NDLEA Partners ALGON To Tackle Drug Abuse In Local Communities

By Akinwale Kasali

In a bid to curtail the intake of drugs among youths in Local Communities, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, have agreed to form a partnership to address the issues of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in communities nationwide, and, mostly, among youths.

Mohammed Marwa, NDLEA’s Chairman, said the partnership is necessary, as drug abuse and trafficking are more prevalent in local communities.

In a statement by the NDLEA signed by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the Agency’s Chairman urged Local Government Chairmen to ensure that people at the grassroots are well-sensitized about the dangers of abusing illicit drugs and also provide help for those already indulging in the unhealthy habit.

He was quoted as saying, “We are particularly happy that you’re here to identify with our work and partner with us because you are the closest tier of government to the people, especially the grassroots and our communities where the majority of Nigerians reside.

“This is more so because the drug scourge is in virtually all our communities, and no Community across the country is spared, as such, we need your partnership to cascade all our efforts in terms of drug demand reduction and even supply reduction, down to the remote communities.

“This partnership is also important coming at a time when we’re deploying our personnel to the local government areas to establish our physical presence in the rural communities so that we can support you to curb the scourge of drug abuse and illicit drug dealing, which fuel crimes and criminalities in those areas.”

Marwa encouraged the ALGON leaders to mobilise their members nationwide to set up Local Government Drug Control Committees and War Against Drug Abuse Committees.

He added that the Committees should comprise traditional rulers, religious leaders as well as market and women groups, among others at the community level.

He encouraged them to also take advocacy and drug tests as major components of their efforts when they return to their local governments to begin implementation of the various strategies discussed at the meeting.

He added that “to make drug tests easier, the Agency has mass-produced quality test kits easy to use at home, offices and others with the aim of early detection and providing treatment for those who test positive as well as engendering deterrence.”

ALGON National President, Aminu Maitafa, lamented the negative impact of drug abuse on the health, businesses and security of lives and property at the grassroots while expressing the commitment of the body to work with NDLEA to ensure that the ugly development is urgently reversed.

He said, “As the body of local governments in Nigeria, we appreciate the enormous work this Agency is doing under your leadership, and that is why we have come to partner with you so that we can collectively stamp out the drug abuse problem from our communities.”

He also assured that ALGON  as a body, will place necessary structures that will facilitate the deployment of NDLEA personnel to their council areas.