Drug abuse: Two generations may be wiped out ― Presidential committee

THE Presidential Advisory Committee on the Elimination of Drug Abuse (PACEDA) has warned that two generations of Nigerian are at risk of being wiped out if nothing was done to address the illegal consumption of drugs, especially by the youths.

Chairman of the Presidential Committee, General Buba Marwa, who was speaking during a meeting with the Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) in Abuja on Wednesday, raised serious concern over the increasing rate of drug abuse in the country.

“If nothing is done to address the illegal consumption of drugs especially by youths, about two generations were at risk of being wiped out,” he warned.

The Presidential Advisory Committee on the Elimination of Drug Abuse was set up by President Muhammadu Buhari in December last year with the responsibility of providing sustainable recommendations that would lead to the elimination of drug abuse by Nigerian youths.

Describing the development as a terrible scourge upon the country, Marwan said:

“With what we have been witnessing in the country, not only one but two generations are in the process of being wiped out if we are not careful unless there is urgent Intervention.

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“We are fully confident that president  Buhari is concerned and will effect changes rapidly to bring about a solution to this terrible state of affairs in the country as far as drug abuse is concerned.”

He pointed out that the committee was interfacing with relevant stakeholders which include NAFDAC and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), to seek out how best to eliminate drug abuse in the country.

He explained that the committee would be broken into zonal subcommittees to penetrate every community, in order to generate relevant information that would help win the war against drug abuse.

Also speaking, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye lamented that two generations have been lost to drug abuse already.

She pointed out that majority of women whose children are addicted to drugs live in perpetual fear.

While expressing gratitude to President Buhari for returning NAFDAC to the Nigerian Ports, she disclosed that there have been tremendous changes including the interception of 23 containers of tramadol being imported into the country in September last year.

According to him, “We have lost about two generations now. when a mother sleeps, she locks the door at night because if a child is addicted she is not sure whether the child will come in at night to harm her. When a mother goes out to start selling drugs that is the end of the family.”

She stated that plans were underway to embark on a drug abuse awareness campaign after the general elections; starting from Lagos.

Prof. Adeyeye, however, stated that the agency was in dire need of increased manpower, more vehicles and technology to track drugs and other harmful substances with ease.