Dying for Lack of Folic Acid, Zinc and Iron

Dying for Lack of Folic Acid, Zinc and Iron

Suleiman Haruna

Each morning, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, Wife of the President of Nigeria wakes up with a picture of women and children struggling through challenges of hunger and sickness, having to choose between food and medication, sometimes losing both, battling lack of education and harmful cultural practices. More often than not, suffering permanent wounds and scars of these challenges, at other times, succumbing to the cold hands of death.

Each time, she would flash options in her mind, what to do, how to do it, who to do it with – all in a bid to ensure that one more life is saved, one more prospective contributor to national development. Is it easier to give women education or to empower them with self-reliance? How much impact can one make?

She has keyed into the RMNCAH+N Policy, (Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition) through her Future Assured Programme and has already made a lot of impact through advocacy campaigns on breastfeeding, deworming, killer diseases, complementing this with food, nutrition and medicinal aid, calling on government and privileged Nigerians to save more lives of women and children.

At a recent event she organized for the private sector, she spoke on the need for them to embrace RMNCAH+N as their Corporate Social Responsibility and advocated for Innovative partnerships for investment in the sector. She presented a portfolio of areas of support for them to choose from. Captains of industry attended, listened and keyed in. Most importantly, they understood the precarious lives that women and children go through because of lack of access to essential health services.

Every year in Nigeria, 58,000 women are said to die from pregnancy related complications; from excessive bleeding after child birth, to complications of hypertension in pregnancy, unsafe abortions, infections and obstructed labour. At the event, Mrs. Buhari stressed that interventions to save the lives of these women are low cost, but of high impact because with only N58,381 it is possible to save one pregnant woman from dying in the process of giving birth to another life. She requested private sector to join her in saving at least 5% of these each year over the next 5 years.

Also important, 839,500 children do not make it to their 5th birthday because of malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, HIV and malnutrition. N28,454 is required to save each of these children so that they can live their lives. Some of the interventions include simple prevention and treatment, case management, therapeutic foods, fortifications and the like, some as simple as zinc, vitamin A and folic acid. In fact, it has been established that folic acid taken before conception and in the first few months of pregnancy can prevent spina bifida and associated complications.

Deficiency of these drugs causes problems for both the mother and the unborn child, Sometimes these deficiencies are attributed to poverty and illiteracy rather than lack of the drugs at the ante-natal clinics. A lot of mothers get to know the dangers only too late. Some of them, after suffering from a traumatic pregnancy and even child birth, now have to contend with a perpetually sick child, whose ailment can only be treated at a huge cost. Most of the support in this area is therefore slow and low.

This is why Mrs. Buhari has come in and supported the surgeries of eight children aged from a few months to 6 years. The surgeries were principally in three areas; Hydrocephalus, Encephalocele and Myelomeningocele.

Hydrocephalus results from complications of premature birth, diseases such as meningitis, tumors and traumatic head injury. It is typified by accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the brain. This fluid compresses the brain, causing neurological symptoms such as convulsions, intellectual disability and epileptic seizures. Fetuses, infants, and young children with hydrocephalus typically have an abnormally large head, excluding the face, because the pressure of the fluid causes the individual skull bones — which have yet to fuse — to bulge outward at their juncture points.

Encephaloceles causes a groove down the middle of the skull, or between the forehead and nose, or on the back side of the skull. Symptoms may include neurologic problems, cerebrospinal fluid accumulated in the brain, paralysis of the limbs, an abnormally small head, uncoordinated muscle movement, developmental delay, vision problems, mental and growth retardation, and seizures.

Myelomeningocele is the type of spina bifida that often results in the most severe complications. In individuals with myelomeningocele, the un-fused portion of the spinal column allows the spinal cord to protrude through an opening. The membranes that cover the spinal cord also protrude through the opening, forming a sac enclosing the spinal elements, such cerebrospinal fluid, and parts of the spinal cord and nerve roots.

