From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Spending an evening at the Ox-Bow Lake Pavilion with the gentle breeze could have a soothing effect. Many who visited the Pavilion attributed it to the location, which oversees the Ox-Bow Lake.
Built and inaugurated by the administration of former Governor Seriake Dickson, the Ox-Bow Lake Pavilion also houses the Yenagoa Boat Club and the expectation was that it would serve as a tourist attraction for many people coming into Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State.
The dream of Ox-Bow Lake Pavilion becoming a tourist attraction, serving as a rendezvous of sorts has become a pipe dream. After a rainstorm did considerable damage to it some time ago, the Pavilion has become a refuge for drug users.
Michael Okafor, who had visited Ox-Bow Lake Pavilion and knew the use it could serve, lamented what had become of the state’s investment.
He wrote: “How a public space built for recreational activities turned into a den and hideout for igbo (Indian hemp) smoking, cannabis-sedated and loud-intoxicated teenagers continues to beat my imagination.
“Going there in the evening, the sight of teenagers smoking and immoralizing themselves greets you. How can such a space be safe for families seeking to unwind with their kids?
“Are we talking of the sight of Yahoo boys in their luxury cars and scantily clad teenage girls? I weep for what has become of the environment.
“I think the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) should do a raid on the environment. This is where the drug addicts and peddlers they search for on the roads are located. The drug culture in Yenagoa is fast becoming a menace.”
Indeed, the drug culture in Yenagoa is not an isolated case, it pervades the entire state, posing a great risk to the future of Bayelsa as a state with a vast population of youths living under the influence of hard drugs.
A survey conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the South-South as far back as 2018 indicated that Bayelsa ranks highest in drug abuse. Rather than abate, the situation has grown worse with teenagers hopping on the drug bandwagon in the state.
From Southern Ijaw to Ogbia, Nembe, Brass to Sagbama, Kolokuma/Opokuma and Ekeremor, the exposure of the youth population to drugs is a ticking bomb in the state.
Irked by the prevalence of drugs in Okpoama community in Brass LGA of the state, the community, in an operation sanctioned by its king and former Minister of Science and Culture, Ebimiti Banigo, Okpo XXI, raided 14 spots used by drug peddlers, seized drugs and paraded the boys indulging in drug abuse.
Led by the chairman of the council of chiefs, Chief Inikio Sam Sele-Dede, the operation did not spare those indecently dressed, as they were flogged. The 14 drug points used for drug peddling were demolished on the directive of Banigo and drugs such as cannabis, popularly known as India hemp, benzos, cocaine, LSD and codeine were found and seized.
Community sources said Banigo decided to move against the drug peddlers because they had started influencing a lot of young people in the community. It was gathered that many in the community had complained to him and his ears were full of several complaints of the misbehaviour of those into drugs in the area.
Sele-Dede stated that, in Okpoama Kingdom, drug peddling and consumption was forbidden and vowed that anybody caught would be handed over to the NDLEA for prosecution. Accordingto him, the people of Okpoama are desirous and committed to ensure that the community is not made a den of drug peddlers.
In neighbouring Twon-Brass, residents called on the community leaders to emulate Okpoama and flush out drug peddlers from the community. That appeal is yet to receive attention.
Governor Douye Diri, worried about the effect of illicit drugs on users, established a link between drug addiction and increase in crime and criminality. In his bid to nip it in the bud in Bayelsa, he established Bayelsa State Drug Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee (BADAPARC), headed by a pharmacist, Mrs. Faith Izibenua Zibs-Godwin.
Speaking recently during a sensitisation walk/campaign against drug abuse to mark this year’s International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Diri expressed optimism that his government would achieve the feat.
According to him, in a bid to address the menace associated with drug abuse, his government constituted BADAPARC, with qualified personnel in the field. He noted that crime and criminality were intertwined with drug abuse, and for this reason the committee was set up to stop the lives of young people wasting away.
Diri emphasised that his government was determined to rescue those caught in the drug addiction web by building a rehabilitation centre in the state. He appealed to youths and the enlightened on the dangers of drug addiction to join the campaign against the illicit act.
