The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned that with 14.3 per cent of Nigeria’s estimated 200 million citizens involved in drug and substance abuse, the nation is sitting on a time bomb.
The global agency called for the development of policies that would address the situation.
It advised that people with drug disorders brought under the criminal justice system should be treated rather than sent to prison.
UNODC’s Project Officer, Dr. Akanidomo Ibanga, stated this during a capacity-building training for operatives of the Kaduna Bureau of Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (KADBUSA) yesterday in Kaduna.
Ibanga said 14.3 per cent of Nigerians have used drugs in the past years.
He added: “Now, that is three times more the global average. We have a serious drug problem on our hands.
“The Nigerian situation is peculiar because it has the drugs problem. Again, it doesn’t have enough treatment facilities to handle the issues of people that have drugs disorder.
“This date is even 2018 data. From that time till date, the number of people using drugs has probably increased. From projections from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNODC is that there would be a 40 per cent increase in drug use by 2030 in Africa, and Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. That means it will have most of the number.
“So, we are saying that we are sitting on a time bomb because comes 2030, we are talking about 20 per cent prevalence. That is, one in every five people you meet on the street.
“There are certain things we can do to avert this. UNODC has evolved certain responses and developed certain models. We are hoping that these models can be run by both national and state governments.
“There is also a need for us to develop more policies that will address the situation. There is a need for us to look for alternatives to persuasion so that for people with drug disorder that come in contact with criminal justice system, it is better to treat them than to send them to prison.
“So, there are several things that we have on the ground that is evidence-based. There is a need for us to adopt them and spread them out nationally”, he said.
KADBUSA’s Director General Joseph Ike said the training was in alignment with Governor Uba Sani’s administration’s agenda.
The agenda, he said, emphasises human capital development and citizens’ engagement.
