Foundation to Stage 20Km Walk against Drug Abuse

Olawale Ajimotokan

The Tagwaye Charity Foundation, in collaboration with Elizabeth Jackrich Aid Foundation, will on August 4 organise a 20 kilometres walk against drug abuse in Abuja. The convener of the walk, Prince Ingawa, said the walk will start at the Unity Fountain before culminating with a sensitisation workshop at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre on August 6.
Bemoaning the unhealthy exposure of Nigerian youths to substance addiction, he said it is threatening the resource base of the nation on daily basis.

Last year, the Senate raised alarm about the prevalence of drug abuse across the 19 states of Northern Nigeria, stating that over three million bottles of codeine syrup were consumed daily in the region.

“Statistics also shows that over 40 per cent of our youth are either users, abusers, addicts or have become totally dependent on drugs and substance. Our schools, motor parks and civil centre are all overtaken by a generation of youths who find solace in drugs,” Ingawa lamented.

He said drug abuse was the root cause of crimes in our society, adding the foundation intends to replicate in Abuja its engagement in Katsina State, where with the support of the state government, it organised sensitisation programmes in the media in all the senatorial zones of the state.