Curbing menace of drug abuse and trafficking in Nigeria

 

Drug abuse is a global public health concern and Nigeria has her own fair share of the ugly phenomenon.   It is not uncommon to see adolescents engaging in the abuse of alcohol and ingestion of hard drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin and other illicit drugs. There is a trending video of five schoolgirls purportedly of Oreyo Grammar School, Igbogbo, Ikorodu in Lagos State smoking shisha clad in their school uniforms. It is reported they have since been arrested and taken to a rehabilitation centre in Lagos by the authorities. Some of the notable figures whose lives have been cut short by drug abuse complications include American soul music legend, Mavin Gaye, who died in 1984 at 44 years; ace Nigerian reggae musician, Majek Fashek, who died in 2020 at 57; South African musician, Brenda Fassie, who died in 2004 at the age of 39; football legend, Diego Maradona, who died at the age of 60 last year, and the American rapper and actor, Earl Simmons, better known by his stage name DMX, who died early this month at 50.

A National Survey on Drug Use and Health was conducted in 2018 by the National Bureau of Statistics and the Centre for Research and Information on Substance Abuse with technical support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. It was funded by the European Union. The report of the research showed that in Nigeria, one in seven persons aged 15 – 64 years had used a drug (other than tobacco and alcohol) in the past year. The past year prevalence of any drug use is estimated at 14.4 per cent (range 14.0 per cent – 14.8 per cent), corresponding to 14.3 million people aged 15 – 64 years who had used a psychoactive substance in the past year for non-medical purposes. Among every four drug users in Nigeria, one is a woman.

The report further shows that one in five persons who had used drugs in the past year was suffering from drug user disorders.  Cannabis is the most commonly used drug. The average age of initiation of cannabis use among the general population was 19 years. An estimated 4.7 per cent of the population, i.e. 4.6 million people had used opioids (such as tramadol, codeine, or morphine) for non-medical purposes in the past year. The non-medical use of cough syrups containing codeine and dextromethorphan is estimated at 2.4 per cent of the adult population (nearly 2.4 million people). The misuse of cough syrups is almost comparable among men (2.3 per cent) and women (2.5 per cent). The non-medical use of tranquilisers (0.5 per cent), and the use of ecstasy (0.3 per cent), inhalants (0.3 per cent) amphetamines (0.2 per cent) and cocaine (0.1 per cent). Nearly one in eight persons (12 per cent of the adult population) in Nigeria has suffered some kind of consequence due to another person’s drug use.

Overall, it was reported that an estimated 376,000 were estimated to be high-risk drug users. The most common drugs injected in the past year were pharmaceutical opioids (such as tramadol, codeine, or morphine), followed by cocaine, heroin and tranquilisers. Poly-drug use was very common – among high-risk drug users nearly all (95 per cent) as compared to nearly half of the drug users in the general population reported using either simultaneously or concurrently more than one drug in the past year. An estimated 87,000 (nearly 0.1 per cent of the population) had used heroin in the past year. The mean age of initiation of heroin use was 22 years, and almost half of regular heroin users reported smoking it.

Geographically, the highest past-year prevalence of drug use was found in the southern geopolitical zones compared to the northern geopolitical zones. Nearly 40 per cent of high-risk drug users indicated a need for treatment of drug use disorders. Most of the high-risk drug users considered it was difficult to access drug treatment. The cost of treatment and stigma attached to drug use and seeking treatment were cited as the primary barriers in accessing or availing drug treatment services. Yobe, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers and Lagos states were ranked as “the states where it was more difficult to access treatment for drug use disorders”. Two-thirds of people who used drugs reported having serious problems, as a result of their drug use, such as missing school or work, doing a poor job at work/ school or neglecting their family or children.

I decided to quote copiously from the survey report in order to underscore how deep-rooted the problem of drug abuse is in Nigeria. It should interest the reader that most of the violent actions and crimes committed by many individuals are induced by substance abuse. Those who engages in cultism, banditry, insurgency, kidnapping and rape are often reported to have been high on drugs. This is what often emboldens them to be able to commit their heinous crimes without batting an eyelid.

Recall that barely a week after operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, arrested a 70-year-old Nigerien who supplied Boko Haram and bandits’ illicit drugs, a 35-year-old Chadian who sold narcotics to the insurgents, was also recently intercepted in Taraba State with assorted drugs. The suspect, Adama Uomar Issa, was arrested on Wednesday, March 31, 2021 in Jalingo, Taraba State with 21.70Kg of tramadol 225mg and 250mg. Also seized from him were 15.7Kg of Exol.5; 100,050 France CAF and N61, 000.

Nigeria is not only faced with the challenge of drug abuse; it is also a transit country for drug couriers who are recruited by barons to transport the illicit drugs across the globe. This criminal trade in hard drugs is motivated by its lucrative nature. A study on illicit financial flows resulting from drug trafficking shows that proceeds of the illicit cocaine trade in Nigeria is US$18.2bn.

In order to underscore how prevalent drug trafficking is in Nigeria, the country’s total number of reported drug seizures/arrests in 2019 increased by over 1,000 per cent to 621,035, compared to just 9,831 in 2018. This is according to the report on Drug Seizures and Arrest by the National Bureau of Statistics. The NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (retd.), visited the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, last Thursday and informed the public that no fewer than 2,000 suspected drug traffickers had been arrested in various parts of the country in the last three months. He added that over 300 convictions had been secured and illicit drugs worth N75bn had been seized within the period under review. The former Military Administrator of Lagos State lamented that drug abuse had assumed an alarming proportion in Nigeria, saying there were about 15 million drug users between the age bracket of 15 and 64 years – 25 per cent of whom were female.

The menace of drug abuse and trafficking presents a clear and present danger to the future of Nigeria. Therefore, all key stakeholders must rise up to combat the ugly phenomenon. It starts from the family. It behoves parents to train their children with good moral values. Religious leaders too must wake up the moral conscience of their congregants. They should teach their adherents about the dangers of substance abuse. Likewise, schools. Guidance and counsellors in the employment of schools should do well to properly counsel pupils and students about the consequences of indulging in narcotics. The National Orientation Agency and the media should partner NDLEA to sensitise the public to the disastrous consequences of engaging in drug abuse and trafficking.  The NDLEA should be well-resourced to be able to perform better while punishment for drug trafficking should be made more stringent. Perhaps, life imprisonment will be in order. Government also needs to establish rehabilitation homes to enable those who want to quit the bad habit to be reformed.