Declare State Of Emergency on Drug Abuse, Governors Wives Tell Govt, States

The Nigeria Governors Spouses Forum (NGSF), has called on the Federal and State Governments to declare state of emergency on substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria with a view to mobilising resources to tackling the pandemic.

The call was one of the resolutions in a communique signed by Chairperson of the Forum and First Lady of Kwara state, Ambassador Olufolake Abdulrasaq issued on Tuesday 13th February 2024 at the end of a two-day Drug Prevention Treatment and Care, DPTC, training organized by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA for wives of state governors in Abuja.

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 both physical and mental health of drug addiction as well as harm reduction, the governors wives stressed the need for the Federal Government and state governors to declare state of emergency on illicit drug use and trafficking pandemic with a view to mobilising resources to tackling it.

Other resolutions in the communique include the need to foster good parenting through parents teachers 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 and dependency;

Agrees to work as a body and facilitator towards strengthening collaboration and cooperation between State governments, NDLEA and other security agencies in the fight against drug use and trafficking;

Further agrees to use their good offices to liaise with the State Governors to facilitate the establishment, where no one exists, and strengthening, where it exists, of States Drug Control Committees (SDC) and appoint first ladies of States as chairs of the committees with NDLEA State Commander as the Secretary, for effective action against drug use prevalence, treatment and care.

Credit: channelstv.com

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