These children have undergone successful surgeries so far, while others are receiving attention. Ya’u Usman, male, 9 months old had Hydrocephalus; Ma’aruf Abdulsalam, male, 3 months had Hydrocephalus and Myelomeningocele; Muhammad Auwal, male, 1 year old had Encephalocele. Nana Khadija Adamu, female, 1 year old, had Hydrocephalus and Myelomeningocele; Asmau Sabiu, female, 6 years old, had brain tumour and Hydrocephalus.

Mrs. Buhari’s acts of compassion continues to show the way for others to emulate. If the private sector can sponsor one hundred or one thousand lives of women and children, then our collective humanity has been proven, our women and children will have a chance be full and not temporary members of our national reality.

Drugs to Death: What you need to know

DRUGS TO DEATH: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW 

UMAR TSANYAWA, SULEIMAN HARUNA 

A DEWDROP PUBLICATION, 2002

Published by Dewdrop Communications, 2002.

E-mail – sulaimanharuna@yahoo.com

Copyright © Tsanyawa, Haruna. 2002

ISBN – 978-36212-1-1

Dewdrop – R 1000111

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior consent of the copyright owners.

First Edition    Sept. 2002

Second Edition            Jan. 2003

Printed by IMSABARI PRINTS, KANO. P.O. BOX 12870, KANO-NIGERIA, TEL: 080 37021387

 

Proudly made in Nigeria

 

FOREWORD By Prof. Isidore S. Obot

I have known Honourable Umar Tsanyawa (one of the authors of this book) since 1999 when, together with other members of the House of Representatives Committee on Drugs and Financial Crimes, he attended the Fourth Biennial National Conference on ‘Drugs and Society’ organized by  the Centre for Research and Information on Substance Abuse (CRISA) in Jos.  Since then and as a consultant to the Committee I have had the opportunity of interacting with him on many occasions.  It is not surprising that Hon. Tsanyawa and his co-author, Mr. Suleiman Haruna, have decided to devote their time and energy to writing this book.  Both men have, over the years, demonstrated a commitment to educating the public about the ills that afflict us.  In different capacities, one in community health and the other in public enlightenment programmes, both of them have been involved in imparting knowledge for the sake of individual and national development. I congratulate the two of them for this commendable effort.

This book is a welcome initiative for several reasons.  Not only is it a needed drug education resource, it is well researched and written with the average reader in mind.  In addition, the book is a clear indication of the growing recognition by civil society that the abuse of psychoactive substances – including alcohol, tobacco products and illicit drugs – is contributing to the burden of diseases in Nigeria.  The natural response, therefore, for individuals and government alike, is to join forces and work towards the reduction, if not total elimination, of alcohol and drug abuse and associated problems.

These problems are not new in our country.  In fact, concerns about drugs started more than forty years ago. It was in the early 1960s when the first alarm was raised about the increasing use of Cannabis (Indian hemp) and stimulants (kwaya) by youth in urban areas.  Of course, problems related to excessive consumption of alcohol have been with us for much longer.  Unfortunately, the situation has changed dramatically in the past twenty years.  Mainly because of drug trafficking through the country’s ports and changing lifestyles of urban youth, new and potent substances (especially cocaine and heroin) seem to have found a home in modern Nigeria.

It is understandable that the attention of government has been focused for many years on eliminating the supply of these illicit drugs.  However, it has been the case in other countries and is the case in Nigeria today that a trafficking country sooner or later becomes a using country.  Data from school and adult population surveys conducted by the NDLEA and NGOs are clear that Nigerians, like their counterparts in other parts of the world, are using a wide range of substances to ‘get high.’  These surveys also show that cannabis, cocaine, heroin, stimulants, and alcohol are associated with increasing prevalence of psychiatric disorders among youth and young adults.

It is difficult to predict what the future holds but if the observed patterns are maintained, the burden of alcohol and other drugs in Nigeria will escalate in the coming years.  Not only will the abuse of these drugs increase but the prevalence of problems like HIV/AIDS, accidents, violence, health conditions, and problems in the workplace which are linked to drug use are bound to increase.

