CLAMPDOWN ON ILLIGAL REHABILITATION CENTRES
CLAMPDOWN ON ILLIGAL REHABILITATION CENTRES
By:
Nurudeen Dauda
October 25, 2019
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To begin with, let us address both the "reasons" for and or the "causes"of the "proliferation" of illegal rehabilitation centres and its"symptoms" concurrently . In my view, the issue at hand is purely a drug abuse crisis. Please come with me!
Permit me to state it is "commendable" to halt any form of human abuses by whatever guise but, in my view, the solution to the current crisis is much more than just "shutting down" the centres alone. There are other "issues" that needed to be tackled simultaneously as a panacea to the problem.
In my observation, virtually all the children found at the illegal rehabs centres were sent by their parents"or "wards". It involves spending huge amount of money for registration fees and monthly payment of fees for their upkeeps in those centres.
In my thought, most parents took their "children" or "wards" to illegal and or private rehabs centres due to the "absence"of and or lack of "confidence"on the dilapidated government owned centres. The government must seriously looked at this for intervention !
However, my assertion does not in anyway"justify"or "rationalize"sending one's child to those illegal centres, especially against the very weigthy allegations of rape, torture, sodomy, overcrowding and other human abuses meted on them at the said centres. Never!
Having shut down all the discovered illegal rehabilitation centres, the government needs to act urgently in order to fix its dilapidated owned rehabilitation centres for proper rehabilatuon of the rescued persons instead of just sending them back to the society. If nothing is done about it, they might "relapse" to their wayward behaviours which might be very dangerous to the society.
In addition, for us to get it right, we must take the issue of drug abuse very seriously. In my thought, drug abuse is the main problem, until we tackle the issue of drug abuse with all the "seriousness" its deserves our society will remain in a very serious trouble. In my observation, 98% of the children being sent to the said illegal centres were and or are as a result of drug abuse.
"There is a conservative estimate of about 15million Nigerians who are on drugs and 3million of them could be conveniently called drug addicts"- said, Abubakar Jimo, Director of Public Affairs, NAFDAC (Daily Trust, April 22, 2019).
We are really in a very disturbing situation, one must realize that the nature of our drug abuse is very "complex" to deal with in view of the fact that both "legal" and "contraband" drugs are bieng abused. In view of the situation being witnessed in the country, it is high time , we "scrutinize"the operations of both our "pharmacies" and "patent medical stores". It important to note that, there is a correlation between drug abuse and all criminal activities. Intoxication is a trigger to all sorts of crime.
In my suggestion, the government must declare a national war on drug abuse as the surest way of ending the problem at hand. Our state governments must declare war on drugs abuse too. National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, must restrategie in order to do their work effectively.
The Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria must perform its responsibilities properly . Both federal and states ministry of Health must discharge their responsibilities. These agencies must make sure that both pharmacies and patent medical stores keep record of "legal drugs" with record of abuse by the public. Those drugs should only be sold with doctors authorization and all the people sold to must be fully registered in their record books .
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, must awake up and do its work diligently . It personnel should be fully equipped to do their job. Nigeria Customs must work very hard in order to stop the smuggling of contraband drugs.
May God bless Nigeria!