Previously dismissed as a distant notion, Nigeria is being consumed by the rising menace of drug abuse. Instead of just being a dot on the consciousness, the tragic phenomenon now cuts across all strata of the society. Along with other non-state actors, a non-governmental organisation has brought the issue to the fore again, urging the government to recognise the practice among youths and “declare a national state of emergency” over drug abuse. To stave off the impending plague, the authorities need all hands on deck.
At a summit in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, the National Alliance against Drug Abuse for Sustainable Development dissected the issue and the threat it posed to the future of the country if not tackled decisively. “The threats posed by drug abuse to the society are real and alarming,” the NGO said. “The least it deserves is a strategic, sustainable alliance by stakeholders.” Having succinctly defined the prevailing official negligence, the ball is now in the government’s court. It must stop dragging its feet.
At the root of the nuisance is the breakdown in societal values, and the pervasive influence of Western civilisation that eroded in part the strict mores of the past. The result is an epidemic of drug addiction, the attendant human capital waste and health crisis. A World Health Organisation report notes that alcohol abuse results in 3.3 million deaths annually across the world. Sadly, that includes Nigeria.
Cannabis, which WHO describes as the most abused drug globally, is also the most commonly used in Nigeria. It is smoked at street corners and neighbourhood kiosks, the dealers given protection by the security agencies. This is strange. Apart from occasional seizures, the law enforcement agencies are part of the problem. Yet, security men are supposed to bring the vendors of the evil product to book, not collude with them to entrench drug malfeasance.
Cannabis aside, there is a growing abuse of synthetic drugs, which were once strange to the Nigerian milieu. Amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, paint thinner, glue, cough syrup made with codeine, cement and animal excreta are being widely abused. Between 2010 and 2012, six methamphetamine factories were discovered in Delta and Lagos states, said the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. In Asaba, the Delta capital, police arrested four Mexicans and their Nigerian partners in crime at their super methamphetamine laboratory in March 2016.
In January 2015, the airwaves were awash with the discovery of another methamphetamine factory in Lagos. In Kwara State, the NDLEA warned pharmaceutical companies last week to control their production of cough syrup ahead of the forthcoming local council elections. Indeed, there is no hiding the menace again, whether in Kano, Sokoto, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kaduna or Katsina. This is because drugs are part of crime and violence, as being witnessed in the United States, Mexico and Colombia, where the US Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that notorious Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar, once controlled 80 per cent of the global cocaine trade. The DEA described his colleague, Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán as “the leading drug trafficker of all time.”
This culture of drugs and bloodshed is spreading fast on our shores, as Nigeria graduates from being just a corridor to a nest of barons, who wield enormous influence and financial resources, and tempt the impressionable youths into drug addiction. The NDLEA, in 2015, said Nigeria had the highest number of persons serving jail terms for drug-related offences worldwide. Nigerians have recently been executed for drug offences in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
At home, a Federal Government panel discovered that between 2005 and 2006, 197 drug barons, with the complicity of security agents, escaped without serving their sentences. Many were never taken to prison at all upon conviction. How they manipulated the justice delivery system to achieve their aim is most odious and dangerous for the society. As drug abuse grows, criminality does, too. In August, Nigeria witnessed the massacre of 13 worshippers at the St. Phillips Catholic Church in Ozubulu, Anambra State, during Sunday service. The bandits reportedly carried over their brutal fighting over territory from South Africa to Nigeria. The notorious kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme ‘Evans’ Onwuamadike, who is on trial, had once confessed to dealing in hard drugs.
A former NDLEA director-general, Lanre Ipinmisho, said in 2016 that 40 per cent of Nigerian youths were on hard drugs. “If you take an estimate of 10 boys particularly in Kano, seven will be on drugs,” he said. On October 28, the acting Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Edgal Imohimi, convened an emergency meeting with hoteliers and nightclub owners, where he decried security reports that pointed to “the ease with which our youths are getting access to drugs at clubs, hotels, lounges, beaches and bars.”
Experts say that the production of methamphetamine generates toxic waste, which is capable of contaminating underground water within a 500-metre radius. Substance abuse also makes the treatment of illnesses difficult and fuels the spread of HIV/AIDS. For a country battling with poor infrastructure and low budgetary provisions, the health implications are enormous.
Is there a way out of the morass? Yes, but the government must first wake up to the crisis. The current shambolic way has to give way to a more methodical approach. With NGOs willing to offer assistance, the government, especially at the federal and state levels, must swiftly link up with NGOs for solutions. As currently constituted, the NDLEA cannot effectively contain the scourge. So, it must be well-funded and equipped to carry out its duties.
For many addicts, drug abuse starts like a game, a fad arising from peer group pressure. Since treatment is long and expensive, parents have to be on the alert to stop them from acquiring the habit. They should imbue their children with a sense of confidence; they do not have to belong by depending on substances. However, the government needs to establish functional rehabilitation centres to cater for those who have already been addicted.
