UN: Nigerians Constitute 7.5% Global Drug Disorder Victims
•NDLEA reveals 12.9 million addicted to cannabis
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has said Nigeria presently accounts for 7.5 per cent of persons with drug disorders globally.
Similarly, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), disclosed that 12.9 million Nigerians are addicted to cannabis.
While speaking at the 5th National Conference of the Nigerian Society of Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Professionals in Abuja, yesterday,
Dr. Akanidomo Ibanga, said current statistics showed that Nigeria presently contributes 7.5 percent to the global drug disorder population.
Ibanga, who represented the Country Director of UNODC in Nigeria, Oliver Stolpe, said Nigeria should as a matter priority focus on research studies and collaborative ventures to find solution to the problem of drug and substance abuse in the country.
UNODC is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime.
As a way forward, Ibanga said: “We must focus on the fact that research plays a very vital role in curtailing drug demand.”
He said statistics had shown that drug induced disorder has increased by 45 percent in past 10 years, adding that what it meant was that approximately 49.5 per cent were victims of drug disorder.
He further said: “When you look at the 2018 data, three million people seem to have symptoms of drug disorder. This shows that Nigeria alone is contributing 7.5 per cent of world’s population of persons with disorder.”
Ibanga, said it was interesting to note that two universities – the Niger Delta University and Nnamdi Azikiwe University – have started courses in Substance Addiction.
However, Ibanga noted that for the programme to achieve the desired impact it would require determination and sustained push from the University authorities.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) who was honoured at the event lamented incidence of drug demand in the country.
Marwa, described as alarming, the drug statistics in some states like Lagos (33%t between the ages of 16-64), Kano (26% and Gombe (23%).
He further said an average 6,000 tonnes of cannabis were seized by NDLEA yearly in the country.
He also said the agency has successfully convicted 5,000 persons arrested for trading in cannabis.
Marwa, said the agency was contemplating finding alternative source of living for those engage in planting of cannabis in the country.
According to him, the agency was planning a campaign to discourage the farmers who engage in planting of cannabis from the illicit act by getting them to go into cultivation of other crops that are equally profitable.
He said the strategy was to provide the affected farmers with necessary materials including funds that would serve as incentives to abandon the continued production of cannabis.
“I am thinking that one of the barons as far as cannabis is concerned is the small holder farmers who cultivates cannabis and harvest it for sell to the drug barons. One of the options we are considering is how those who are engaged in cultivating cannabis for others can be given another means of livelihood using the same agriculture so that they will stop planting cannabis and avoid being sent to jail when caught with the prohibited weed,” he said.
One of the highlights of yesterday’s conference, was the conferment of an award of the, ‘The bridge builder for effective drug control in Nigeria,’ on the NDLEA boss.
Speaking virtually, ECOWAS representative, Daniel Amankwa, said drug abuse posed serious health and security challenges in Africa.
The Guest Speaker at the event, Prof. Moses David Audu, of the University of Jos, said addiction as a subject was broad and could be associated with the abuse or misuse of drugs or substances.