Only a concerted assault on unrestrained availability of licit and illicit drugs, and well-articulated and consistent education programmes will save our children from the ravages of these drugs.  For over a decade now, CRISA has been actively involved in the dissemination of information to the public on licit and illicit drugs, and has consistently called on individuals and civil society organizations to treat drug abuse as a problem worthy of serious attention.  Similar calls have been made by the NDLEA and the United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNODCCP).  Hon. Tsanyawa and Suleiman Haruna have heeded that call.  Their contribution to the control of drug abuse in Nigeria through the writing of this book is a commendable act.  May their example serve as encouragement to others.

Prof. Isidore S. Obot

Director

Centre for Research and Information

On Substance Abuse (CRISA)

Jos

June 2002

 

Acknowledgement

This book will be complete only as a result of the contribution of a lot of organizations and individuals including NDLEA, NAFDAC, FRSC, The Nigeria Police, and CRISA in Jos.  Others include United Nations Information Center, Lagos; UNDCP, Nigeria Office; and ONDCP in the United States, especially for the permission to use the anti drug posters on their websites.

The Honourable Speaker, House of Representatives, Alh. Ghali Umar Na’abba, is a shining light to his colleagues in the National Assembly for the leadership he exudes and which directs all members and committees of the House to perform excellently especially in the area of narcotic drugs, tobacco and financial crimes. The Chairman/CEO NDLEA Alh. Bello Lafiaji has since inception been improving the outlook and functions of the agency.  His staff have equally proved versatile in their effort to stem the tide of drug prevalence in Nigeria.  Also of note is the effort of the National Assembly.  Both the Senate and the House of Representatives and especially their committees on narcotics, for their efforts in facing the challenges of drug abuse and trafficking.

As for individuals, Professor Isidore Obot stands out.  Others include Abba B. Muhammad, Legal Adviser, Ministry of Police Affairs; Mrs. Chikezie of NDLEA, Sani Ahmed the legal Adviser NAFDAC; Abubakar Sadiq Muhammad of the National Assembly; Dr. Danjuma Al Mustafa of UNICEF; Abubakar Aliyu Tsafe of the CVU-Office of the President; Mrs. Araba of the United Nations Information Centre, Lagos; Mrs. J. O. Ogunleye, the Executive Secretary, Utilities Charges Commission, Abuja and Sule Ado Sabari.

We have contacted many websites and used their materials during the course of this work, some for posters and others for drug information. They include:

 

www.freevibe.com

www.theantidrug.com

www.mediacampaign.org

www.whatsyourantidrug.com

www.drugfreeamerica.com

www.oecd.org/fatf

www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov

www.unodccp.org

www.niaaa.nih.gov

 To all these great individuals and organizations, we express our unreserved gratitude.

Tsanyawa, Haruna.

 

Preface

Whenever the history of the 20^th century is recalled, various issues including war and disease would be blamed for depleting world population.  Drugs will be mentioned along with them as a kind of voluntary euthanasia for millions of people all around the globe.  The scourge of cocaine, marijuana, heroine and others is probably greater than that attributed to disease anywhere in a century that is well known for preventive medicine.  Some die for taking the drugs, others die as a result of crime and accidents that relate to drugs.  Yet thousands more roam our streets naked as a result of drug-induced madness.  Still, others are in jail for drug crimes.

The bulk of all these are young people less than forty years old. Adventurism, get-rich-quick syndrome, stubbornness and negative peer pressure are mostly responsible, yet parents still refuse to talk with their children about bedtime, friends, about school.

Parents, youths and teachers should find this book educative, as it is  elementary, and un-academic in nature.  It is meant to pass the message raw and the ultimate goal is to deter young people from ever experimenting with drugs.  What anti-drugs do you employ?  Good friends, questions, honesty, truth, communication, love and good parenting.  The time to act is now!

