Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has inaugurated the State’s Drug Abuse Control Committee (SODACCOM).
Headed by the State Commissioner for Health, the committee is saddled with the responsibility of advising on how and when to establish War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) clubs in all the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions within and outside the state among others.
Among its terms of reference (TOR) are: identifying all areas of drug of abuse in the state, the sources of these drugs, and the clubs, smoking joints they are used with a view to dislodging them.
Others includes: identifying all the illicit drug dealers with a view to arresting them for prosecution and subsequent conviction, identifying all the addicts for counseling and rehabilitation; enforcing proactive measures needed to curtail the sale, distribution, and use of illicit drugs and non-conventional drugs within Sokoto and environs.
According to Governor Tambuwal, drugs and the people who abuse them are increasing at an alarming rate, especially among the youths.
He observed that the trend is more worrisome with the involvement of married and single women in substance abuse, a negative development that cannot be tolerated by any responsible society, he noted.
Tambuwal also maintained that substance abuse is one of the major causes of socioeconomic problems bedeviling the state.
The include the rising rate of crime and insecurity, ill health, lack of productivity in all sectors and poverty in the state.
The Governor explained that he was greatly relieved by the creation of the committee through the collaboration of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC).
He acknowledged the strides of the current administration of the NDLEA under the leadership of Gen. Buba Mohammed Marwa towards curtailing this ugly trend, through daily arrests, drug seizures and convictions.
With this tempo, he asserts, “there is no doubt that the menace of drug abuse ravaging our society will soon be greatly minimized, if not altogether eradicated, especially with all hands on deck to compliment the efforts of the authorities towards the realization of a drug-free society.”
Security agencies, religious bodies, civil societies, agencies and parastatals all make up the committee body.
Emmanuel Ukoh
