Tension, Grit, Elation: How MTN Foundation’s new anti-substance abuse champions emerged

The International College, Lafia, Nasarawa on Friday, emerged the winner of MTN Foundation’s Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) quiz finale.

Anglican Girls Grammar School, Benin City, emerged 2nd and Government Girls’ Secondary School, Yola came 3rd.

The quiz competition was organised by MTN Foundation in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in commemoration of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The competition featured 18 states after which 6 states— Adamawa, Enugu, Oyo, Nasarawa, Katsina, Edo— made it to the finale in Abuja.

The Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Mrs Odunayo Sanya, who spoke on the competition, said it was aimed at creating awareness of substance abuse among secondary students.

Sanya also said it served as a tool for assessing the level of awareness and knowledge of substance abuse and substance abuse issues among secondary school students in the country.

“The competition aims to recruit participants as advocates for ASAP in their respective schools,” she said.

The UNODC Country Representative, Dr Oliver Stolpe said the theme for this year’s World Drug Day ‘People First: Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention’ was very relevant for Nigeria as data indicates a growing drug use problem, revealing that the 2018 Nigeria Drug Use Survey put Nigeria’s drug use prevalence at over 3 times the global average, with users being predominantly young people between the ages of 16 and 34.

“As at the 2018 Survey, there were over 14.8 million Nigerians who had used drugs with 3 million of them living with a drug use disorder.

“There are projections that the drug use prevalence in Africa will increase by 40 per cent by 2030 and for a country like Nigeria with a teeming youth population, this is alarming “It should be a wakeup call to everyone, not just NDLEA, or other stakeholders currently working in this field.

“All hands must be on deck to reverse this negative trend. Our youth are our future and the current indices do not bode well for the future of the country”, he said.

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt commends MTN Foundation for its intervention in education

He commended the MTN Foundation for its efforts in combating substance abuse, particularly in partnering with UNODC, NDLEA, the Federal Ministry of Education in supporting the implementation of the UNPLUGGED programme in several states.

The Chairman, NDLEA, Buba Marwa, in his remarks, said the objective of the quiz competition was to help students learn about the danger of substance abuse, and help them develop skills for a healthy lifestyle.

Marwa, who was represented by Shedrack Haruna, Executive Secretary, NDLEA, said the competition would provide needed information to make healthier personal choices and avoid risky situations that can predispose one to drug abuse.

“To build coping skills to be able to resist the pressure to use drugs and encourage peer education.

“It is hoped that you would teach others who did not have the opportunity of being part of the whole exercise,” he said.

More efforts like this will need to be implemented if the substance abuse trend is to be stopped and reversed. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) projects a 40 per cent increase on drug use in Africa by 2030. This is indeed a crisis.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now