By Sam Akadoro/Sapele
Advocates of non-abuse of drugs pontificate that the fight against drug abuse can be effectively tackled by the collaboration of two or more governmental agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and other stakeholders in the crusade against drug abuses. It was with this realization that Dr. Henry Ofa, commissioner representing Ethiope West, Sapele and Okpe local government areas in the Delta State Oil Producing Areas in the Delta State Oil Producing Area Commission (DESOPADEC), member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Sapele local government area and officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) synergized and pooled their resources to campaign and enlighten school children about the danger of drug abuses in the society.
The programme sponsored by Dr. Ofa took place at the council hall of Sapele local government area.
In his speech, the commissioner expressed concern about the low turnout of school children at the programme, noting that though the hall was full, the students were insignificant when compared with the population of students in
Sapele’s more than 100 secondary schools. Ofa also expressed plan to extend the campaign to the elderly.
According to Ofa, “Let me place it on record that the issue of drug abuse is a universal phenomenon that is threatening global peace. Available information indicates that it account for 80 percentage of Road Traffic Accidents (RTA), violent drugs, global terrorism and varied cases of illness, such as neurosis, psychosis, hallucinations among others.”
Continuing, the commissioner quoted Mr. Osita Chidoka, Corps Marshal and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) as stating that over 1.3 million people die from road accident annually world wide with over eight percent as a result of illicit drugs including cocaine, heroine, Indian hemp and other ethical branded drugs which are used beyond it original clinical prescription. Ofa noted that unless punitive measures are taken to curtail the excesses of the drivers who operate under the influence of alcohol and drugs, traffic injuries would continue spiralling and become the leading cause of death in the world, which today is estimated at causing 2.4 million deaths yearly.
Ofa noted that given the fearful statistics and the gloomy pictures it paints, the challenge before all called for a strategic framework and new mindset towards the fight against drug abuse. He added that in the last three months, and taking the content analysis of most of the national dailies, he discovered to his amazement the involvement of the youths in the ugly development. According to Ofa in Oyo, Lagos, Kano, and Edo State, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has seized over a million kilograms of illicit drugs and arrested over 500 persons most of whom are youths and commercial bus drivers. He added that the larger implication of this alarming situation could therefore be imagined.
The commissioner stated that drug abuse as a critical national issue has therefore become a matter of serious concern to every patriotic individual in the country, informing that it was noteworthy that beyond NDLEA, which by its statutory mandate is responsible for the enforcement of anti-drug abuse law, corporate bodies, youths groups and non-governmental organizations are taking various measures as part of their social responsibility, including public enlightenment campaigns, seminars and lectures on the danger of taking hard and illicit drugs.
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