…As Gov AbdulRazaq restates commitment to fight menace
Kwara State Government has partnered the MTN Foundation, United Nations Office on Drug Control (UNODC), and the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to train principals and teachers in selected schools to fight drug abuse among primary and secondary schools’ students in the state.
Speaking at the stakeholders engagement on the UNODC Unplugged Teachers Training, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said the workshop was to elicit maximum support of teachers at all levels across the state, particularly at the grassroots level, at primary and secondary level, “because the menace of drug addiction and drug abuse is taking a very dangerous dimension at the primary school level.
“This engagement is very critical as part of the government interventions to draw mass awareness to the current dangers, drug addiction and abuse have become in our society, particularly among the youths, the teenagers.
“And this engagement in collaboration with MTN focuses essentially on teachers as critical stakeholders, opinion moulders, child moulders, those who build the youth from the beginning,” AbdulRazaq said.
Represented by his Special Adviser and Counselor, Alhaji Saadu Salahu, Governor AbdulRazaq commended the stakeholders for their interest in a drug-free society, acknowledging the critical role teachers play in moulding the students who will be leaders of tomorrow.
Also speaking, the commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe said the government has zero tolerance to drug abuse, recalling how the recently recruited teachers in the state were made to undergo mandatory drug tests and the withdrawal of letters of appointment from those found wanting.
For his part, the Special Assistant to the governor on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control, Mukail Aileru, described the workshop as significant “because it centres on the Unplugged Teachers Training Programme—a globally recognised school-based prevention initiative.
“By equipping our teachers with knowledge, skills, and strategies to educate students about the dangers of drug use, we are investing in prevention rather than cure, in education rather than rehabilitation,” he noted.
The State Deputy Commandant of the NDLEA, Jamilu Usman, enumerated the agency’s successes in the fight against drug abuse, including the recent seizure of drugs worth billions of naira in the state.
In her remark, the Manager of Sales and Trade Development for the Kwara area, Chinyere Ikechi, noted that the workshop would educate and disseminate the correct information about substance abuse and integrate it into the educational curriculum to help model behavioural values in the society.
“At MTN Foundation, we have not only refused to turn a blind eye but have also made it a priority to reduce the rate of first-time substance abuse among Nigerian youth.
Since we launched our Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) in 2019, we have educated millions of people on the dangers of drug abuse across the country through targeted campaigns and interventions in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).”
Speaking on the sidelines of the technical session of Unplugged Teachers Training, the UNODC representative and trainer, Maria Ilugbuhi, said the 30 teachers selected for the first phase would be trained on the 12 lessons of unplugged which involve building skills, improving knowledge, relationship skills, decision making, and general social skills.
“We will teach teachers how to use different activities and lessons for students. It will be a real students centered.
“The main goal is to achieve a reduction in the use of substances by students and better students-teachers relationship. We want the students who have a problem of drug addiction to be in a position to approach their teachers for counselling,” she said.
In their responses, three of the participants: Nuhu Kabiru Wada (Baptist Grammar School, Okuta), Adebayo Rashidat (Queen Elizabeth School) and Olanipekun Pius (Offa Grammar School) said the training would equip them better to prevent drug abuse among our students.
