...Cautions against imminent upsurge in youths insanity in Nigeria
The Chairman, of the House Committee on Narcotic Drugs, Hon. Abass Adigun Agboworin, has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency abuse of drug use, in order to prevent the prevalence and upsurge in the number of mentally deranged youths shortly.
The two-term member representing the Ibadan South East/North East Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, made the call in Ibadan, Oyo state capital, during an interactive session on an Ibadan-based Radio Station, Fresh FM.
Lamenting that the spate of consumption of hard drugs like Colorado, Tramadol etc by many youths on the streets and in the higher institutions of learning, was becoming alarming, Agboworin urged the Presidency to take over the National Drug Law Endorsement Agency (NDLEA) and remove its control from the Federal Ministry. He said the agency is suffering from a lack of logistics, staff and funding, thereby limiting the performance of its personnel.
Making the appeal, the lawmaker said, “We told them in the National Assembly to declare a state of emergency on abuse of drug use in Nigeria. I am still reiterating this.
“All over the world, there are crimes, but for example in the US, they have a lot of rules and regulations guiding them: this is what you can do; this is what you should not do.
“If you do this, you will face the consequences. But here in Nigeria, we don’t have sufficient job creation to guide against the commission of crimes. Many of our youths are jobless and looking for jobs to do. If they don’t get it, they will do something, and that is why crimes are increasing.
“We suggested that the NDLEA should be taken out of the Ministry because they are complaining that they don’t have enough money to run the agency. They don’t have enough overhead. If one is going along the major road and you see the NDLEA men working, they look like people from the local government.
“They are not enough in terms of staff. They are not taken care of enough. In Oyo here, for example, they have about one Pickup vehicle and maybe two or three motorcycles. If they want to convey suspects to court, they do tell me that they use that vehicle and that on such a day, they can’t get any vehicle to use on the road to check in and out of contraband items.
“If we have any unscrupulous officer among them who knows drug peddlers, he may call them and tell them to pass since they would not be on the road for checking. So, they do not have enough logistics and no enough equipment whatsoever.
“This is why we suggested that they should be under the Presidency so that the presidency can deal with them directly. We don’t have rehabilitation centres.
“In the Western world, they will train the arrested and convicted drug peddlers and addicts. They will teach them handwork for them to be useful later in life. All these are what I am working on and once I am able to achieve it, I am okay.
“I can tell you that in the next five to ten years if care is not taken, the number of mentally deranged people will multiply. As much as they spend money in the US to fight drug abuse, we still see all these people on the streets.
“When I went to represent our Speaker at the Presidency, I told them that in the next 10 years, we will have plenty of insane people in our societies.
“We have been seeing many of them taking colo and messing up in the streets; some of them falling inside gutters, hitting their heads against poles etc.
“There are not enough staff to tackle this menace and that was why I said the agency should be put under the presidency where there will be enough provisions for the staff to function effectively. In our Universities, many students are on drugs. And these are the younger ones we hope to bequeath in the future too.
“If the presidency does not rise up to this on time, it will be a danger for us in the near future. They are called ‘Junk’ in America. Let the presidency provide for the training and rehabilitation of these youths so that they can become useful adults in the future.
“In South America, these junks will stop vehicle owners in broad daylight, take items in their car; and snatch their phones. Anybody on drugs cannot be in his right state of mind. All these we must arrest before the situation gets out of hand”, Adigun cautioned.
