SHOULD THE FG DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY ON SUBSTANCE ABUSE?

Our stand is YES.

RATIONALE BEHIND OUR POSITION

  1. The current drug statistics make it expedient and imperative.

UNODC figures – global average prevalence drug use rate is 5.6%

  • Nigeria’s 14.4% (which translates into about 14 to 15 million Nigerians who had used drugs the previous year)
  • of 4 drug Users, 1 is a female
  • The most affected age bracket is the 25 -39 years old
  • The impact on internal security, national development, and youth and young adults.
  • Sierra Leone, a West African nation, has led in this direction. She has a population of about 10 million and a drug use prevalence rate of 6.1%
  • The inadequate level of awareness and the seeming nonchalance of society about the dire consequences of the dangers we face with our drug situation.
  • The fallacy of the general thinking that the NDLEA is capable solely of dealing with the situation.
  • Despite the ruthless efficiency of the current NDLEA, there is yet so much to do to counteract the availability and affordability of these drugs plus the increasing level of local manufacturing of some and use of unorthodox substances.
  • The erosion of values has fueled greed which is noticeable in the level of drug trafficking even in the face of interdiction and prosecution.

WHAT THE EMERGENCY DECLARATION IS NOT

  1. Imposition of draconian measures
  2. The idea of victimhood
  3. Silo mentality in the approach of dealing with substance abuse with no eye on ancillary factors promoting it.
  4. It is not a means of encouraging the establishment of more agencies.

WHAT STEPS ARE REQUIRED TO APPROPRIATE THE INHERENT BENEFITS OF THIS DECLARATION?

  1. Increased civic engagement across the various segments of our society.

We suggest that the CCEO himself should steer this initiative in the early stages before full embedment:

  1. Get the understanding and buy-in of the National Assembly
  2. The Governors’ Forum
  3. The Governors’ Wives Forum
  4. Meet with the hierarchy of our religious organizations (not their representatives)
  5. Meet with the National Traditional Council
  6. Meet with the organized private sector
  7. Meet with the NLC and TUC
  8. Meet with the senior media leaders – the print and the electronic media
  9. Meet with the leaders of the entertainment industry
  10. Meet with VCs/Rectors of tertiary institutions

These stakeholders must be presented with the facts and figures of our drug burden and then have an outline of the agency’s expectations of their involvement in this crusade.

  • Strengthen the DDR department of the agency with personnel, materials and finance.
  • Registration of all NGOs, and CSOs working in the drug space. Initiate a meeting and provide a structured outline of expectations from them.
  • Establishment of Rehabilitation Centres in the 6 geopolitical zones – infrastructure and needed personnel staffing.
  • Agency to register the existing private rehabilitation centres and monitor their operations closely, providing guidelines for their operations.
  • Establishment of non-residential facilities by the State Government.
  • Encourage the development of Mental Health and Drug Policy in the Workplace
  • Guide the tertiary institutions in the development of a universal drug policy.
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