Oluwakemi Jegede Marks Diamond Jubilee, Launch Post-rehabilitation Centre in Lagos

Chiamaka Ozulumba

Mrs Oluwakemi Jegede, who recently clocked 60, has kicked off her dream to establish a rehabilitation centre to help drug addicts find their feet.

The sexagenarian said, “hard drugs are a menace to our society in Nigeria and globally. It is worrisome that Nigeria occupies a prominent place in the global hard drug use and trafficking index. Hard drugs destroy destinies, dreams and renders the user useless for life if care is not taken.

“The reason behind my drive for rehabilitating substance abusers is a personal one. A very close relative has been a drug addict for over 40 years.
He is now 65 years with no wife, children, job and shelter, all because he was an addict.

“I had severally intervened in his situation and taken him to different rehabilitation centres but little was achieved as those rehab centre are designed to intervene for just a short period of time.

“And upon graduation, most of the residents still need longer time to be fully broken, as some of the cases being handled cannot be sorted out within a short period of time.”

She added that the residents’ problems upon graduation are compounded due to rejection they receive from their family and the society in addition to the fact that they are unemployable, in most cases the residents sadly return back to the streets.

“It is very easy for them to be lured back into the streets by their friends who have become so hardened in drug addiction and sadly that was the case of my relative, he always goes back to the streets after graduation from the rehabilitation homes.

“The name ‘Mara to Elim’ which means ‘From Bitterness to Sweetness’ was borne out of the fact that I realised that some of residents suffer rejection from family, some of them are unemployed and unemployable due to the extent of irreparable damage due to excessive illicit drug use.

“The societal stigma even after graduation from these centers hence the initiative was conceived to provide succour to them for a longer time after failing to properly fit into society inspire of graduating from rehabilitation homes.”

According to her, ‘Mara to Elim Post-Rehabilitation Centre’ which is a Faith-based centre would provide accommodation, feeding, counseling and vocational training whereby the residents will be trained in some art and crafts such as Carpentry, soap making, sewing, plumbing amidst other artisan works to enable them eke out a living when they are discharged from the home.

“The post-rehab centre will be for a specific period of time sufficient enough for its residents to have found their feet in life and be ready for full integration into the society”, she added.

Speaking at the Launch, Head Pastor, Tabernacle Christian Ministry and House of Joy, Pastor Keji Hamilton advised parents not to impose their choices or decisions on their children as that brews rebellion.

According to him, “most times if you trace the path of a rebellious child, it leads back to the parent. A case of parental disapproval might push a child to drugs, imposing careers on children can trigger rebellion or depression.

“Parents should be more sensitive and understanding as the era of dictating careers for children has passed away, this is the 21st Century.”

Pastor Keji, a former key member in Fela Anikulapokuti’s Egypt 80 band, disclosed that he also struggled with substance abuse for 15 years, adding that his downward spiral started when he informed his father that he no longer wanted to study Pharmacy at University of Ibadan at age 16 but wanted to study Music abroad.

His father’s disapproval made him leave home and severe family ties for 15 years when he moved in with Fela at the African Shrine. He started experimenting with different hard drugs after being introduced to ‘weed’ in his teens by a lady.

For 10 years he was hooked on Marijuana, Cocaine and Heroine whilst being a key member in the band. His addiction was expensive as he could spend up to N25,000 a day on drugs and it pushed him to crime when he could no longer afford the lifestyle. But he encountered Jesus when he was hiding from the Nigerian Police in a brothel in 1994.