FG takes bold step to curb substance abuse

The ravaging effect of hard drugs consumption on the Nigerian youth may soon be checkmated as the federal Government has endorsed the introduction of compulsory and random drug integrity tests for students in Country’s tertiary institutions.

This bold decision which came when the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, met with the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen Buba Marwa (Rtd), in Abuja on Wednesday is said to be part of efforts to curb substance abuse in Nigerian schools.

The minister therefore approved a review of the secondary school curriculum to incorporate updated drug education and the creation of an inter-ministerial working group with the NDLEA.

“When the youths get into drugs, they won’t go to school, and even when they go, they are not getting a functional education. Their critical thinking becomes impaired, their ability to make informed decisions is reduced, and they become unemployable. That creates a vicious cycle. They’re not functional.

“I would suggest we form a technical working group between our ministry and the NDLEA. We’re reviewing the curriculum now for secondary schools, and we’ll cascade it down to primary schools. For secondary schools, we can do it immediately,” the Minister assured.

In his speech,Brig. Gen Marwa outlined a three-pronged approach to tackling drug abuse to include: revising school drug education content, introducing stand-alone drug prevention programmes in secondary schools, and implementing drug testing policies in tertiary institutions for both new and returning students, including random checks.

The NDLEA Boss made it clear that substance abuse is a major threat to national security and youth development and linked it to crimes such as terrorism and banditry.

Lamenting on the menace of substance abuse, he revealed that over 40,000 drug offenders had been arrested and more than 5,500 metric tonnes of drugs seized in the last two years.

“We are fighting for the souls of our children. Without drugs, many criminal activities would not be possible,” the NDLEA Boss stated.