SULEIMAN HARUNA, 2002.

 

 Wave of drugs (poem)

 Surf on the wave

And be a slave

You’ll misbehave

And see yourself rave

 

Be it glug or smoke

Or sniff, huff or coke

Be a great bloke

And throw off the yoke

 

 Your freedom, save

And your death, stave

You must be brave

Even though you crave.

 Haruna.

 

 Table of Contents

 Preliminaries:

–         Copyright page        i

–         Foreword                ii

–         Acknowledgement     v

• Preface vii
• Poem viii

2. In the Beginning: Chapter One 1

 3. Drug – Related Laws: Chapter Two 7

• – UN Conventions

–         Other International Efforts

–         Local Legislations

4. Drug and Their Implications: Chapter Three 25

Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis

Steroids, Inhalants, Heroin,

Depressants, Hallucinogens,

Amphetamines and

Amphetamine-variants, Cocaine,

Caffeine, Others.

5. Abuse and Dependence: The Pertinent Questions:

Chapter Four     42

Criteria for Substance Abuse, Substance Dependence, Signs of Abuse, Stages of Abuse, Why engage in Substance Abuse? Terminal Points of Drugs in The body, Self-Medication, Consequences of Substance Abuse.

6. Facts and figures on Drugs: Chapter Five 57

Drug Seizures, Arrests, Prosecutions, Hospital Admissions, Drugs and Road Accidents etc.

7. Drugs and Crime: Chapter Six 63

Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering, Forgeries, Local Crime, Murder, Suicide, Assault, Accidents, Intimate Violence etc

8. Public Enlightenment Efforts: Chapter Seven 76

Posters and Handbills on Drug Education.

9. Religion and Drug Abuse: Chapter Eight 101

Islam and Drug Abuse,

Christianity and Drug Abuse

10. Prevention Strategies: Chapter Nine 107

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Prevention Strategies. Treatment for Drug-dependence.

11.            118

 

 CHAPTER ONE

 IN THE BEGINNING

 ‘Drug abuse is preventable. If children reach adulthood without using illegal drugs, alcohol or tobacco, they are unlikely to develop chemical dependency problems later in life. To this end, the best strategy is to involve parents, coaches, mentors, teachers, clergy and other role models in a broad prevention campaign.

       Drug dependence is a chronic relapsing disorder that exacts an enormous cost on individuals, families, business, communities and nations.  Addicted individuals frequently engage in self- destructive and criminal behavior. Treatment programs also reduce the consequences of addiction on the rest of society.  Along with prevention and treatment; law enforcement is essential for reducing drug use and illegal drug traffic, which inflicts crime, violence and corruption on our communities. It is the first line of defense against such unacceptable activity.’

 Barry R. McCaffrey

Former Director ONDCP

 The preceding quotation succinctly explains the drug problems that pervade our society. The problem has gradually changed the face of business, politics, medicine law making the world over, it has created for itself a whole new out look, which includes an active army of drug barons, capable of toppling governments; and a passive army of drug abusers, who indulge in criminal behavior and attempt to hold their society to ransom.  At the end, their drug abuse leads them to jail, madness, sickness and death.

The Scope of the Drug Problem

Nigeria’s drug problem can be said to be in three broad areas:

1. The importation and exportation of hard drugs – This phenomenon has put Nigeria in very negative spotlight. Traffickers use Nigeria to bring in drugs and take them to other destinations. This also is affected by the cultivation of cannabis, which is exported to other countries by the same traffickers.

 Another problem, which is introspective, is the abuse by Nigerians of licit and illicit substances, psychoactive, psychotropic and prescription drugs. Giving way to the loss of serious number of man-hours and thousands of young productive people yearly.

3. The dumping of psychotropic, dangerous and expired, counterfeit and fake drugs by foreign pharmaceutical concerns in collaboration with Nigerian importers and smugglers has exacerbated the problem of drug abuse and self-medication. This is more so considering the proliferation of drug hawkers all over the country and the problem of poverty, ignorance and dearth of health facilities.

