Monster behind our woes

Nicholas Kalu, Abuja

If anything, the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking observed recently highlighted the huge gaps in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking in the country. Different stakeholders are of the view that only the surface is being scratched in the handling of an issue widely regarded as the accelerator of the security problems that hold the nation by the jugular.

According to Consultant Addiction Specialist, Dr Ada Ikeako, “A lot of the crimes being committed in Nigeria are done under the influence of drugs. Whether it is kidnapping, banditry, terrorism or other forms of violent crimes, they are mostly drug related. So if we control drug abuse, we can also get a handle on violent crimes within the country, because they are related.”

President of the African Council on Narcotics (ACON), Mr Rekpene Bassey, shares the same opinion. According to Bassey, a security expert, drug abuse, which has permeated even homes and schools, fuels terrorism, violent extremism, cultism and other violent crimes, hence the need to deal with the problem urgently.

The Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah, also posits that the influence of drugs is responsible for the upsurge in several violent crimes.

“The main one that comes to mind is Boko Haram. I have spoken to some field commanders and they have confirmed that every camp they overran, they have met drug paraphernalia. What they do is under the influence of drugs,” he said.

The NDLEA Chairman said his interactions with the police and correctional service officials indicated that most of the suspects in their custodies had been under the influence of one form of drug or the other.

A survey by the 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 in 2019 indicated that nearly 15 per cent of the adult population in Nigeria (around 14.3 million people) reported a “considerable level” of use of psychoactive drug substances. This was a rate much higher than the 2016 global average of 5.6 per cent among adults.

It showed that the highest level of drug use was recorded among people aged between 25 and 39, with cannabis as the most widely used drug. Sedatives, heroin, cocaine and the non-medical use of prescription opioids were also noted. The survey excluded the use of tobacco and alcohol. Stakeholders agree the rate is much higher today.

However, as serious and pervasive as the problem is, it seems adequate attention has not been paid to it by the government. By all indications, the NDLEA whose primary responsibility it is to drive the fight is poorly manned, poorly equipped and poorly funded.

It was only recently President Muhammadu Buahri, in a bid to boost the manpower of the agency, approved the recruitment of 15,000 more personnel after decades of neglect. Findings by The Nation revealed that the agency, just 5,000-strong, runs on an annual budget of N360 million (N30 million monthly) for all its operations nationwide.

With a direct correlation established between drug abuse and violent crimes among other vices across the country today, it becomes quite worrisome that more is not being done by the government to give the problem the kind of urgency it really deserves. The recent effort by the FG to boost manpower, though commendable, only seems to scratch the problem of drug abuse and trafficking on the surface.

The situation it appears may have worsened with the lockdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Bassey, “There is a tendency of an escalation with the lockdown. What happens when people are isolated and locked down? It is boredom and frustration. Some people would suffer from depression. Depression is a catalyst for substance abuse, just as substance abuse itself can lead into depression.

“So, a lot of people who are locked down, not knowing what to do, have taken to smoking and drinking alcohol, smoking cannabis, which is available and cheap, and other drugs that are available to them. The consequence is that a lot more people have taken to the drug culture and a lot more people have got into it during this period.”

Expressing worries over the drug problem, Col Abdallah had raised the alarm over a “frightening dimension of drug manufacturing in Nigeria” mainly in relation to Methamphetamine.

“We are at our wits end to discover more Meth Labs not necessarily because they do not exist. A new version of manufacturing has reared its head: the introduction of Hydrophonic outfit where cannabis is manipulated into the production of Hashish and Canaboil, both of which are illegal since they contravene the extant NDLEA Act.

“Would you believe the locations? The first in Jos, run by a Chinese, and the second in Victoria Island, run by a mixed nationality person – Nigeria/German,” he said.

Col. Abdallah said in the light of the prevailing atmosphere of COVID-19, drug dependent persons are more acutely at risk because of their usually attendant underlying health issues, social stigmatization, and the dearth of access to health care.

“Making matters worse, is the fact that the front burner currently is the exclusive pressure of COVID-19, other matters less so. That is why there has never been a time much worse for drug dependent persons.

“The lockdown merely accentuated the dilemma. As drugs of choice became scarce, increased experimentation with newer concoctions and self-medication would only have aggravated the problem. Chances are newer forms of addictions hitherto unknown may be here to be contended with.

“Remember also withdrawal syndrome might occur, having cut short the supply chain as a result of the lock down,” he said.

According to Dr Ikeako, the best way to deal with the problem is by nipping it in the bud, going all the way back to the family.

She said: “Parents need to bond with and monitor their children. People who are addicted are trying to addict as many people as possible. Monitor your child and give them social coping skills, because a lot of people feel shy and inadequate, and can only relax around other people when they use drugs. You have to reinforce what your value system is early on.

“Everyone should have an annual physical health check. Also, I advocate that everybody gets an annual emotional health check from childhood. What that does is that it picks up these vulnerability factors.

“For instance, if someone in your family uses drugs, it makes you more vulnerable to using drugs. If you have someone in your social group that uses it, it makes you more vulnerable as well.

“You could also have a genetic vulnerability. About 50 to 70 per cent of people into drugs have genetic vulnerability. Also, if you have underlying psychological issues, what we are seeing is more of trauma, underlying anxiety or mood disorder, and other psychiatric diagnosis, this makes you vulnerable to self medicate with drugs as well.

