Nasarawa’s PTA NADP College Wins MTN’s Anti-Substance Abuse Competition

Nasarawa State-based PTA NADP International College, Lafia has emerged ultimate winner of the 2023 MTN Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) quiz competition. The school scored 100 percent points to emerge winner in the grand finale that was held at Barcelona Hotel in Abuja yesterday.

MTN Anti-Substance Abuse Programme is a multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral behaviour change initiative that is aimed at reducing the rate of first-time substance abusers amongst young Nigerians aged between 10-25 years.

Executive secretary, MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya said the competition is orgainsed to create awareness of substance abuse among secondary students and also assess the level of awareness and knowledge of substance abuse and substance abuse issues among secondary school students.

The quiz competition is in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). Six states – Katsina, Oyo, Enugu, Benue, Edo and Adamawa participated in this year’s edition of the programme. 18 public secondary schools were involved – three secondary schools per state.

Chairman/CEO, NDLEA, Brigadier-general (rtd) Mohammed Buba Marwa said the drug use among young people in Nigeria is frightening. He expressed concern over alarming rate of substance abuse in country, saying the level of drug use among students is worrisome. Mr Marwa said what MTN is doing the best to save the future of many young Nigerians. “The fight is for everyone,” he said, adding that NDLEA and MTN cannot fight the war against substance abuse alone. “We need to fight it together. Peer pressure is the greatest factor. Teachers should find a way to make students deal with peer pressure that make them susceptible to substance abuse.” 

Represented by the secretary/DG, NDLEA, Shedrack Haruna, Marwa said drug use among young persons of school age has become worrisome to the point of necessitating the MTN sponsored quiz competition among secondary school students.

“The effects of drugs are very devastating and ranging from the physical (destroys major organs of the body e.g., respiratory organ, kidney, liver, reproductive system, brain damage, causing memory loss),” he told the teenage students, parents and teachers at the event.

According to Marwa, young people use drugs mainly because they want to be like their peers. His expectation is that the quiz competition will provide the knowledge and necessary information to make healthier personal choices and avoid risky situations that can predispose one to drug use, while also the participants teach others who did not have the opportunity of being part of the whole exercise.

In her remarks, country representative of UNODC, Dr Oliver Stolpe referred to the growing drug use problem as “an epidemic of sorts,” a reason she said this year’s Word Drug Day theme: People First – Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention – should be taken very seriously. She said events such as the quiz competition are crucial in creating awareness of the drug use problems.

The quiz challenge is aimed at deepening the participants’ knowledge and understanding of the drug use problem, and hopefully sensitise about the dangers of being involved in drug use

A 2018 Nigeria Drug Use Survey puts Nigeria’s drug use prevalence at over 3 times the global average, with users being predominantly young people between the ages of 16 and 34. The 2028 survey revealed that over 14.8 million Nigerians who had used drugs as at the time of the survey with 3 million of them living with a drug use disorder.

UNODC called for the formulation of policies that are evidence-based, that speak to the specific situation and issues faced by individuals with drug use disorders. Aside that, the orginsation believes that strengthening prevention would mean providing the growing population of youths the skills to say no to pressures to experiment with drugs.

Stolpe commend MTN Foundation for its commitment and consistency in implementing their Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP). “I call on other corporate organisations to emulate the MT Foundation and partner with the Government of Nigeria to tackle the menace of drug abuse in Nigeria,” she stated.

The first was done last year with 12 schools (from five states and the FCT representing each geo-political zone) participating. The quiz competition is one of the activities lined up towards the commemoration of the UN World Drugs Day in June 26.