Drug abuse, serious impediment to gainful employment –NDE

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has declared that substance abuse is now posing a serious impediment to gainful employment; saying that the challenge of substance abuse is threatening the labour force.

The Acting Director General of NDE, Mr. Kunle Obayan and the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, jointly lamented the evil effect of substance abuse on employment at a one-day seminar with a theme:: “Substance abuse: An impediment to gainful employment, organised by the NDE in Abuja recently.

The seminar, according to Obayan was to sensitise the general public, especially the youths on the dangers of substance abuse and its negative implications on the affected persons in particular, the society and the economy at large.

He said: “substance abuse in all ramifications is an evil  wind that blows no society and economy any good. There is no country that attains or achieves economic growth  when large proportions of her population are into instance abuse.”

Obayan stated pursuant to the noble task of employment creation mandate, the NDE has noted with utmost concern that problems emanating from substance busy is fast becoming inimical to skills acquisition, training and employability of Nigerians, especially the. youths.

He said: “The monster, substance abuse, has crept into Nigerian workforce, professionals, housewives, students and indeed all segments of the society thereby adversely affecting productivity and delivery in their areas of responsibility.

“In view of this, the theme of this seminar cannot be more appropriate bearing in mind that the core objective of the present administration is based on attitudinal changed economic realignment as encapsulated in the “Change Begins With Me” initiative.

“The challenge of substance abuse is threatening the labour force. Youths who are the future of the nation are hooked on the use of illicit substances such as alcohol, sedatives, depressant cannabis, cocaine, heroin among others. Substance abuse brings about industrial losses and low productivity and create conducive atmosphere for all manners of anti social behaviors like armed robbery, kidnapping, sexual violence e.t.c.”

Governor El-Rufai said it was not too late for all to come together to chart a new course towards ameliorating the negative impact of substance abuse on youth employment, and by extension, productivity.

He said: “We are gathered here today to closely examine a dangerous phenomenon sweeping through the world. The abuse of drugs and other harmful substances, especially in Northern Nigeria, is a sorry tale. So, now is the time to begin to seek realistic solution to mitigate the destructive outcomes of substance abuse in Nigeria.”

Reeling out the figure, the governor stated that the NDLEA apprehended 63 suspected drug traffickers at the Murtala Muhammed Airport alone, with a total of 484.11 kilograms of narcotics; while equally disturbing according to him was the discovery by the NDELA in Lagos of 11 laboratories manufacturing banned substances.

El-Rufai pointed out that it was alarming to note that no city in Nigeria could say it was free from substance abuse, even in our rural areas; adding that this harmful practice persisted.

He, however, hinted that no employer of labour, either in private or public sector, would knowingly employ someone battling with drug addiction.

The governor said: “This scenario makes the task of the NDE as the apex job creation agency of the Federal Government a lot more difficult. Nigeria cannot achieve economic growth without positive contribution from the youth who form the bedrock of the Nigerian population and regrettably the most hit by this unfortunate and sad phenomenon.”

The Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige, in his speech said it is not an arguable fact that substance abuse leeds to crime, violence, corruption, drains financial resources that otherwise would have been used for social and economic development.

In the workplace, Ngige said substance abuse has the potential to negatively affect the health, safety, productivity of employees and consequently leading to failure in the attainment of organizational goals.