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… As Committee Rallies Youths to Mark World Drug Day
By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State Government has called on all actors in the fight against drug abuse to shift the focus of their campaigns from rehabilitation of victims to prevention of social discrimination and stigmatization against drug addicts in society.
Governor Douye Diri made the call on Monday at a Youth Road Walk and Rally organized by the Bayelsa Drug Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee (BADAPARC) in Yenagoa, to mark the 2023 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The governor, who spoke through his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, pointed out that if society failed to take proactive steps to stop stigmatization of drug addicted persons, it would lose the battle to regain them from the grip of drugs.
Citing himself and other notable personalities as example, the Bayelsa chief executive stressed that substance abuse cannot make anyone great in life but only destroys the destinies of its victims.
He noted that the message calling for positive change was not only for the youths, but for the entire social spectrum, including mature adults who were still victims of drug abuse.
While applauding the chairperson and members of the committee for the massive mobilization of the youths and other critical stakeholders for the event, Governor Diri, however, called on families, caregivers and the church to show love and concern for drug abuse victims.
He urged drug abusers to repent, promising that government would make some incentives available for successfully rehabilitated drug addicts, as a deliberate step to prevent them from returning to destructive drugs.
His words: “The importance of today’s event will be useless if at the end of the day nothing changes in us. Today’s message is not only for the youths, although we are always focused on the youths, there are also adults or elders addicted to drug abuse. So our message should cut across all the spectrum.
“Our emphasis today is to stop discrimination by putting the people first. The message is that whether our children are good or not depends on the way we have trained them.
“I want to encourage all parents to stop discrimination and should make effort to bring back our children whom drugs had driven away from us. Parents, relations and even the church should all make effort in this regard.
“My take is that children involved in drug abuse need our love and attention most. And we must give it to them, if we are to win them or loose the grip of drugs on them.”
Also speaking, the state’s First Lady, Dr. Gloria Diri, expressed appreciation to the state government for intensifying the campaign against drug abuse in the state, noting that the menace was a major social challenge confronting society.
Dr. Diri, who lamented that drugs had eaten up and destroyed the future of many youths in the country, disclosed that the offices of the various first ladies in all the 36 states had adopted the World Drug Day as their programme to scale up the fight against substance abuse.
While also decrying stigmatization, the First Lady called on all victims of drug abuse to make themselves available for rehabilitation and reintegration at the state government approved centre.
Earlier in her address, the chairman of the Bayelsa Drug Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee, Dr Faith Izibenua Zibbs-Godwin, said drug abuse among young people had assumed an alarming dimension in society.
According to Dr Zibbs-Godwin, the psychiatric hospitals and streets are littered with mentally unstable people as a result of addiction to drugs, a situation she noted had robbed the country of several socio-economic benefits.
She said the importance of the event was not just to highlight the imperative for stopping discrimination and stigmatization, but also provide useful information to the youths to guide them against making wrong choices that could ruin their future.
In their goodwill messages, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Pabara Newton Igwele, and state commander of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Mr Matthew Ewah, commended the state government for sustaining its effort toward addressing the problem of drug abuse in the state.
According to them, Bayelsa is among the few states that have an agency with a clear mandate to tackle issues of drug abuse prevention, rehabilitation and other related services.
Highlights of this year’s World Drug Day with the theme: ‘People First: Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention,’ included a sensitization roadshow led by the Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo from the Imgbi Junction area of Yenagoa to the Peace Park.
