The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has called for an urgent implementation of the drug abuse report submitted by the Gen. Buba Marwa-led presidential committee on the eradication of drug abuse in Nigeria. The NYCN in a statement yesterday by its President, Bello Bala Shagari, said only an urgent implementation of the recommendations by the panel would put an end to the alarming rate of drug abuse among youths.
According to the youths, “While we applaud His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari for making the fight against drug abuse a priority in Nigeria, we are concerned that if the recommendations made by various stakeholders is not immediately implemented, the situation will worsen. The committee under Gen.. Buba Marwa and the First Lady, Aisha Buhari has done a wonderful job already. They consulted everyone including the NYCN and NANS. It is also commendable that local “slave like” rehabilitation centres are being abolished across Northern Nigeria, but alternatives to them must be provided immediately.
Bad as those rehabilitation centres are, they are better than not having any. However, the construction of new rehabilitation centres must begin and new approaches as in the recommendations in the presidential committee report should immediately be implemented before the Nigerian youths lose their future to the menace of illegal drugs in our society.”