By Adewale Sanyaolu
As the world prepares to mark international day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking on June 26, 2023, the Panama Deck, Ikeja, Lagos of the National Association of Seadogs, Pyrates Confraternity, has called for stronger effort by family, government, and community in tackling the menace of drug abuse in Nigeria.
This year’s International Day against Drug abuse and Illicit trafficking day themed – People First: Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention – is a wake-up call to the world drug problem. The Pyrates Confraternity lamented the lip service being paid by the society and government to the fight against drug abuse and called for improved effort from stakeholders in addressing this menace.
The group in a statement made available to Daily Sun said globally and indeed in Nigeria, drug use, abuse and disorder has become increasingly worrisome and poses a great threat to the future of societal development and health, warning that the ultimate result of drug abuse and its disorder is death.
Quoting statistics from the world drug report for 2022, the group disclosed that around 284 million people aged 12-64 years use drugs, adding that in 2020, a 26 per cent increase was recorded over the previous decade.
The report further estimates that 11.2 million people worldwide were injecting drugs with half of this number living with hepatitis C, 1.4 million living with HIV and 1.2 million living with both.
These global figures, the group said, are quite worrisome since Nigeria dominates African cocaine and other substances smuggling routes.
‘‘The future of our youth is audaciously being destroyed because of the frightening scourge of illicit drug use and abuse.This malaise calls for urgent concerted action by the family, schools, organizations, community and governments towards the immediate arrest and probable reversal of the already bad situation.’’
According to the Pyrates Confraternity, drug use, abuse, addiction, and its disorder account for so many crimes bedeviling society.This, it listed to include terrorism, war, armed robbery, rape, kidnapping, fatal accidents, murders, suicide, loss of employment and productivity in workplaces.
It worried that drug related crimes which included – trafficking in narcotics and substances debase the diplomatic image of the country. loss of national resources deployed in fighting drug crimes which could be channeled to other more meaningful and productive sectors of engagement.
There is an urgent need to hasten and heighten public awareness in all spheres of society and provide statutory regulatory support base toward preventive, treatment and management of the ‘monster’.
‘‘Family and academic institutions are now hubs for drug use and abuse with its associated loss of young lives, loss of sanity and sometimes outright madness. With these losses, society is denied hitherto brilliant minds and that is society’s loss of her future.”
According to a research work published in the National Library of Medicine by Olanrewaju et al – 20th Oct 2022, drug and substance abuse is prevalent across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. However, the South-West zone comprising Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and the Oyo States, is reported to have the highest prevalence of drug and substance use (22.4% or 4,382,000 users)—especially in Lagos and Oyo state—according to a 2018 report by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime. This zone is followed by the South-South, South-East, North-East, North-West, and North-Central zones.
The group noted that considerable increase in drug and substance abuse led to the creation of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in 1990 and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC) in 1993, regrettably and despite the existing drug laws, policies, and strategies for prevention in Nigeria, drug use, abuse and crimes associated with it has continued to be on the rise across the country.
As part of concerted efforts and measures to reverse the ugly trend, the Pyrates Confraternity maintained that even though there is no one size fit all solution to the age long problem of drug use, abuse, addiction and crime in Nigeria, the solutions reside in key structures of human existence. The solution lies fundamentally within the family, schools, community, and government and can be harnessed through:
· Proper and deliberate Parenting:
This is at the heart of providing early response and preventing the slide of children into the drug undesirables.
‘‘Parents should know-their-children, especially teenagers. They should know their whereabouts, their friends, their activities, keep track of prescription drugs use, provide good and adequate parental home support and of course, set good examples for their children.”
· Schools and Community:
Schools should start early in implementing drug abuse prevention programs. The requisite knowledge about the negative impact of drug abuse should be shared with students. For example, students should know the importance of self-esteem, positive self-concept and identity. They should be told about their rights and responsibilities in relationships to handle peer pressure better. Students should be taught the concepts of abstinence and alternatives to drug use such as exercising. They should be taught how the different concepts and situations influence personal values. Attitudes, beliefs, and behavior in relation to drug use. They should be made to know that drugs can affect a person’s ability to perform tasks. Ultimately, they should be made aware of the consequences of unlawful and unsanctioned drug use.
On the part of the community, we must all see influx of drugs to our communities as a threat to our collective survival. We must all see it as our war and act accordingly within the law to eradicate this menance.
· Government:
There is need for government to come up with a better and more coordinated approach in its fight against Drug abuse. Apart from formulating and executing a national action plan for drug demand reduction, there is need for proper funding to achieve set objectives.
While the national action plan for drug demand reduction will address – combating illicit trafficking and sale of hard drugs, preventive education, awareness generation, Identification, treatment, and rehabilitation of drug dependent persons in the society, training and capacity building of service providers, the National fund for Control of Drug abuse will make available funds to be used for identifying, treating, and rehabilitating addicts, combating illicit trafficking and Preventing drug abuse. The government also needs to issue a state of emergency on unemployment and economic hardship. Youths will continue to indulge in drug use if they remain frustrated and have no hope of a better Nigeria.
The association reiterated its resolve to continue to sensitize Government and other stakeholders to the need to address the drug abuse scourge among our youths. Drug abuse destroys our youths and makes society unsafe for all and sundry. According to the group, “the time to act is now”.