The Kano State Government has solicited the assistance of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA to combat the menace of hard drug trafficking and consumption among its youths.
Dr Ibrahim Jibril, Commissioner for Finance, who made the appeal on Monday September 16, 2024, while receiving in audience the Kano state Commandant of the agency , Abubakar Ahmad,also called for the setting up of an NDLEA operational unit within the precinct of the Audu Bako State Secretariat Complex.
The Source reports that Kano, with a dense population, and a towering commercial value within the Northern region of the country, is considered the epicentre of drug trafficking and consumption.
A large percent of its teeming youths are also perceived to be involved in the consumption of hard substances ,with its attendant negative consequences on societal values .
The authorities are not unmindful of this hard fact and have been engaged in concerted efforts to combat the situation.
The Kano state Electoral Commission, KANSIEC,
In the count down to the October 24, 2024, local Council Polls in the insisted on a mandatory drug test for all aspirants for the election.
As at last week, initial tests by the NDLEA on some of the Chairmanship and Councilorship aspirants indicated that 20 have so far failed the test.
The Prof Sani Malumfashi- led KANSIEC said the insistence on drug test on the aspirants is to ensure that those at the helm of the Local Governments are both mentally and physically fit.
Most of the hard drug abuses are believed to occur at the grassroots level.
“The issue of drug abuse among youths in Kano is alarming. We need NDLEA’s presence to mitigate the situation and the security challenges it poses”, Ahmad lamented .
“The Kano Finance Commissioner noted that the State Government has been concerned about the ugly development and has been engaged in several efforts towards curtailing it .
“Part of the State Government strategies for the control of drug menace, he noted, is its commitment towards meaningfully engaging the youths through vocal training and skill acquisition programmes.”
According to him, about 21 of such skill acquisition centres have been activated in the last one year .
Similarly, Ahmad lauded the efforts of the Governor Abba Yusuf-led State administration in reforming victims of drug abuse .
The Commissioner informed that abandoned Drug Rehabilitation Homes, across the state have been completed and equipped for the task of assisting integrating drug victims into the society.
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