Stakeholders in Nigeria are collaborating in the fight against illicit drug production, trafficking, and organized crimes in the country
They are; the Office for Strategic Preparedness and Resilience (OSPRE), the At-Risk-Children’s Project (Arc-P), Police Reform and Transformation Office (PORTO) and the Milestones Foundation
They made the pledge to collaborate during a one-day round table policy dialogue and technical workshop tagged “The Breaking Bad Summit: Hybrid Strategies For The Multidimensional Challenge Of Substances Abuse,” held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The event brought stakeholders in law enforcement, civil society organisations, policy makers and social workers in Nigeria, to share perspectives on the campaign against substance addiction.
They also resolved to collaborate on sharing data and enjoined OSPRE to facilitate such collaboration and serve as its hub.
The Director General of OSPRE, Mr Chris Ngwodo spoke on the mission of the Agency as a three-fold one which is to preempt, mitigate and contain threats to human security in domains covered by the centre’s mandate.
According to Ngwodo, OSPRE achieves this by providing a range of tools to the government and civil society organisations to help anticipate and prevent challenges before they become a full-blown crisis.
“Substance abuse is a clear and present danger to the well-being, development and peace of this country. It has a corollary impact in sectors such as crime, violence, insecurity and conflict.“
An international trade expert and author of “Cocaine Hoppers,” Dr Jude Oboh, who spoke on “Transnational Dimensions of Drug Trafficking in Nigeria,” said Organized Crimes are embedded in political, economic, socio-cultural and external forces noting that “40% of high-risk drug users unable to get treatment for various reasons including cost of treatment, no treatment available, fear of stigma and lack of information.“
He, therefore, stressed the need for collaborative efforts in creating awareness and implementing policies to curb the menace.
Collaborators of the event also gave their impressions and expectations of policy dialogue with remarks from Mrs Maryam Uwais of the “At-Risk Children’s Programme”, Mr Tunji Lardner of the Police Reform and Transformation Office (PORTO) and Mr Joseph Ike of the Milestones Foundation.
Dr Akanidomo Ibanga of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime highlighted the need for more substance abuse treatment centres to cater for the huge demand.
The Executive Director of the Milestones Foundation, Dr William Ebiti, commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA for its impressive successes in securing convictions of drug traffickers.
The Office for Strategic Preparedness and Resilience also known as the National Centre for the Coordination of Early Warning and Response Mechanisms was established in June 2022 with the signing of Executive Order 12 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
It was created pursuant to Article 58 of the Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS and Article 16 of the 1999 Protocol on the Mechanism relating to Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security.
The centre is mandated to address threats to human security and to build the preparedness and resilience of institutions and communities.
PIAK
