Governors’ Wives Urge Federal, State Governments To Declare State Of Emergency Over Drug Abuse

The Nigeria Governors’ Spouses Forum (NGS) has urged the federal and state governments to declare a state of emergency in Nigeria to mobilise resources to combat the pandemic.

The call was one of the resolutions in a communique signed by the Forum’s Chairperson and First Lady of Kwara State, Ambassador Olufolake Abdulrasaq, and issued on Tuesday after a two-day Drug Prevention Treatment and Care, DPTC, training organised by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for wives of state governors in Abuja.

The Governors’ wife, while acknowledging “the urgent need to take control and reinvigorate the State Drug Control Committees (SDCC) for optimal functioning for the States that have one, and encourage States that do not have to constitute one, to increase rehabilitation programmes that focus on holistic recovery, addressing the both physical and mental health of drug addiction as well as harm reduction,” emphasised the need for “the Federal Government and state governors to

Other resolutions in the communique include “the need to foster good parenting through parent-teacher associations, community outreach programmes, and to support the NDLEA Drug Integrity Testing Policy for early detection of drug users and timely intervention to prevent the progression to addiction/dependency.”
“Agrees to work as a body and facilitator to strengthen collaboration and cooperation between state governments, the NDLEA, and other security agencies in the fight against drug use and trafficking;
“Agrees to support the construction of at least three standard drug rehabilitation centres, one in each senatorial zone of the State, to cater for drug users within the states and reduce the challenges of costs, access, and stigma to drug treatment;
“Furthermore, agree to use their good offices to liaise with State Governors to facilitate the establishment and strengthening of States Drug Control Committees (SDC), and to appoint first ladies of States as chairs of the committees, with the NDLEA State Commander as Secretary, for effective action against drug use prevalence, treatment, and care.
“Adopts the Drug Abuse Prevention Treatment and Care (DPTC) programmes in States as a Forum project, chaired by the first ladies of the States, to help curb the menace of drug use and foster greater access to treatment for women who use drugs by reducing stigma and cultural pushback to the bare minimum;
“Adopts projects and policies that foster cooperation with the private sector and civil society organisations in the development of standardised treatment centres across the States of the Federation;
“Fosters active collaboration with, and provides support to, NDLEA Commands in States to embed DPTC in all of their anti-drug intervention programmes; and recognises the need to create skill acquisition centres and employment opportunities for young people to reduce their vulnerability to drug use and trafficking.”

The First Ladies stated that their resolutions were based on their understanding of “the nexus between drug use and the heightened level of criminality, the increasing number of school dropouts, social and health issues, family problems, including violent extremism, kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism, and its consequent impact on food security, the safety of lives and properties, foreign direct investment, the economy, and national security,” among other things.

While praising the efforts of the NDLEA and its leadership, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), “In recent years, against drug use and trafficking with resounding successes in the areas of arrests and seizures, prosecutions and convictions, awareness raising, counseling and rehabilitation, among others,” the governors’ wives assured the agency that they were ready to take the knowledge gained during the training to their states for future action.

Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd), Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, commended the First Ladies for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend the DPTC training for two days. He urged them not to let the lessons they had learned end at the venue, but to take them back to their respective states for implementation.