Drug abuse among children worrisome – Minister

It is worrisome to note that a great number of young people are involved in illicit drugs with Nigeria’s profile in drug trafficking and drug abuse has been on the increase over the years, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Aisha Abubakar, has said. She said drug abuse among children had led to […]

It is worrisome to note that a great number of young people are involved in illicit drugs with Nigeria’s profile in drug trafficking and drug abuse has been on the increase over the years, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Aisha Abubakar, has said.

She said drug abuse among children had led to increase in mental health, temporal or permanent absence from school, theft, cyber-crime, ritual killings, robbery, among other vices.

Abubakar who was speaking at a press briefing in preparation to mark the 2019 International Children’s Day with the theme: “Drug Abuse Among Children: Addressing the Challenges”, called on relevant stakeholders such as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to as a matter of urgency collaborate to strengthen existing structures, including networking with other key stakeholders like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC), to adopt strategies on reducing drug abuse among children in order to secure a brighter future for the country.

She said schools, traditional rulers, religious leaders, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), should support government’s effort at creating awareness on drugs.

“State parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislative, administrative, social and educational, to protect children from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances as defined in the relevant international treaties, and to prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances,” she said.

According to a recent report of UNODC in collaboration with the European Union (EU), about 14.3 million Nigerians, representing about 14.4 per cent of the country’s population between the ages of 15 and 64, are said to have abused drugs in the past one year.

She also noted that the future leaders of any society became the focal point for development, adding that “investing in our children is an investment in the future of this great nation and should not be compromised for anything.”

The National Programme Manager of Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC), Danladi Plang, in his remarks, said the theme of the 2019 International Children’s Day was apt, especially given the damning statistics about the rising level of drug abuse in the country, and added that it was alarming that most of those engaged in abuse of drugs were young people.

“If, as it is often said, that children are the future and leaders of tomorrow; it may also be safe then to conclude that for a nation, the quality of its tomorrow and its leadership will be dependent on the quality of the children we have today,” he said.

He further said drug abuse among children portended grave danger for the future and survival of any nation, but that, “We can change the narrative if we implement the commitments we made to promoting and protecting the rights of our children.”

The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said the choice of the theme focused on the protection of the child and the ills of drug abuse which invariably addressed the importance of preservetion of the future generation of any nation.

Prof. Mojisola said in NAFDAC’s effort to combat the challenge of drug abuse among young people, it had started a nationwide programme, Youth Against Drug Abuse (YADA), an education and awareness campaign aimed at reducing the desire for drugs in school children.