October 05, (THEWILL) — National Association of Seadogs (NAS), otherwise known as Pyrates Confraternity, in collaboration with National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have embarked on a street march to sensitise youths against the use of illicit drugs, lamenting that about 50% out-of-school children in Nigeria were involved in drug abuse.
NAS equally called on the attention of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration, to as a matter of urgency, start implementing policies to reduce the indulgence of out-of-school children and youths in drug abuse.
Tagged ‘Global March’, with the theme “Louder Together: Campaign Against Drug Abuse And Homelessness”, the Capoon, Ash Montana, Deck, Ganiyu Omitogun, said that NAS decided to partner with NDLEA to reaffirm that the association was more than a confraternity in its activities to humanity.
Omitogun, who lamented that most of these children were involved in drugs, including Tramadol, Marijuana, Codeine, heroin, to mention few, to make them forget their problems resulting from broken homes, urged parents and guardians to ensure they live in harmony to protect the future of their children.
He also mentioned lack of access to quality education, handwork, employment opportunities, peer groups, economic hardships as other reasons youths were involved in drug abuse, saying that it was high time government and well-meaning individuals intensify campaigns to combat drug abuse in the society.
“We went out to do campaign against drugs abuse, it is not only our branch we also have other branches partaking in it all over the world. We called it a global march, It’s about our options and aspirations, where we show our involvement in extra work for humanity and make people aware that drug abuse is not the best.
“We also realise that about 50% of out-of-school children were involved in drug abuse. So we decided to march across the street of Abeokuta to sensitise people on the danger of drug abuse on their health. We also collaborated with NDLEA, they are the resource person that speak to the people on the drug abuse.
“So we started our march from Kuto to Stadium to Iwe-iroyin then to Phone Tarmac to Omida and Sapon, talking to people against that harm of drug abuse.
“As I said earlier, we have over 50% of them out there into drugs. Go to the nooks and crannies, especially where you see a lot of them out there. But I know that 50% out-of- school children were involved in drugs for them to mask whatever is going on in their minds.
“Some of them are jobless, some are homeless, some of them don’t have jobs to do, we have realised that many of these folks out there are idle. Many of them just go into it and don’t know the effects it does on their bodies, all in the name of big boy.
“What the government should do is to do more enlightenment, make education accessible, give employment opportunities because many of them are in drugs because of the economic situation and make a child know the implications of what they are doing”, he noted.
The Assistant Commander of Narcotics, NDLEA, Ogun Command, Morakinyo Oluseyi, said that the agency partnered NAS for mutual awareness and sensitisation against drug abuse among young men and women.
“It is just to create awareness of the danger inherent in drug abuse to the general public and it is NDLEA’s programme, we just collaborated with NAS. Some of them took drugs out of ignorance and most of them were not actually informed about the danger of drug of abuse”, she stated.
Seun Shotunde, THEWILL