 

Policy Approaches to the Drug Problem

 There are various approaches of dealing with the problems and they included:

1. Drug Law Enforcement approach-The use of punitive strategies to detect apprehend, prosecute, convict, imprison or kill drug producers, suppliers, traffickers, and sellers, users and abusers and other necessary enforcements.
2. Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment-The use of drug education and drug treatment with the aim of reducing demand.
3. Drug Legalization and Decriminalization approach- another approach is to regulate drugs and not criminalize them. This will help control the problem better.
4. Harm Reduction Approach – This approach recommends the minimization of the harm associated with the drug abuse like violence, spread of diseases and death due to impurities.

Policy Goals

The overall goals of the approaches are three and these are:

1. Supply reduction – to provide strong legal provisions, strong destruction campaign, crop eradication, crop substitution, enhanced criminal justice system, tracking and detection;

 

2. Demand reduction – to ensure punishment for possession, use and abuse of drugs. Introduce drug testing, drug education, treatment and rehabilitation, expand opportunities for education, employment, shelter etc;
3. Harm reduction – to decriminalize soft drugs and strictly regulate hard drugs, provide health services for drug dependent persons and even offer regulated drug supply for them and introduce feasible integration programs and provide for them relevant information [education and enlightenment].

This research covers vast areas in its nine chapters.  The first, which is this, is an overview of the whole book, while the second discusses laws enacted in Nigeria and elsewhere to control the movement and use of drugs.  This chapter will help to enlighten young people and their parents to know the penalties for different offences associated with drug abuse.  The third is a full brief on all the drugs and their implications, both long and short term.  This chapter should easily teach the dangers of every individual drug.  The fourth is a chapter on all questions surrounding drugs and answers to them.  Young people want to know a lot about these drugs, but ignorance misleads some of them; this chapter will help.  Fifth is on facts and figures.  Here, we will see the gravity of the drugs in action; drugs and accidents, hospital admissions, rate of consumption, you name it.  Sixth is the chapter on drugs and their relationship with crime; they are threefold, find out.  The seventh chapter is a pictorial.  It will showcase public enlightenment posters.  You will relish them.  The eight is a chapter on what religion says about the drug problems, both Islam and Christianity have their views reflected.  The last chapter is an overview of some prevention strategies, which can help stem the growth of the problem.

Definitions

             There may be need to define some terms, which the reader will frequently come across as he/she reads the book.  These are not academic and standard definitions; they are only meant to give an insight into the meaning of the terms.

 

1. Drug – Any chemical substance that alters a person’s normal bodily process or function. It is used interchangeably with ‘substance’.
2. Drug Abuse – non therapeutic use of any psychoactive substance, so that it may affect the users bodily function;
3. Drug Misuse – inappropriate use of drugs meant for therapeutic purposes contrary to the instruction of qualified medical personnel.
4. Drug Use – controlled and approved use of listed substance for medical use as approved by qualified medical personnel.
5. Drug Policy – conscious or deliberate course of action by a government to deal with one or more dimensions of drug problems that are of concern to society.
6. Illicit Traffic – illegal movement of drugs from one country to another with the purpose of sale or distribution to consumers.
7. Drug Courier – person who carries drugs from one place to another especially from one country to another. Sometimes referred to as drug peddler.
8. Psychoactive Drug – Drug that are considered as habit forming, which have natural sources like alcohol, cocaine, heroin etc.
9. Psychotropic Drug – Drugs that have chemical origins, which are manufactured in a lab like LSD, Benzodiazepines, Amphetamines etc. Also in this category are inhalants like rubber solution, washing blue, paint thinner et cetera which were not manufactured as drugs but are used as drugs.
10. Drug Addict/Dependant Person – anybody who has enslaved himself to taking drugs without which his body cannot function properly, and who manifests serious sickness anytime he decides to quit.
11. Hard drugs – illegal [illicit] drugs
12. Soft drugs – Legal [licit] drugs.

