PAUL OMOROGBE takes a look at the status of Nigeria’s war on drugs: the progress made and the prospects for an end game in this report.
JEFF (not his real name) is an undergraduate in one of Nigeria’s private universities. Jeff said he began to use drugs during a difficult time in his life. “It was the only way to escape my problems,” he said. He was already an undergraduate when he began doing drugs.
Jeff uses a substance called ‘colorado’ or ‘collos’ for short. It is also known as synthetic cannabinoids or ‘Spice.’
“I used to have low grades and this always made me think I wasn’t enough and most boys were always talking about how the drugs use to make them feel at ease and relaxed,” he told Nigerian Tribune.
“So, I said to myself why not try it? Here am I today addicted to drugs!”
Jeff added that he wants to end it, but that is a struggle.
“I really want to stop using drugs. It’s causing a lot of problems in my life and I know it’s not a healthy way to cope.”
Toby is another young in Nigerian undergraduate who is into drugs.
However, Toby got into drugs long before he got admitted into university.
“I experimented with drugs in senior secondary school, influenced by my social circle I was trying to fit in,” he told Nigerian Tribune.
“My reason for doing drugs is not tangible and I know. I was trying to make friends with the so-called big boys in my secondary school at that time and this is what they do. And I thought if I do this drugs thing they do, it will make it so much easier for me to make friends with them and that was how I got into drugs,” he said.
Nigeria’s drug abuse situation
Nigeria’s “war on drugs” is an ongoing effort to combat drug trafficking and abuse, but it does not have a specific start date like some other conflicts or campaigns. Drug-related issues have been a concern in Nigeria for several decades. The country has been dealing with drug trafficking, drug abuse and associated criminal activities for a significant portion of its post-independence history.
Nigeria currently faces similar challenges as its citizens indulge in drugs and substances despite a 1990 National Drug Policy adopted to guard against inadequacies in drug availability, supply and distribution
According to a study, a population of 30 to 35 million Nigerians spends approximately $15,000 and $30,000 annually on psychotropic drugs and alcoholic beverages, respectively.
Another study stated that the abuse of drugs and other substances and associated crime have driven the considerable rise in the number of youths imprisoned in recent years.
A report by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in Nigeria indicates that 14.4 percent (14.3 million) of people aged between 15 and 64 years abuse drugs.
The statistical analysis of the findings of a 2015 nationwide survey of 10,609 respondents showed that alcohol is the drug with the highest prevalence rate, whereas cannabis is the most abused illicit drug.
Drug abuse, trafficking on the increase?
The spate of arrests and drug seizures made by the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) of recent gives an impression that there is an upsurge in drug trafficking. However, as of the time of this report, there is no up-to-date empirical data to indicate such trend.
Around 275 million people used drugs worldwide in the last year, while over 36 million people suffered from drug use disorders, according to the 2021 World Drug Report, released by the UNODC.
A 2018 National Drug Use Survey revealed that in Nigeria, at that time, there were around 14.3 million drug users of which close to three million suffered from a drug use disorder.
The World Drug Report further noted that in the last 24 years cannabis potency had increased by as much as four times in parts of the world, even as the percentage of adolescents who perceived the drug as harmful fell by as much as 40 per cent, despite evidence that cannabis use is associated with a variety of health and other harms, especially among regular long-term users. A worrisome trend, considering that there are 11 million cannabis users in Nigeria, a third of whom seemed to be regular users with a need for drug counselling.
“Lower perception of drug use risks has been linked to higher rates of drug use, and the findings of UNODC’s 2021 World Drug Report highlight the need to close the gap between perception and reality to educate young people and safeguard public health,” said UNODC Executive Director, Ghada Waly.
“I agree that drug abuse in Nigeria has reached a critical level,” said Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, a mental health expert and founder/CEO of Asido Foundation, a not-for-profit mental health advocacy organisation.
“We have transitioned over the years from a drug-transiting country to a drug-consuming country and the pattern of use has increased significantly over the years. For instance, the last national survey of drug use in Nigeria was conducted by the UNODC in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics in 2017; the results were published in 2018.
“What it showed is that the prevalence among adult Nigerians across the entire country was 14.4 percent. Now, this is quite high when you compare that to the global prevalence of drug use in adult populations, which is about 5.6 percent. So, you see, ours is almost triple the global prevalence of adult population!
“So comparatively, it is very high. And between 2017 and 2023, the trend would have risen even higher.
“What are the commonest substances? In Nigeria, it’s cannabis, followed by opiates, especially codeine, and then cough syrup. Okay, and of course alcohol is also there among the top four.”
Abdulmalik noted that the drug problem was not for males only. Females, according to him, were catching on fast!
“We are increasingly seeing females also become active users of drugs. So, the gender gap is being narrowed over time, especially among young females and undergraduates,” he said.
Abdulmalik , a consultant psychiatrist at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, added that the perception that taking drugs was safe is also a contributing factor.
There is also the perception of young people about cannabis, that it’s not dangerous, it’s safe. This especially because in some countries in the world, some people are clamouring for it to be legalised. And in a place like Netherlands, it has actually been legalised for a long time.
“So they argue that it is safe. But what many people don’t appreciate is that beyond the natural cannabis that was existing, we now have a lot of synthetic cannabis. Cannabis that has been combined with other drugs to enhance the potency, to make them feel more euphoric, which, therefore, also makes it more addictive. So, you have variants like Loud, Colorado, Arizona, and so on, and not just the plain cannabis. And we know that this is not healthy. These substances sometimes can have mental health implications and it’s really, really something worrisome!
“It’s so rampant now that there’s hardly any street in Nigeria where you cannot get cannabis to buy. It’s not something that is sold only in motor parks or in low socioeconomic areas, rural areas. And we’re also increasingly seeing a high rate of problems with heroin, with opiates, with crack, with cocaine, among those who can afford it. And it’s becoming a big, big societal problem.”
