said the pupils participating in the seminar would help fight drug abuse by sensitising schoolchildren in their community.
He said a lot of sensitisation is needed to disabused the mind of the young ones from substance abuse and added that the foundation was poised to explore every means available to dissuade children of this community from indulging in the practice.
Col. Henry Solanke (retd.) lauded the convener for the decision to take the campaign to schools.
“The group realised that they cannot allow the vitality and vibrancy in our children to be endangered by drugs, alcohol and tobacco abuse. The children constitute the country’s greatest assets and this is the reason the foundation is taking the campaign to the grassroots, especially to school children.”
A representative of the Nigeria Police, Supol Oluseye, said the training was to equip school children and caregivers involved in educational advancement with the needed information about drug abuse.
Chairman of Parents Teachers Association (PTA) Sulaimon Oyedeji said it was unfortunate that schools were no longer the academic sanctuary that parents have depended on for many years.
“Instead, they are becoming a place of business and the product is deadly. In the society today, children, teens drink, smoke and use drugs during the day,” he stated.
The headmaster of the school, Mr. Adetimileyin Owolabi, said to prevent drug use among children is better than trying to rehabilitate someone from it.
Owolabi stated that drug education is the key to saving our schools.
He said there have been reports indicating that a child is 40 per cent less likely to start using drugs if they have had drug education and prevention talks with their parents alone.