“It is just to make sure you are well. It involves a thorough physical examination.

“There should also be annual emotional checks from childhood, so we know if you have these vulnerability factors before you get addicted. Not when you get addicted, you start running helter-skelter to know what to do about it. We can prevent the addiction from happening.

“But for those already addicted, we have what is called demand reduction, where you can offer them appropriate treatment. It can significantly reduce the demand of drugs if they are adequately treated.

“We need treatment centres. We need one in every state in the minimum. Millions of people are addicted. Many in the rural areas, but also in the cities as well, and they don’t have access to affordable, acceptable treatment options. So that is what is going on.

“A limited number of people who need treatment get treatment. That means 90 per cent of people don’t get any form of treatment. When you have 14 million users, it does not seem adequate to have maybe 10 to 15 facilities that can take 10 to 20 patients each. So there is a mismatch. We have centres but not enough for the population.”

Time to wake up the sleeping giant

One area every stakeholder agrees on is that the primary agency to tackle the problem is not well funded and equipped to take on the challenge to a logical conclusion.

Bassey called on the government to rise to the occasion and do something about adequately funding the NDLEA and the fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking. He also stressed the need to improve funding of other official and non-governmental organizations involved in the fight such as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC).

“I will tell you that the management of information with regards to substance abuse prevention or drug abuse prevention is grossly inadequate. We are not doing enough and more and more people are getting into drugs, especially Cannabis, and nobody is talking about it.

“The government machinery for fighting the problem is inadequate. For example, the NDLEA is ill-equipped. The budget allocation to the agency is inadequate. The personnel of the agency are not enough and are not adequately trained, and they have been like that.

“If you go to some of the states, they don’t even have the basic equipment to operate with. They don’t even have decent offices, so how are they able to execute their duties?

“And if this information is not being disseminated at the lowest level of society, at the grassroots, then we would not be able to achieve sufficient conscientization. So you have a lot of problems with information dissemination.

“I think we should go beyond where we are if we want to make any meaningful impact against the menace. Everybody should be enlisted. Both official and non-official institutions should be enlisted. Until the drug problem is seen as everybody’s problem, victory would be a far cry. It would just be lip service.

“Government is not taking the war against illicit drugs, both abuse and trafficking, seriously. The institutional frameworks are inadequate. I can tell you because I am involved. We must have the political will to address the problem.

“But the government cannot do it alone. In the United States, so much authority is given to the private sector to handle it. We need to strengthen and re-calibrate the institutions, both governmental and non-governmental.

“Also, we need to take the war against drug abuse and trafficking down to the grassroots and involve all necessary stakeholders.

“Effective interdiction and working on drug demand reduction at the same time is the way to check this problem. If there is no demand, supply would be limited or it would not be there at all. So, for me, that is the best way forward. This would also require all the agencies that have the responsibility for doing this working in concert with NGOs that are also involved in this effort.”

Ikeako is also of the opinion that the fight against the menace would involve multi-sectoral collaborations. “What we need is more government hospitals and also more private sector hospitals that treat addiction and are affordable and available because time of intervention is very important.

“There should be a conscious effort towards shedding light and sensitizing the public on not just the problems but the solutions. We have to reduce the stigma. There should be a campaign to this end.

“We need to change the mindset that when you go to see a psychiatrist or a psychologist, that means you are mad. Because of this, you see a lot of people don’t seek professional help. They rather go to a traditional healer instead of professionals trained in that area.

“Early referral saves lives. We need anti-stigma campaigns, working with private sector, civil organisations, NGOs and all stakeholders have to be brought to the table,” she said.

Highlighting a few of the NDLEA’s challenges, Abdallah said the agency’s Treatment and Rehabilitation component of the Drug Demand Reduction Directorate is in dire need of upgrade.

“Medical attention given to drug dependent persons is often the last stage of the war. Along the course, many battles must have to be won. These are the battles of intervention, education, sensitization, counseling and psychotherapy which the Agency is ably competent to perform given the in-house expertise available.

“What is lacking is the en-tooling and capacity building required. Time has come for competent Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres to be fully built as anticipated by the NDLEA Act where psychotherapy and medical therapy should mutually reinforce each other,” the NDLEA boss said.

Abdallah in his address to mark this year’s International Day against Drug Abuse and Trafficking said the theme Better knowledge for Better Care underscores the thrusts of the combined efforts of the nations of the world.

He echoed the need to avoid stigmatization as part of strategies in the fight against drug abuse, as he urged it should be people-centric and gravitate towards ameliorating the suffering of victims.

“The theme zeroes in on one major drawback in the fight against abuse particularly, not discounting trafficking though. Ignorance has been found to be a major impediment militating against the lofty goals set by the UN. The absence of information, misinformation and outright disinformation has each played parts in varying degrees.

“Effective responses to the extant problem require many more and varied hands on deck-policy makers, NGOs, CSOs, corporate world, community leaders, religious leaders, educators at all levels and increasingly service providers.

“All of these diverse assemblage of groups must work together to understand drug disorders are a multi-factor health issue. The UN Outcome Document of 2016 puts its stamp of authority on that.

“Summarily, it is a health related issue desirous of compassion and help rather than a moral stigma to be punished,” Abdallah said. If anything, the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking observed recently highlighted the huge gaps in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking in the country. Different stakeholders are of the view that only the surface is being scratched in the handling of an issue widely regarded as the accelerator of the security problems that hold the nation by the jugular.