Is NDLEA overwhelmed?
Hardly does a week go by without NDLEA announcing a new arrest or drug seizure.
In September 2022, NDLEA seized a record 1.8 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of $278 million (€277 million) in a warehouse located in a secluded estate in Ikorodu area of Lagos. This is perhaps the biggest singular cocaine seizure in the history of the country. Such seizures have continued till date.
Last week, NDLEA operatives intercepted consignments of skunk concealed in tins of tomato paste and methamphetamine hidden in used clothes, meant for export to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The skunk in tomato pastes consignment weighing 20 kilogrammes was intercepted on Friday, September 8, at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, the meth shipment with a gross weight of 1.60kg was seized at a courier company in Lagos.
Operatives of the NDLEA on August 25 intercepted various quantities of ephedrine, skunk and nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas concealed in Semovita packs and dry pepper being shipped to South Africa and Kenya through MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos by members of Transnational Drug Trafficking Organisations (DTO), some of who were promptly arrested, their mansions raided and their luxury vehicles seized.
Multi-billion naira worth of illicit drugs were again seized at a warehouse in the popular Alaba Trade Fair Complex in Lagos by operatives of the NDLEA on Saturday, August 19.
In Osun, in the early hours of that same day, August 19, NDLEA operatives destroyed clusters of cannabis farms measuring about 3.49 hectares (over 7.5 tonnes) at Mopatedo in Ifedayo Local Government Area of the state. Two suspects were arrested inside the cannabis farms.
In Enugu State, a teenager, Boniface (surname witheld), 19, was apprehended with 99.4kg skunk at Isikwe Road, Achi in Oji-River LGA of the state on Friday, August 18.
A 19-year-old wanted teenage bandit, Aliyu (surname witheld) was arrested by NDLEA operatives along Illela- Sokoto road with some wraps of skunk on Thursday, August 17.
In Nasarawa State, 49-year-old Umar (surname witheld), was arrested on Friday, August 11 with 64.8kg of cannabis sativa in Doma LGA.
NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, August 1, arrested a fake couple purportedly going for medical treatment in India for ingesting 184 wraps of cocaine weighing 3.322 kilogrammes with 100grammes of the drug also concealed in the woman’s private part.
In October 2022, Operatives of the NDLEA recovered 13,451,466 pills of Tramadol 225mg worth N8.86 billion in street value from one of the mansions of a billionaire drug baron in the highbrow residential estate, Victoria Garden City (VGC), Lekki, Lagos State.
Dr Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA spokesperson, said that the the increased arrests and seizures “are just an indication of the capacity and the efficiency and proactiveness of the agency,” and not an indication of an upsurge in drug trafficking.
“What has created this awareness is because we’re making the arrests and seizures and informing the public about them as part of our own mechanism to raise awareness about the problem of the drug scourge.”
He added that “So if we had obviously kept quiet, you probably think we don’t have this problem or it’s not of this scale or this magnitude. So the level of awareness may not be as much as what we have today.”
Asked if the agency was overwhelmed by the number of arrests and seizures, the NDLEA spokesperson said, “Not at all. Not an inch of that. Because if we are overwhelmed, then we won’t be making the kind of processes we’re recording. We’re definitely steps ahead of those involved.”
Beyond arrests
The NDLEA said it is tackling not just drug trafficking but also drug abuse, especially among the youth.
“What we have done is to put in place an advocacy mechanism, which we call War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy.”
According to Babafemi, the aim of the advocacy is to connect with all the social networks within society and build a momentum where everybody will buy in and take ownership of the fight against drug abuse. Starting from the family unit to the community, to the schools, to the worship places, whether Islamic or Christian, up to the traditional institutions.
“The whole essence of this WADA advocacy initiative is to mobilise all of these social stakeholders to take ownership of this. Because the NDLEA will not live in your house.
“As parents, you have to be intentional. You have to know what to do. You have to know how to keep an eye on your kids. You have to know what to tell them. You have to educate them about substance abuse.”
He said the advocacy was also taken to churches, mosques, traditional institutions and schools.
He said the NDLEA also had a toll-free helpline 0800-1020-3040 where people with drug or substance abuse issues could get help.
“At the centre, we have counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, mental health experts, including psychiatry doctors who are 24-7 shifts there. They would attend to them through teletherapy. For those that actually need to be shifted into a rehab center, we would also guide them and direct them to the nearest rehab centre where they would also follow up with them.”
What is the way out?
Abdulmalik said, “The government needs to sit up. All of us as stakeholders need to sit up. We need to ensure that we reduce the demand. How do we reduce the demand? We ensure that the streets and our society, our towns and cities are safe. Our borders are strict and rigid. And we have very severe punitive measures for those who are marketing and pushing drugs in our society.
“We need to see it as people who are killing our society and they should not be handled with kid gloves. We need to reduce availability. If it’s not available, then less people will have access to experiment with it. We need to reduce availability. We need to go very tough on eliminating it from our streets and ensuring that those who are pushing it are arrested and the full weight of the law is brought to bear. We also need to do awareness campaigns and target the minds of young people. We need to keep them productively engaged.
“To do this effectively, we need the media, we need the religious clergy, we need the community leaders, we need the government, we need everybody, we need parents, the family unit.
“Many young people also experiment because they are unhappy, they are depressed, they are lonely, they are having challenges at school or in the family. There are a lot of family problems, and then they seek solace in something that will make them forget their sorrows.
“So, we also need to pay attention to the family as the building unit of the society. If the family unit is cohesive and integrated and supportive, fewer young people will also be lured into looking to take drugs as a form of escape from the challenges they may be going through.”
Additional report by Mercy Adebomi.
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