CHAPTER TWO

DRUG -RELATED LAWS

 It is necessary for the reader to know what level of attention the drug problem has attracted around the World. Both International and regional efforts have led to many laws introduced to control the spread of drugs and their abuse. The United Nations since the days of the League of Nations has introduced many protocols and offices to handle various drug-related functions. In Nigeria too, even before independence, attention has been given to drug-related problems.

The need for this chapter is to create awareness and consciousness of the laws governing drug control in order to successfully get people to avoid drug offences. One may know what is in store for him if he traffics in cocaine today, or is caught smoking marijuana. Let us start with the UN on drug control.

UNITED NATIONS’ INVOLVEMENT IN DRUG CONTROL 

 The 1946 Protocol:

In  1946, UN took over drug control functions and responsibilities from the League of Nations. The functions of the leagues advisory committee on drugs were transferred to UN Commission or Narcotic Drugs also established in 1946 as a functional commission of the Social and Economic Council of the UN. This transfer was effected by a protocol, which entered into force on October 10, 1947.

 1948 Protocol:

Shortly after the Second World War, synthetic drugs appeared and these had  dependence–producing effects. However, only coca bush, opium poppy and cannabis were covered  by earlier  laws  (1931 convention) this necessitated the  1948  protocol, which came into effect December  1, 1949.

1953 Opium Protocol:

Also called (protocol for limiting and regulating the cultivation of the poppy plant, the production of the international and wholesale trade in and use of opium. Signed at New York) entered into force March 8, 1963. The protocol eliminated over-production through control of the amount of opium that could be stocked by individual countries. The protocol empowered International Narcotics Controls Board (INCB) with specific supervisory and enforcement responsibilities, which are to be used with the consent of the government concerned in the control efforts.

Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961:

This convention had three objectives viz; the need to codify all

existing   multi lateral  treaty  laws in this field; the need to simplify and streamline the control machinery and the  extension of the existing control systems to include the cultivation of plants that were grown as raw materials  of natural narcotic drugs.

Some provisions of the single convention also contained new obligations dealing with the medical treatment and rehabilitation of addicts. It also retains former conventions, which laws were working effectively.

1972 Protocol Amending the Single Convention

This protocol further strengthened the single convention. It was entered into force August 8, 1975. It underscores the necessity for increasing efforts to prevent illicit production of, traffic in and use of narcotics, the need to provide treatment and rehabilitation service to abusers, stressing that treatment, education, after-care rehabilitation and social reintegration should be considered as alternatives to or in addition to imprisonment for abusers who had committed a drug offence.

The protocol also empowers INCB to ensure a balance between supply and demand of Narcotic Drugs for Medical and Scientific purposes in order to prevent illicit drug cultivation, production, manufacture, traffic and use.

 Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971:

Up to 1971, only narcotic drugs were subjected to international

control, the convention was adopted by a plenipotentiary conference held in Vienna between  January and February, 1971.

It entered into force August 16, 1976, to place all synthetic drugs under the control of international law. These include

Amphetamine-type drugs, sedative-hypnotics, and hallucinogens. The World Health Organization was designated to determine on a medical basis, whether a new substance should be included in the schedules of the convention.

1981 International Drug Abuse Strategy:

Sharp increases in drug abuse and illicit traffic by the end of the 1970s were recorded. This necessitated Commission on Narcotic

Drugs (CND) to embark on a study which resulted in the formulation of the ( IDACS) International Drug Abuse Control  Strategy containing a basic 5 year  (1982-1986) programme of action dealing with every aspect of drug control, abuse, trafficking, treatment, rehab and crop substitution. A task force was set up to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the strategy and Programme of Action (POA) and to report to CND on an annual basis. Reports of the task force were delivered through the Economic and Social Council to the General Assembly of the UN. Each year the reports showed a rapid increase in the level  of sophistication to the massive global network of illegal drug traffickers. The report made an estimate of addicts, spread of the drugs, and recorded the amount of assistance being offered by the UN in its attempt to limit Production.

