The Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Kwara State, Hajia Fatima Abiola-Popoola, has canvassed mandatory drug test for candidates seeking admission into the Nigerian universities.
She called on the management of the universities to make drug test mandatory for newly admitted students.
Abiola-Popoola spoke during an interactive session with journalists in Ilorin, the state capital.
She lamented the increase in the number of drug users in the country, especially females, noting that, “this portends great danger for the home and society.”
“According to a 2018 survey, 14.3 million people were using drugs in Nigeria, one out of 7 persons in Nigeria is a drug user, and it also revealed that one out of 4 drug users is a woman, and this shows that the society is in trouble. This is because a woman is the administrator of the home and now that women have started abusing drug, then the society is in trouble,” she said.
Abiola-Popoola stressed the vital role of traditional rulers in the crusade against drug trafficking and abuse, adding that “success in the fight against drug abuse depends on the support of the stakeholders at the behest of the traditional institution.
“The traditional rulers have some control over their people and they are the closest to the communities, and whenever they say a word, it almost becomes a law amongst their people who hold them in high esteem. They have a stronghold of their communities, and that is why they are very important in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
“We have been making use of the traditional rulers over the years. In fact, as part of our mandate and also the people that we grouped as stakeholders in the society, the traditional rulers are part of it. Because when traditional heads rise up in their respective communities against drug traffickers, their people will join them in the fight.”
