The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has called on corps members across the country to support efforts to curb the rising menace of drug abuse by serving as ambassadors of anti-drug advocacy in their communities.
The agency said young graduates participating in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) are strategically positioned to influence society positively, raise awareness, and educate others on the dangers associated with substance abuse.
Speaking during a sensitisation lecture at the Lagos NYSC orientation camp for the 2026 Batch A Stream II corps members, NDLEA Superintendent Fatimah Dauda observed that both illegal substances and commonly accepted products are being dangerously misused, especially among young people.
She described drugs as any chemical substance that alters the psychological and physical state of individuals, causing behavioural changes after consumption.
Highlighting the scale of the problem, she said data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime shows that Nigeria’s drug use rate stands at 14.4 per cent, significantly higher than the global average of 5.3 per cent.
She urged young people to resist peer pressure and avoid experimenting with substances, warning that even a single experience can have a devastating impact on their future.
She said: ‘In our homes, those things we neglect and feel are not important are what we are suffering from today. A lot of people went into drugs because somebody said come and try. Just take a small amount. Please don’t allow anybody to convince you to take anything’.
She also advised youths against turning to drugs in difficult moments, stating, ‘Drug addiction is a sickness and it is difficult to come out of it completely except with divine intervention’.
Dauda reiterated that the agency does not prosecute or condemn drug users, urging the public to report such cases for rehabilitation.
‘We only prosecute people in the supply category who are the dealers that bring these drugs in through sales and distribution. But for the person taking drugs under the demand reduction unit, we don’t prosecute them because they are users who need to be taken to the rehabilitation centre’, she said.
She added that the agency does not generate revenue and is not responsible for funding rehabilitation, as the cost is borne by the individual or their family.
