By Haruna Salami
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan on Thursday assured that the National Assembly leadership will continue to support the National Association of Nigerian Drug Markets (NANDRUM), saying the efforts of the association are noble.
Lawan spoke at the inauguration of NANDRUM, at the Joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Drugs and Narcotics held Thursday in Abuja.
He noted that the menace of drug abuse and trafficking has been troubling, stressing “we have lost lives, while it has retarded human capacity development through the attendant criminal behavior”.
The Senate President who was epresented by Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe, stated that though relevant institutions are focused on their schedules, new initiatives like the NANDRUM are also germane.
According tohim, the need to continue with sensitization campaigns on the dangers of hard drugs is key, emphasizing that “addiction is a dangerous condition, and we need consistency of action, including awareness creation to mitigate the hazard it presents”.
“Prevention, apprehension, and prosecution of offenders have been a focus in the last couple of years, while this is a right part to take, other measures are also desirable in the bid to mitigate, or to completely tackle the problem”, he said.
Also speaking, chairman of NANDRUM, Chief Alphonsus Okoroji lamented that the distribution, sales, and consumption of narcotics have in a great way affected society negatively, adding there was a need to curtail, to a large extent, the menace of narcotics consumption “if we cannot exterminate it”.
Okoroji however pledged that NANDRUM will collaborate with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and other relevant agencies to achieve the objectives of the association.
Earlier, the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr. Garba Abari, represented by Esther Akor expressed the willingness of the Agency to partner all stakeholders in the fight against drug abuse in Nigeria.
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