Not a few people were shocked when a 21-year-old undergraduate of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Miss Chidinma Ojukwu’s involvement in the murder of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, became public knowledge.
Miss Ojukwu, the prime suspect, was tracked and arrested in her Yaba residence after she fled from the short-service apartment where the murder incident happened in Lekki, Lagos on June 15.
While the police are still at work to unravel the motive of Ataga’s killing, media reports on the incident had indicated a connection between illicit drug use and the murder.
The prime suspect had reportedly confessed to using drugs while with the victim.
Miss Ojukwu had reportedly stated: “We were having fun, drinking, smoking and taking drugs. On Monday, we were together, drinking and smoking. We smoked SK and Loud…”
Another media report had the 300-level Mass Communication student revealing that she had been involved with drugs as early as age 11.
Yet another report asserted that Miss Ojukwu had colleagues at the university, who initiated her into hard drug cocktails.
The Ataga murder incident brought to consciousness the rampant abuse of illicit drugs among Nigerians, especially the youths and the dangers hard drug use poses to the users and other citizens.
A 2019 survey, which Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Centre for Research and Information on Substance Abuse with technical support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and funding from the European Union, had revealed that nearly 15 per cent of the adult population in Nigeria (around 14.3 million people) actively used psychoactive drug substances.
The survey established that while the 2016 global average rate was 5.6 per cent among adults, the Nigerian figure is much higher.
It was also discovered that the highest levels of drug use was recorded among people aged from 25 to 39. Cannabis sativa was recorded as the most widely used drug, while sedatives, cocaine, heroin and the non-medical use of prescription medicines were also popular.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has since the assumption of office of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.), as chairman and chief executive officer been waging an unrelenting war against drug trafficking and abuse.
Gen. Marwa had recently underscored the need for politicians seeking public office and students seeking admission into institutions of higher learning to undergo drug integrity tests.
The NDLEA chief executive had contended that the test was necessary to ensure that public office holders under the influence of drug would not be able to think and function properly and, therefore, should not be entrusted with the management of public funds and the wellbeing of citizens.
Similarly, he emphasised that students seeking placement into higher institutions must be certified free from psychoactive substances to attain educational success and be useful to society.
We support the NDLEA in this quest to sanitise our political and educational spaces and rid them of drug addicts.
The prevalence of drug use among Nigerians is, however, much more alarming to restrict the test to public office seekers and students.
The rate of avoidable automobile accidents, resulting in deaths and injuries warrant that commercial vehicle drivers need to be subjected to periodic drug tests as well.
Artisans and labourers, many of whom erroneously equate drug use with performance should also be required to produce results, certifying them as drug-free to be able to work.
Youths seeking job placements in government and private sector establishments also need to be certified to be drug-free.
We strongly believe that when the demand for hard drugs reduces through regular certification, the supply and trafficking in drugs will also shrink.
Gen. Marwa also noted that evidence-based strong nexus had been established between drug abuse and security challenges across the country.
In the same vein, President Muhammadu Buhari had, while delivering a speech at the launch of the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, an initiative of the NDLEA in commemoration of the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking 2021 recently stated that the war against illicit drugs in the country is deadlier than the fight against insurgency, banditry and other threats to the country’s stability.
The president, therefore, challenged the NDLEA to comb forests in the South-west and South-south of the country and fish out those involved in the cultivation of some of these illicit drugs, especially cannabis.
In addition to combing the forests to destroy cannabis plantations, we suggest that the street corners and notable “joints” in many cities, towns and villages across the country where drug users gather for rendezvous should be raided regularly and culprits apprehended, profiled and rehabilitated.
The culprits should have their biometric details in a national register for monitoring for involvement in drug use and criminal activities subsequently.
The drug abuse prevalence in the country is high and the dangers posed greater, demanding that concerted efforts must be made to curb the scourge. Such effort must prioritise testing individuals for hard drug use and certification to eliminate dangers posed to society.