The Federal Government has been advised to establish the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) units in higher institutions across Nigeria so as to outrightly stem the tide of rising waves of drug abuse among the youth.
Former Chairman, Federal Character Commission (FCC), Professor Shuaib Oba AbdulRaheem gave the advice in Ilorin at the weekend while addressing Journalists on the adverse effects of drug abuse prevalent among Nigeruan youth.
The call came in the wake of the alleged NDLEA-inspired raid on the campus of Kwara State University, Malete recently.
AbdulRaheem, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, noted that the fight against drug abuse in higher institutions of learning should not be left to the school management alone but with the active support of the government.
“I think it is time, not to leave the security, the monitoring of miscreants in the university to the management alone. I would have dared to challenge the government to establish a duty post for NDLEA in every institution so that they monitor and nip in the bud any suspected behaviour, which is likely to snowball into the kind of things we are hearing today.
“It is a bit saddening that our higher institutions have become, regrettably, dens of miscreants, drug addicts and anti-social behaviour. It is not something that started yesterday, It’s been long coming, and I think government must wake up to its responsibility”, he said.
While expressing his dismay over the rate of drug abuse amidst others social vices in the higher institutions of learning, the Don urged the school authorities to be “vigilant in selection of students, screening of students for admission, and monitoring that they live decent, disciplined and drug-free lives.
“The one that happened recently in KWASU is a bit disturbing, and that calls upon the entire nation to rise, to save the lives and future of our children, because unless they are properly monitored and guided at this time, we are likely to be living on a keg of gunpowder in the future”.
He, however, noted that the problem transcends the tertiary institution as it began right from lower level of education as well as from home.
“It looks like things have come to an extreme situation now, beyond what the university administrator, the vice chancellor or other people can control, because the character moulding process does not start in the university. There are things that are carried over from the lower ranks of education, the primary school, the secondary school, the home”, he said.
The former FCC boss said that it is the duty of the parents and guardians to monitor their children and discourage them from engaging in anti-social activities like drug addiction and fraud as they are dangerous for their future progress.
“This is a challenge to parents and guardians to actually monitor the kind of lifestyle that their children are pursuing.
But if the parents abdicate their responsibilities for the university or the colleges to look after them, I think we are missing the point. Indeed, we must appeal for more vigilance on the part of parents and guardians to ensure that from home their children are monitored and discouraged from engaging in anti-social activities like a drug addiction and what they now call ‘yahoo-yahoo’ practice.
“These are things that actually look alluring to the ignorant young people, but actually dangerous for their future progress”, he said.
AbdulRaheem also noted that law enforcement agencies should be allowed to perform their duties and justice should be allowed to take its course in order to prevent others from following the footsteps of the culprits.
“I think the law enforcement should be allowed to take its course. If the culprits are found culpable, they should be punished according to the law and be made examples to others who are likely to follow in their footsteps”, he explained.
The erudite scholar, who holds traditional title of Talba of Ilorin, noted that the community leaders have a role to play in monitoring the upbringing of the children in order to eradicate drug abuse as well as other social vices in the society.
He said, “There must be some community concerted efforts to monitor the growth and the direction of the lifestyle of young people in our community. In the past, it used to be collective and communal that we train our children together, a neighbour can also monitor the child of a neighbour in order to prevent the child from becoming a menace.
“The community leaders should be concerned about the health of the community, mental, physical, and infrastructure health of the society.
“They must be attentive at all times to the nuances of life around them and around their environments. So, traditional rulers have a duty as family people to cater for the other family, as much as they would for themselves and their own families”.