 1984 Declaration on the Control of Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse:

The General Assembly on December 14, 1984 adopted a declaration on the Control of Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse. The Assembly declared that “ Illegal production of, illicit demand for, abuse of, and illicit trafficking in drugs impede economic and social progress, constitute a grave threat to the security and development of many countries and peoples and should be combated by all moral, legal and institutional means at the national, regional or international levels. Its eradication is the collective responsibility of all states”.

 1987 International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Traffic:

After the expiration of the 5-year programme of action in 1986 and recognizing the heightened international dimension of the problem connected with illegal drugs. An international conference was called for the expression of political will of nations to combat this menace on a global basis. It is a ministerial level conference that was well attended (138 countries) in Vienna Austria from 17 to 26 June 1987.

The conference adopted recommendations for a broad range of measures to address the entire drug abuse phenomenon under the ‘Comprehensive Multi-disciplinary Outline’ of future activities relevant to the problem of drug abuse and drug trafficking otherwise called CMO.

 1988 Convention against Illicit Trafficking In Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances.

A conference of plenipotentiaries was convened in 1988, which led to the adoption of the  convention by 106 states. This convention, signed December 20, 1988 was designed  to hit drug traffickers  where it hurt most by depriving them of illegal  financial gains and freedom of movement. One of the innovative provisions of the 34-article convention concerns the tracing, freezing and confiscation of proceeds derived  from drug trafficking. The convention also provides for the criminalization  of drug trafficking offences, extradition of major drug traffickers, mutual legal assistance between states on drug related investigations and the transfer of proceeding  for criminal prosecution. Another significant  landmark is the commitment of  parties to eliminate or reduce illicit  demand for narcotics  drugs and psychotropic substances. Over 150 countries are now parties to the convention. Nigeria signed  on March 1^st 1988 and became a party  November 1^st 1989.

 1990 Global Program of Action.

The General Assembly adopted a Global Program of Action at its seventeenth special session in March1990 to achieve the goal  of an international society  free of illicit drugs and drug abuse. The assembly was convened to consider as a matter of urgency, the question of international cooperation against illicit production, supply, demand, trafficking and distribution of narcotic   drugs with a view to expanding the scope and increasing the effectiveness of such cooperation.

 1990-1999

Between 1990-1999- The UN continued to keep itself involved in the  drug  cause. Through the General Assembly, Economic and Social  Council  and  the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. For example in 1990, apart  from the GPA earlier  discussed , the implementation of the  1988 convention was   vigorously pursued. Between 1991 and 1999 – International action to  combat drug  abuse and illicit trafficking  was a recurring decimal at all sitting of the General Assembly  and especially between 1998-1999 Discussion  of the  Assembly focused on International   Cooperation against the World Drug  problem and the  Political  declaration.

 1998 Political Declaration

The UN General Assembly in a 20 Point declaration resulting from its 20^th session in 1998 came up with affirmative action on its concern about the  serious  world  drug problem and the need to consider enhanced action to tackle  it in a spirit of trust and cooperation.  The declaration among others reaffirmed its determination of using local and international strategies to curb the drug  menace, recognize the need for an integrated and balanced   approach and  calls for support for the Commission on Narcotic  Drugs. It  also believes  and recognizes progress  made by States and the efforts  of individuals  and NGOs working in various fields against  drug  abuse as well as confirm the link  between  drugs  and terror  groups around the World . Others include a call on organizations like the World Bank and Regional Development Banks  to  include  action against the World  drug  problem in their programmes and  call to communities   to promote  a society free of drugs  especially  through civil society  organizations, NGO’s Sports, Media etc.

United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000).

