In a bid to end the drug abuse scourge among Nigerian youths, the Federal Government has disclosed that plans have been concluded to begin drug integrity tests for new and returning students across tertiary institutions in the country.
Aside from that, the apex government said that drug education will be included in the primary and secondary school curriculum to inculcate the campaign against drug abuse in schoolchildren.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, disclosed this on Wednesday after reaching an agreement with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) delegation led by the Chairman, Brig Gen. Buba Marwa (retd) in Abuja.
Alausa, who described the drug scourge as a huge problem that must be tackled head-on across the country, especially in schools, has set up a Substance Use Prevention Unit within the Ministry of Education to collaborate with the NDLEA on the fight against substance abuse among young Nigerians.
The Minister said: “When the youths get into drugs, they won’t go to school, and even when they go to school, they are not performing in their education. And at the end of the day, what happens? Their level of critical thinking is lower. Their ability to make informed decisions in the later part of their life becomes significantly reduced. So, they become unemployable. And what happens? You now have that vicious cycle. They’re not functional.
“They’re not useful to themselves. All they do is resort to criminality. Once you use drugs, you’re likely to have a dysfunctional family. So, it’s a huge menace that we need to tackle, and tackle very quickly.”
While noting that there is a need for collaboration between the ministry and the NDLEA, he stressed that the inter-ministerial working group comprising representatives from the ministry and the NDLEA will work closely to tackle the menace in the country.
“We’re reviewing the curriculum now for secondary school. And that’s why I’ve asked the director of Senior Secondary School to come, to be here and then we’ll find a way to cascade it down to primary school. But we need to get both primary school and secondary school and add this to their curriculum. But the one for secondary school, we can do that now. We’re just developing their new curriculum now.
“Also, on the stand-alone school programmes, I agree with you fully. We should also design ongoing programmes in our schools. That we can roll out and cascade down. You also said something very important about the drug test policy in tertiary institutions. We will do it. We have to do it. We do not have a choice. At least, we’ll start with tertiary institutions, for their fresh and returning students as well as random testing.”
The Minister also assured of getting two agencies under the Ministry, UBEC and TETFUND to partner with the NDLEA Academy in Jos as part of efforts to deepen drug education in basic, secondary and tertiary institutions across the country.
Earlier, the NDLEA boss noted that the fight against illicit drugs is a fight for the souls of the Nigerian youth.
“The purpose of this visit is to seek collaboration with this esteemed ministry in our collective efforts towards drug control in Nigeria. Our focus will be on schools and educational institutions. Millions of our children are under the supervision of this ministry, and it’s very critical. The drug scourge, as we all know, is very high in Nigeria.
“So, we’re fighting for the souls of our children. Now, we also know that drug use is exacerbating criminal activities. That is, the Boko Haram, terrorism, banditry, and so on.
“We know that without drugs, they wouldn’t be able to do what they are doing, because they wouldn’t do all these criminal activities in their right senses. In our way, we are contributing to the fight against insecurity in the country. Now, through law enforcement action, we have continued to deal mortal blows to the drug cartels. We know that through the seizures, arrests, convictions, and asset forfeiture, we’re doing our best.
“Supported by President Bola Tinubu, within the last two years, we have arrested 40,887 criminal elements, gotten 8,682 convicted and seized 5,507 metric tons of illicit drugs. In fact, from January last year to the present, opioids, that’s tramadol mostly, that we have seized, are more than one billion pills, which is worth more than N1 trillion.”
While stating that the President is also supporting the Agency to build seven rehabilitation centres in addition to the existing 30 centres in NDLEA commands nationwide, Marwa noted that President Tinubu has also approved the construction of one model rehab centre in each of the geopolitical zones in the country.
He listed three key areas where he will want the Ministry and NDLEA to collaborate to effectively check the menace of substance abuse among Nigerian youths.
According to him, “the first suggestion we have is for a review of the drug education curriculum in secondary schools. Even though we’re told of the existence of this in the past but because of the complexity of drugs, the dynamism of it, and the new psychoactive substances that have come to play, we feel that it is time to consider a review of this drug education curriculum.
“Another area we were thinking of suggesting is to introduce stand-alone drug abuse prevention programmes in schools, secondary schools. Not the curriculum this time, but programmes that stand on their own, lectures, competitions, and involving the parents, and so on. And then the third area we were thinking of is to adopt a drug testing policy in tertiary institutions, because we want a policy to keep our campuses clean. Several vice chancellors have come on their own to seek both our guidance and participation in conducting drug tests for their students.
“So, what we are suggesting now is drug tests for new students, for students returning from vacations, and random tests. This will make the children avoid taking drugs, knowing fully well that if they do and they are found out, there will be consequences. And the consequences do not necessarily mean rustication.”
