17th October, 2024
NKRUMAH BANKONG-OBI/Lafia
The governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi Sule has promised that he will take up the challenge of mobilising his fellow governors in the North to combat the menace of drug abuse and narcotic use in the region.
He gave the indication in Lafia on Wednesday during the Northcentral sensitization workshop on the effects of drugs and narcotics: “I promise you that at our meeting that we are going to have with northern governors, which will come at the end of this month in Kaduna, I will be the champion of encouraging other northern governors to ensure we do[fight drug and narcotic use] this because if we in Nasarawa we are having this, if in Lafia we are having this problem of drug abuse, I am sure that in the big cities, we are having ten times the problems that we have. So, it is in our own interest to work together and ensure that we get our own children to get away from a dangerous route that they have taken.”
The governor noted that illicit drugs and other substance impact society negatively, pointing out that no segment of the community is spared of the adverse effects of drug use.
“The use of marijuana, heroin, cocaine, contribute to lawlessness, crimes, distortion of economies, banditry, kidnapping and terrorism. Our youths are therefore are most culpable in drug abuse with consequences on all strata of the society,” he said noting that his administration has taken steps to fight the menace of drug us and substance abuse by providing frameworks that encourage education, self-reliance through entrepreneurship, enhance emotional health and wellbeing, avenues that encourage healthy living, among others.
Governor Sule who is also the chair of the Northcentral Governors’ Forum implored all concerned to make the need sacrifices that can come in the form of funding, advocating, treatment and prevention of drug and substance abuse.
He opined that the reason for reason the House of Representatives committee on Narcotics complains of not functioning as it should, is tied to the unwillingness to make sacrifices for the sake of the future.
“Earlier on, I heard the Chairman talk about funding being the reason the committee’s inability to carry out its functions effectively and efficiently. It is not that we don’t have the funding, it is just that we don’t have the commitment to make the sacrifices and make sure that your committee works,” the difference between the House and the State, Governor Sule said, is that “For us in Nasarawa, we believe in our state, we believe in education, we believe in mining, agriculture, industrialization which we are working on day and night. We believe in infrastructure which you are seeing all over the place. But most importantly, we believe in the future of our of our women and our children that is why we provided the funding that you have.
He called on his colleagues to provide the assistance so that issues relating to drug and substance abuse can be handled “I therefore challenge all our Excellencies, the governors from the zone that we! should all partner to find a way to stop the use of drugs among our youths and women, not only in this zone but also in Nigeria.”
In his address, the Chairman of the House of Representatives committee on Narcotic, Hon. Abbas Adigun call fo mass support for not just his Committee but also all agencies involved in the campaign to end drug and substance abuse in the country.
He said the vision is to take the message to all local government areas in the country but they are hampered by paucity of funding. The Federal legislator called everyone present to “Take the message back to our people. As we go back to our domains, let’s take the message to our people – the pastors in the church, the imam in the mosques, about the effects of drug abuse.
Other stakeholders who gave goodwill messages stressed the importance of reversing the trend of drug abuse through the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA.
The workshop, themed Community Participation, Critical Stakeholder Support and Partnership in the Fight Against Drug Use and Abuse Among Nigerian Youths, Addressing the Prevalence of Drug Abuse and Trafficking Among the Female Gender is organised by the House Committee on Narcotics and other groups.
