The Nigeria Governors’ Spouses Forum has called on the federal and state governments to declare a state of emergency on substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in the country.
The call was one of the resolutions in a communique signed by the chairperson of the forum and the wife of Kwara State Governor, Olufolake Abdulrasaq.
The communique was issued on Tuesday at the end of a two-day Drug Prevention Treatment and Care training organised by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for wives of state governors in Abuja.
The governors’ wives acknowledged the urgent need to take control and reinvigorate the State Drug Control Committees for optimal functioning for the states that had one and encourage states that did not have to constitute one.
The forum also stressed the need for “the Federal Government and state governors to declare a state of emergency on illicit drug use and trafficking pandemic with a view to mobilising resources to tackle it.”
Other resolutions in the communique included: “The need to foster good parenting through Parents Teachers Associations, community outreach programmes and to support the NDLEA Drug Integrity Testing Policy for early detection of drug users and timely intervention to prevent the progression to addiction/dependency.”
The governors’ wives also agreed to “work as a body and facilitator towards strengthening collaboration and cooperation between state governments, NDLEA, and other security agencies in the fight against drug use and trafficking.”
The Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd), urged the governors’ wives not to allow lessons learnt at the training to end at the venue, but taken to their various states for implementation.
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