Kaduna Partners UNODC, MTN to Equip Students Against Substance Abuse

The Kaduna State Government has partnered with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and MTN Foundation to roll out a classroom-based drug prevention programme aimed at equipping secondary school students with life skills to resist substance abuse. The initiative, known as the “Unplugged Policy Prevention Programme,” targets students between the ages of […]

The Kaduna State Government has partnered with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and MTN Foundation to roll out a classroom-based drug prevention programme aimed at equipping secondary school students with life skills to resist substance abuse.

The initiative, known as the “Unplugged Policy Prevention Programme,” targets students between the ages of 10 and 15 and is being implemented at the Junior Secondary School 3 (JSS3) level to ensure wide reach across the school system.

“This programme is not about treatment; it is about prevention,” explained Elizabeth Atuman, a UNODC trainer. “We want to catch them young by teaching skills such as assertiveness, teamwork, boldness, and refusal techniques. These lessons empower children to say no to drugs before they ever start experimenting.”

Atuman noted that the programme has been tested globally and introduced in Nigeria in 2015. After initial trials in Federal Government Colleges, it expanded to state schools with Kaduna among the earliest beneficiaries. “Kaduna has been at the forefront,” she added. “The state first sponsored training through its Bureau for Substance Abuse, and now MTN Foundation is co-sponsoring and co-training with us.”

The partnership has already yielded results across several states. In Kebbi, 159 teachers across 69 schools were trained in 2018, followed by another 88 teachers in 57 schools in 2021. Similar sessions have been held in Oyo, Rivers, Kano, Bayelsa, Abuja, Imo, Delta, and Kaduna.

Ikenye Jude, another UNODC representative, highlighted the scale of the task ahead. “Nigeria has more than 27,000 secondary schools serving over five million students,” he said. “Our goal is to reach them all. We are equipping children with life skills like listening, communication, and refusal. These don’t just prevent drug abuse they also improve academic performance and help students grow into healthier adults.”

Speaking at the programme’s launch in Kaduna, Joseph Ike, Director-General of the Kaduna State Bureau for Substance Abuse, Prevention and Treatment (KADBUSA), stressed the importance of prevention as a policy shift.

“Too often, conversations about drug abuse revolve around rehabilitation,” Ike observed. “That means we only respond when the problem has already become severe. If rehabilitation is our only focus, we will continue to chase symptoms instead of preventing the disease. It is time to invest in strategies that stop new cases before they occur.”

He compared the approach to Nigeria’s experience with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, when early efforts focused heavily on treatment. “Despite care, many patients still died,” he said. “It became clear that prevention was the real answer. The same lesson applies today.”