Worried by the prevalence of drug abuse in the country, the Nigerian Senate has urged the Federal Government to declare a state of Emergency on the menace.
In a motion on “Urgent Need To Address The Menace Of Drug Abuse In Nigeria,” sponsored by Senator Hussaini Babangida Uba (Jigawa North West) on the plenary on Tuesday, the Senate also mandated it Committees on Drugs and Narcotics to liaise with relevant Agencies like NAFDAC, NDLEA to convoke a National Summit or Conference to address the problem.
Senator Babangida lamented that illicit drug addiction has deeply permeated the Nigeria society so much so that young people of 15 years old and above, are now heavy narcotic drugs.
“According to a report by the United Nations Office On Drugs And Crime And the European Union On Drugs use in Nigeria, about 14.3million Nigerians between the age of 15 and 64 are drug abusers; 10.6 million addicts were cannabis users, 4.6 addicts used pharmaceutical opioids and 238 thousand drug abusers used amphetamines” he said.
He expressed concerns that the tragic phenomenon now affects all strata and demographic groups of our Nigeria society, hence the need for governments at all levels and the family unit work closely to combat this menace.
He warned that failure to destroy narcotic drug addiction as a country, will destroy Nigeria.
“Nigeria is currently facing a rise in drug abuse which has reached an unprecedented level transforming from a mere transit route in the 1990s, into a country filled with drug abusers and drug traffickers all over its land space.
A significant number of deaths from accidents and violent crimes have been traced to the activities of persons under the influence of drugs especially the discovery of more dangerous substances called “Kurfürstendamm” in the North And “Umkpromiri” in the South.
The prevalence of drug abuse in Nigeria is a public health challenge which seems to be on the increase despite intervention by the international, regional, federal and state bodies through laws, policies and technical support,” he said.
Contributing to the motion, all the lawmakers that spoke agreed that the consequences of drug abuse will continue to endanger national development, public safety and family system if urgent action is not taken to strengthen the exciting legal, policy and institutional frameworks to face the the challenges with all these responsibility.
They also wanted the National University Commission, NUC, to make inclusion of special drug education as a compulsory course in the general studies programme.
The Lawmakers also directed the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NERDC, to review the Nigerian Curriculum for basic and secondary education to include special drug education as a compulsory subject in schools.
In his remarks, the President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio urged the Senate Committees on Drugs and Narcotics to liaise with relevance Agencies like NAFDAC, NDLEA to convoke a National Summit or Conference to address the problem.
