Primate Ayodele partners NDLEA, others on youth empowerment

ON Friday, founder and head of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, with headquarters in Lagos, partnered officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Global Care Hospital, among others, to arrest the upsurge of drug abuse among youths.

The event, which saw many youths turn up, had as its main goal, the rehabilitation of many youths, who had been in the grip of drug abuse.

At Ilasa, venue of the programme, the gesture, which was unexpected, saw many of the beneficiaries, who hitherto had suffered innumerable consequences from drug abuse, given a new lease on life.

Quite particular was the training of all participants, who were hosted for about three months and were eventually given start-up kits so as to make positive impact on their lives following the rehabilitation. Some were also given financial aid to return to school, while others received aid in other forms.

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For 41-year-old Toyosi Oyebola, a beneficiary of the scheme, attending the training afforded him the opportunity to start again. He thanked the cleric and other partners for coming to his rescue after wasting many years under the influence of hard drugs.

Godstime Junior, another beneficiary, was grateful for the gesture, just as he insisted that with what he had gotten from the programme, he would impact positively on society.

In an interaction with TribuneChurch, Primate Ayodele stated that “stakeholders should join in the task of rehabilitating youths who are caught in the web of societal vices. It is not enough to condemn them. We must do all to ensure that we are instruments of bringing positive change to our society. Churches and other religious organisations, including other well-meaning platforms, should ensure that all is done to give our youths their pride of place.”

He further called on all, particularly residents of Ekiti State, to be orderly as they go for their governorship election, just as he told the APC candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi, that he could only win “if he listens to instructions and carry out grassroots mobilisation. He should ensure that he reconciles all aggrieved members of his party.”