According to the Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), action that is precise and purposeful must be taken in order to break the hold of drug addiction in Nigeria.
Mandatory Drug Screening at Every Critical Gateway of Nigerian Life was suggested by the NYCN in a letter to the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The NYCN stated that the framework is not intended as a punitive measure but rather as an essential tool for protection and intervention.
The letter, which was signed by Isah Abubakar, National President of NYCN, stated that the drug problem poses a threat to the country’s unity and that individual efforts are insufficient.
He clarified that Nigeria urgently needs a complete, systematic defense that supports all good parents and citizens, emphasizing that their objective is to create a national system that identifies those who are in dire need of assistance since the country’s future is irreversibly harmed.
According to Abubakar, the council proposed a 10-point plan to protect the country’s institutions, and NDLEA is urged to support it by testing students before they take the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) and before they are granted admission to any tertiary institution (university or polytechnic).
Additionally, it mandated that NDLEA test graduates prior to them receiving their discharge certificates from the NYSC orientation camps or obtaining their university degree certificates.
The NYCN recommended that candidates be examined before to being hired in the public or private sector and that all employed people be subjected to regular, recurring testing.
Regarding politics and leadership, the letter emphasized that leaders must maintain the highest standards and that no political party may grant an expression or nomination form to any citizen, including all political appointees, without first obtaining a required, negative drug test and a routine check after three (3) months.
It said that NDLEA should actively work with cultural figures and singers to put an end to the usage and presentation of hard drugs in public and make sure they motivate young people rather than put them in danger.
In order to protect the most valuable resource and the next generation, the NYCN further recommended that NDLEA take the necessary steps to guarantee that the whole institutional framework is incorporated in law, creating unambiguous, enforceable national laws.
“We believe the NDLEA must be just as intentional and relentless in its efforts to prosecute the drug dealers who poison our streets as it is in securing the pathways for intervention and rehabilitation for those who fall victim,” stated Abubakar.
He clarified that Nigeria’s future is worth the struggle and urged NDLEA to take the initiative in turning the plan into national policy by cooperating to clean up the country, institution by institution, and create the drug-free nation that Nigerians deserve.