He said: “I have always said that crime and criminality have an inverse relationship. If you look at the statistics of criminal and gang activities across our country, you will discover that most of those involved in crime and criminality are drug addicts.
“We cannot afford to waste the lives of the underprivileged. Our youths are golden to us. As a government, we have come to that realisation and that was why we set up this committee made up of professional and committed members that have continued to sensitise the populace and our youths to move away from drugs, crime and criminality and embrace the good life.
“We are doing everything possible to ensure that even those that are addicted will soon have a place of rehabilitation. Your state government is building a rehabilitation centre in Ogbia Local Government Area.”
While cautioning politicians against influencing the youths negatively on illicit drug use, Diri urged them to desist from the inhumane act or be ready to face the circumstances that come with it. He also commended BADAPARC for always being proactive in the fight against drug abuse and addiction.
According to Zibs- Godwin, BADAPARC has been busy waging war on all fronts against drug abuse. She explained that the committee has a psychiatrist, psychologist, guidance and counsellor. She admitted to the high prevalence of drug abuse in the state and lack of treatment centres prior to the establishment of the committee.
Zibs-Godwin disclosed that the committee has mapped out a strategy to change the narrative of war against drug abuse in Bayelsa State.
“As a committee, we have developed four main strategies to curb drug abuse in Bayelsa. We have the school based strategy, faith based strategy, community based strategy and media advocacy strategy. We are hitting the strategy one after the other. Gone are those days when we go about with just saying ‘No to drugs’, we are going a step further to carry out an evidence-based approach for drug prevention,” she said.
Part of the evidence-based approach was the training called Treatnet, targeted at counsellors in secondary schools and tertiary institutions in the state.
She said: “What we are doing is called Treatnet. This is an evidence based programme specifically for guidance and counselling for secondary and tertiary institutions. This is to build capacity for guidance and counsellors to handle those with addiction and those under pressure to go into drugs. This is what Treatnet is all about.
“Before now, we had trained about 124 teachers on an evidence based drug prevention called unplugged for secondary schools. The whole idea is to build the capacity of teachers to teach the students the dangers of drug abuse, like how to resist pressure and build esteem.
“This would be incorporated in the curriculum like Mathematics and English. So that when they are going for unplugged class they know that they are going to learn about drug abuse.”
According to her, the ultimate target of the training of teachers is to set-up drug free clubs across the state where the trained teachers would become patrons and matrons to supervise the clubs towards the goal of the state government to curb drug abuse.
She also hinted on the community based approach which would use influential members of the community like the Community Development Committee (CDC), chairman, youth president and woman leader as ambassadors of BADAPARC so that they would be able to galvanise the people against drug abuse.
“We have community action against drug abuse which will kick-off very soon. We want the communities to kick-off this programme. Drugs are like a gateway to crime, so if we are able to get those that have a voice in the community like the CDC chairman, youth leader etc, we get them involved in the community. They would be like the ambassadors in their community. Once they are trained, they would be in the best position to handle drug control in their community. Knowledge they say is power some of them don’t even know the dangers of drug abuse.”
During a visit to the NDLEA to solicit for collaboration on the war against drug abuse in the state, the state commander, Matthew Ewa, assured Zibs-Godwin on the agency’s determination to tackle the menace of drug abuse.
However, investigations revealed that NDLEA in the state is being hampered by logistics problems to make the desired impact. Aside the constant search and stop operation it conducts on major roads in the state which has yielded some fruits, it has not been able to carry out raid in other parts of the state because it has just a functional van
A reliable source in NDLEA in the state said the state government would need to demonstrate more seriousness with the war against drug abuse by supporting the operations of the NDLEA in the state, especially in coastal communities.
He said: “NDLEA is trying its best in Bayelsa, but we can do more if we have the necessary support. NDLEA has only one operation van. The state government can assist us with operational vehicles like those it donated to the police recently. Except for Brass local government area where we have some foothold, there is no other local government in Bayelsa where there are NDLEA officers. NDLEA does not have speed boats to raid coastal communities. These are some of the challenges confronting NDLEA in Bayelsa to effectively tackle drug abuse.”