The Zuma Deck, Abuja, of the National Association of Seadogs (NAS) also known as Pyrates Confraternity, has held a sensitisation campaign against drug abuse and child homelessness.
The event, which included a street walk within the Kubwa area, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was part of the association’s nationwide and global sensitisation on the dangers of drug and substance abuse.
Tagged “The NAS Street Child Project”, it was part of a simultaneous advocacy action carried out across Nigeria and in NAS chapters abroad, underscoring the group’s global solidarity in the fight against social vices threatening young people.
During the march, the 2nd mate and programme director of NAS Zuma Deck, Dr. Patrick Uju, explained that the campaign was aimed at highlighting the dangers of substance abuse, which, he said, had reached “epidemic levels” in Nigeria.
Uju said, “The rate of drug and substance use in this country has gotten to an epidemic level. You may not know it until you go down to the grassroots, the slum, and the city’s hidden corners. Even the rich are involved.”
Uju, who is a medical doctor, warned that substance abuse has devastating health consequences, including kidney and liver damage as well as the destruction of mental capacity, which can turn victims into “liabilities to society.”
Also, the chairman of the Advocacy Committee, NAS Zuma Deck, Barr Charles Ndukwe, described the campaign as part of the association’s “Street Child Project”, that seeks to reduce the number of children living on the streets and prevent their exposure to drugs.
“Drugs have destroyed children’s dreams, stopped them from achieving their ambitions, and contributed to increased crime rates and mental illness in society. We need to go back to the drawing board and start afresh to take drugs off our streets,” Charles said.
A well-wisher at the event, Engr Nancy Onuoha, said she joined the walk to show solidarity with NAS and its campaign, which she described as timely.
