The Program Manager of the Society for the Improvement of Rural People (SIRP) Mrs. Evelyn Joseph has advised parents to monitor and guide their children against drug abuse.
The SIRP Program Manager spoke at a two-day training seminar on Friday organized by the Society and funded by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Enugu, on the theme, Response to Drugs and Related Organized Crimes in Nigeria. Joseph urged parents to create time for their children to guide them properly.
By so doing, she added parents would be able to pick up early traces of drug usage in their children and intervene immediately to avoid escalating into drug abuse.
Joseph noted that West Africa, including Nigeria, remains a key transit point for drug trafficking, and by late 2017, Custom office in Lagos seized 115 tons of Tramadol.
According to her, “a survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics and Centre for Research and Information in Substance Abuse showed that 14.3 million Nigerians aged 15 to 64 had used drugs”.
The survey further showed that 22.4 percent of drug abusers are in the South West; 16.2 percent in the South-South; 13.8 percent in the South East, 13.2 percent in the North East; 12.0 percent in the North West and 10.4 percent in the North Central.”
While noting that drug abusers can be treated and re-integrated back into the Society, she added that the Society had adopted drug counseling to encourage and motivate the abusers to desist from the act, thereby reducing drug use-related risks in the nation.
“Many youths are getting into drugs without knowing its effect in their lives,” she further stated.
Another facilitator and a social worker, Nnedi Ugwu, in her remarks, appreciated the conveyors for the training. She said that the exposure would go a long way to curb the menace destroying the lives of the youth as prevention is better than cure.
The social worker, however, urged members of the public not to stigmatize drug addicts but see them as individuals in dire need of help. All hands must be on deck to help them come out of their situation if we desire to see a world free from addicts.
Fear of stigmatization has kept many addicts from coming out for counseling and treatment, she said.
A social influencer, Clement Umoh, while applauding the efforts of the organizers, admitted he now has a better understanding on issues relating to drug abuse. Armed with this knowledge, he said, “I will employ the use of social media to discourage my followers from indulging in the act”.
