President Bola Tinubu has expressed support for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, in its fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking as well as its ramped-up efforts to prevent the Nigerian populace from falling prey to the drug scourge.
The president gave the assurance on the occasion of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, otherwise known as World Drug Day yesterday, at the Presidential Villa.
Speaking on the theme of the day, which is “The Evidence is Clear: Invest in Prevention,“ President Tinubu, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, said: “I enjoin all and sundry to support the War Against Drug Abuse initiative, otherwise known as the WADA campaign, launched by NDLEA three years ago.
“I commend and urge everyone to redouble their efforts to combat drug abuse and trafficking in the country. On this score, I wish to reassure you of this administration‘s support. The Renewed Hope Agenda places the youth at the centre of its focus.
“Therefore, we ensure that our young people are protected from anything that could derail their future or destroy their potential,” he said.
While noting that illicit drugs and substances have wreaked havoc on individuals, families, communities and countries worldwide, the President said: “In the face of such a formidable challenge, prevention is the most potent weapon that we can deploy.
“Prevention not only saves lives; it also saves resources that would otherwise be spent on treatment and rehabilitation. It empowers individuals to make informed choices, promotes healthy lifestyles and creates resilient communities capable of withstanding the pressures of drug abuse.
“Investing in prevention is not merely a moral imperative, a prudent way of safeguarding our future. By allocating resources towards evidence-based prevention programmes, we can break the vicious cycle of drug abuse and protect our youth from falling prey to the menace,“ Tinubu said.
The president further noted that „The assignment before us as a country requires that we prioritise evidence-based prevention strategies, allocate adequate resources and foster partnerships for greater impact.“
He consequently gave strong assurances that: „This government will support NDLEA to build on the success recorded in the past few years.
We shall work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that we have positive statistics from the next national drug use survey that will be conducted in the country.“
He urged all Nigerians to join hands in this noble cause. „This is an assignment for all patriotic citizens of this country, including religious leaders, traditional leaders, educational institutions, opinion leaders, and civil society organisations. NDLEA has created a formidable platform for cooperation vis-à-vis its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy initiative,“ he said.
The outgoing UNODC country representative, Dr Oliver Stolpe also made a number of recommendations. „After the exceptionally successful testing of the school-based drug prevention programme UNPLUGGED involving half a million secondary school children in Nigeria, the programme should be rolled out to all 28, 000 public and private secondary schools. We need to enhance the resilience against drug use among the millions of out-of-school children, for example through sports-based initiatives such as LINE UP LIVE UP (LULU). Furthermore, we need to strengthen families in their ability to recognise and address drug use in effective and constructive ways.“
The minister of education, Prof Tahir Mamman, who emphasized the importance of testing in schools expressed the ministry‘s support for NDLEA drug test campaign while he called on agencies of government „to work together and support all these efforts.“
The chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Drugs and Narcotics, Hon Abass Adigun called for more budgetary provisions for NDLEA in the face of its multi-faceted mandate. „We at the national assembly are ready to work with the NDLEA and we need the federal government to look into this,“ he said.
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