Drug, Substance Abuse Posing Socio-Economic, Security, Other Threats To Nigeria-Reps, UNODC, NDLEA Others

Alkassim Bala Tsakuwa, Abuja

The House of Representatives, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and other stakeholders have raised alarm over the alarming rise in drugs and substances abuse has become a public health, socio-economic and security threats to Nigeria

They raised the alarm at an investigative hearing by the House Ad-hoc Committee on Drugs, Trafficking, Alcohol and Tobacco Abuse and the Regulation of Pharmaceutical Industries In Nigeria on Tuesday.

In its submission, the UNODC quoting a 2018 drug use survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBD) in cooperation with the UNODC and the European Union, revealed a drug use prevalence of 14.4 percent among Nigerians aged between 15 and 64 years, the percentage of people using drugs in Nigeria was alarming which was three times than the global average.

It added, ” Women and girls are particularly hard hit by the drug epidemic. While one in four drug users is a woman, only one in 20 persons in treatment is female, suggesting that, stigma and other access barriers are affecting women and girls disproportionately.

“Projections suggest that, by 20230, drug use will increase across Africa by 40%. For Nigeria, this projection signifies that it will have to graffle with more than 20 million drug users which signifies an extreme challenge to public health as well as to public security”.

The UNODC however suggested that, to effectively tackle the menace, Nigeria must adopt “a whole of society approach, which prioritises the provision of resources across all levels of government (federal, State, local governments and communities) to ensure that policies, tools and structures created for drug control in Nigeria are implemented.

On its part, the NDLEA in a document submitted at the investigative hearing stated that, illicit drugs and uncontrolled psychoactive substances constitute a significant threat to national stability, public health, economic development and youths productivity.

According to the agency, Nigeria’s strategic location has made it to become both a transit corridor and and a consumer market for illicit drugs particularly for West Africa.

It added, “The rise of of synthetic substances and the misuse of prescription medicines with drug production in clandestine laboratories, have intensifies the challenge. These developments also intersect with weak regulation of Alcohol and Tobacco markets, creating a multidimensional public safety risk”.

The NDLEA therefore called for the urgent amendment of its Act to address emerging crimes including digital trafficking, cryptocurrency payments and synthetic drug production which it stated that is ongoing with the assistance of the National Assembly as well as other strong measures to address the menace.

In his address earlier, Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Hon. Oluwatimehin Adelegbe said that, the House was worried about the national emergency in the form of drugs and substance abuse, trafficking, unregulated Pharmaceutical distribution, predatory alcohol marketing and aggressive tobacco promotion.

“He said, “This crisis is stealing the health of our youths, weakening our labour force, destabilizing our communities and undermining our collective future. Nigeria is losing too many lives, too many futures, too many families. As lawmakers, we must rise to the responsibility placed upon us.

“The Nigerian people expect answers, solutions and form action-not excuses. Let it be emphasised that, this investigation is not anti-business or witch-hunt, but an accountability session. We support industries, we value investors and we welcome innovation.

“But, no business model can be allowed to thrive at the expense of Nigerian lives. No profit margin can justify the destruction of our youths. No corporate actor will be permitted to hide behind compliance rhetoric while fuelling and addiction epidemic”.