Aisha Buhari Tasks Parents On Drug Abuse

The wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, has called on parents to intensify efforts towards ensuring moral upbringing and education of their children to protect them against engaging in drug abuse.

Mrs Buhari made the call while speaking at the First Lady’s activities to commemorate the June 12 Democracy Day.

The theme of the event was, “Drug Abuse Among Children: Addressing the Challenges”. The wife of the President who was represented by the wife of the Vice President, Dolapo Osinbajo, assured the children of her determination to support every cause towards ensuring that they achieve their full potential including the fight against drug abuse among them.

“We are determined to address drug abuse which portend a threat towards achieving your full potential,” she said.

She therefore enjoined  parents to prioritise the education of their children as well as encourage  the children to concentrate on their education.

According to her, that was the surest way to achieve a brighter future.

The wife of the President also enjoined members of the media to get involved in the campaign against the spread of drug abuse among women and children in Nigeria.

On his part, the chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on the elimination of Drug Abuse in Nigeria, Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), also expressed the need for parents to take a bold step towards identifying and dealing with drug abuse among their children.

According to him, the committee has made provisions on its recommendations for federal and state governments to collaborate towards checking and dealing with drug related abuses in primary and secondary schools across Nigeria.

Marwa advised government to do more in the areas of counselling, rehabilitation and skills acquisition programmes for the victims of drug abuse.

“Parents must be a good role model for their children, parents must seek medical support for their drug addict children before things get worse.

“During the course of our assignment, we found out that about 15 million persons engage in drug abuse.

“So, we must put strategy in place to track the production  and supply line as well as punish perpetrators and suppliers of these illicit drugs.

“As you  know, Tramadol is scarce because government banned its production and sales,” he said.

Marwa said that lack of parental care was one of the major reasons  children engage in drug abuse.

He said that Nigeria is capable of dealing with the spread of drug trafficking and abuse among children.

He added that the country witnessed a drastic decline in the proliferation  of illicit drugs due to the efforts put in place by the drug law enforcement agencies and the committee to ensure the elimination of menace.

Marwa expressed the determination of President Muhammadu Buhari to deal with the menace of drug abuse in Nigeria.

On their part, the members of Nigeria Children Parliament have unanimously agreed to the fact that the way forward was for government to create more awareness and establish more rehabilitation centres especially in the rural areas for proper counselling of the victims.

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