By Terfa Naswem
The Youth Initiative for Drug Research Information Support and
Education, otherwise known as Youth Rise and the All Progressives
Congress (APC) Youth Connect have lauded the President of the Senate,
Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, over his new initiative aimed at
addressing and solving the prevalence of drug abuse in many parts of
Nigeria.
In separate press statements issued on Saturday, 30th September 2017,
and signed by the President of Youth Rise, Adeolu Adebiyi, and the
Secretary of APC Youth Connect, Farida Odinga Suleiman, respectively,
the NGOs stated that they were delighted that the President of the
Senate was leading the drive to address the menace of drug abuse in
the country.
“There is no doubt that Nigeria is witnessing a huge increase in the
misuse of drugs across all its regions and especially among its youth
population,” Adebiyi said, “It is therefore a delight that His
Excellency, the Senate President, Dr. Saraki, is leading the drive to
address this issue that is affecting our youthful population,
emasculating families and evading our communities.”
The Youth Rise also stated that it was also excited about Saraki’s
call for the review of all drug related laws, stating that such a
review would lead to a more effective framework to tackle the drug
menace across Nigeria.
“It is in this light that we believe the call by the Senate President
for a review of our drug laws is so timely and very welcomed,” Youth
Rise said, “We look forward, that under His leadership, that an
effective legal and policy framework will be developed to address and
ameliorate the menace of illicit drugs, and the abuse of over the
counter and prescription narcotic drugs in Nigeria.”
In a similar vein, the APC Youth Connect, noted that the typical
Nigerian youth’s vulnerability exposes him to various activities that
may either benefit him or otherwise.
"One of such negative activities," according to the group, "is the
indiscriminate use of drugs which has dangerous effects on him and the
society. The use of harmful drugs and their additives for every long
term user is a potential addict.
"The result of the observation is that the average harmful drugs
consumer becomes addicted. Most times our youth don’t realize that
drug abuse has negative and damaging impact on them, like decrease in
intelligence, mental disorder, death and many other kinds of
diseases," APC Youth Connect stated.
"We must commend the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola
Saraki, for this great move in raising awareness about the menace as
drug abuse among our youth is not only harmful but on a geometric
increase.
"The future of our dear country depends hugely on the younger
generation. We thank God for giving the President of the Senate this
great wisdom to bring succour to our youth and change their mindset
towards drugs.
"He has vowed to provide all the necessary legislative framework that
will address this raging menace in our society. In a country with huge
potentials, we can’t afford to allow drugs to destroy our youths, the
very fabrics of our dear nation.
"We, as Young Progressives hereby connect with you today Sir, to say
our youths will not sacrifice the strength of their youthfulness on
the altar of harmful substances. We enjoin all other youth
stakeholders to promote this advocacy by lending their voice to the
efforts by Dr Bukola Saraki to say No To Drug Abuse.
"We thank you for inspiring us/fine tuning the minds of our young ones
in order to create a brighter future for a nation we all call our
own," the APC Youth Connect added.
Recall that on Friday, September 29th, the President of the Senate,
stated that urgent and responsible action needs to be taken to tackle
the prevalence of drug use in Northern Nigeria.
In two separate posts on his personal Twitter handle on Friday, Saraki
expressed concern and stated that the National Assembly would work to
strengthen Nigeria’s laws to mitigate against the widespread misuse of
illegal substances as well as engage with stakeholders to tackle the
menace.
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