Drug Abuse Threatening Nigeria's Future, Association Warns

The Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria (AHAPN) Abuja Branch has called on its members to play a leading role in the fight against drug abuse, warning that the crisis now threatens the country’s future, with women most at risk.

At a capacity-building workshop in Abuja to mark the 2026 World Anti-Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking Day, the AHAPN Abuja branch chairman, Hafsat Abdullahi, said pharmacists were the most accessible health professionals and the last checkpoint before medicines reach the public.

She said the workshop was designed to widen pharmacists’ understanding of how to handle drug abuse, manage victims, and reduce the menace in communities.

The commemoration began on Wednesday with the sensitisation of SS1 and SS2 students of government secondary schools in Abuja, where the students were taught the dangers of drug abuse, prevention strategies and pathways to treatment.

Delivering the keynote, Dr Suleiman Chiroma, said drug abuse is no longer a distant problem but one that now exists within homes and communities.

“This drug abuse and trafficking is not something that is far from us. It’s within our system. It’s within our backyard. So please, let’s open our eyes,” he told members.

Chiroma linked drug dependence to changes in the brain’s dopamine system and warned that addiction creates a hypodopaminergic state where victims crave more drugs because their brains can no longer produce normal levels of the “feel-good hormone”.

He explained that repeated drug use damages the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for judgment, impulse control and decision-making, which is why people with substance use disorder know the harm but cannot stop.

Citing data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Chiroma said about 316 million people used drugs globally in 2023, representing 6 per cent of the population aged 15 to 64. In Nigeria, he put prevalence at 14.4 per cent, with 14.3 million Nigerians aged 15 to 64 using drugs in the past year and over 3 million living with drug use disorder.

He said only one in 11 people with a drug use disorder receives treatment worldwide, and in Nigeria, the gap is stark, with one in every 18 women accessing care compared to one in seven men.

“If our women are hooked on drugs, that means we do not have a future, because a woman nurtures every child. This is a national disaster,” he said.

The keynote speaker also raised concern over rising opioid use, the abuse of codeine and tramadol, self-medication, stigma around treatment, and the emergence of synthetic and designer drugs that have no medical use.

Chiroma said pharmacists must enforce drug regulations, secure poison cupboards, document controlled substances properly, and resist the temptation to dispense for profit.

He noted that because of their accessibility, pharmacists must use their knowledge of drugs to counsel patients, educate parents, and manage the supply chain to reduce diversion.

Without that, he said, the fight against drug abuse in Nigeria will remain uphill.

The AHAPN Abuja Branch workshop brought together pharmacists, guests and stakeholders for panel discussions aimed at equipping members with new tools to respond to the evolving drug crisis.

The event also featured a panel discussion and a fundraising drive to support AHAPN’s continued interventions, including the purchase of an 18-seater bus.