This convention was signed by 125 countries in Italy, the  first legally binding multi-lateral treaty  specifically  targeting trans national  organized crime through a common toolkit of International cooperation  and Criminal  law techniques. It requires states parties to have laws criminalizing the most prevalent types of criminal  conduct associated with organized crime groups, including money laundering. The article on money laundering requires countries to constitute a comprehensive domestic regulatory and supervisory regime for banks and financial institutions to deter and detect money laundering.

United Nations Global Programme against Money Laundering (GPML-UNODCCP)

GPML is a programme of UN  Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention, which has a unique function as the only global international organization providing  comprehensive anti-money laundering training and  technical   assistance. Its programme extends to legislators, law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges, regulators, bankers and providers of  other financial  services.

 Other efforts include:

Financial Action Task Force 

Financial  Action  Task Force   on Money Laundering was established at the G7 Economic Summit in Paris, in 1989 as an Inter- Government body whose  purpose is the  development and promotion of policies  to combat Money Laundering. In 1990, the FATF issued 40 recommendations to fight the phenomenon. These were revised in 1996 to   reflect changes  in Money Laundering Trends. These recommendations are designed  to  prevent proceeds of crimes from being utilized in future criminal activities  and from affecting legitimate economic activities.

Inter-Governmental  Action Group  Against Money  Laundering (GIABA)

GIABA is an FATF- style regional body, established  by a December, 1999 decision of the Heads of State and Government  of ECOWAS. It held its first meeting in November 2000. All countries of ECOWAS including Nigeria are members. GIABA endorsed the FATF forty recommendations, recognize FATF as an observer and provide for  self-assessment and mutual  evaluation procedures to be carried  out by the body. ECOWAS Ministers have agreed to give  GIABA full autonomy . The body is still in its infancy.

LOCAL LEGISLATION ON DRUG ABUSE AND TRAFFICKING.

Various laws have been enacted on drug abuse and trafficking. All  of these laws are  aimed at controlling  the  Hydra-headed monster. Drug abuse is drastically undermining the human  resource  potential of Nigeria while trafficking undermines  the International  respect  accorded  Nigeria all over the World. The setting up of the  NDLEA is the  crowning  glory of all legislation in  this respect and  an affirmation that Nigeria has  practically approved all International  convention  on drugs. The NDLEA Act is hereunder simplified for the proverbial   ‘lay men’. Other  decrees then  follow.

National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act No 48 Of 1989 (Cap 258)

The Act established the NDLEA to enforce laws against cultivation, processing, sale, trafficking and  use of hard drugs and empowers the agency to investigate  persons suspected to have dealings in drugs and  other related matters.

Functions:

The functions of the Agency include the adoption of measures to eradicate illicit  cultivation of narcotics plants and eliminate illicit demand for narcotic  drugs. The Agency is also   empowered to identify, trace, freeze, confiscate or seize proceeds derived from drug- related offences. The agency is also expected to enhance the effectiveness of law enforcement to suppress illicit traffic on narcotic  drugs and  psychotropic substances. The Agency can enter into international cooperation with a view to suppressing the  international activities of illicit  drug trafficking and reinforce all UN drug conventions. And in Nigeria, the Agency can collaborate with relevant government bodies in carrying out its functions.

Offences 

1. On Drug Abuse And Trafficking:
2. Any person who imports, exports, manufactures, sells, buys, deals in, processes, plants or grows, transports or traffics in illegal drugs without permission shall be liable to be sentenced  to life imprisonment.
3. Any person who possesses or uses the mentioned drugs including  cocaine, marijuana, heroin and others, will on conviction be sentenced  to between 15 and 25  years in prison.

 

1. Laundering Of Monetary Instrument:

This provision is  however repealed  by section  22 of Money Laundering Decree.

1. Whoever conducts a financial transaction and knows fully that  it involves the proceeds of some illegal activity , either  to promote the illegality  or to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership or control of the proceeds of such unlawful activity, or  even  to avoid a lawful  transaction under Nigerian law, shall be liable (if corporate body) to a fine of Two Million  Naira; (either  Director  etc of such financial institution) to a term of imprisonment  not exceeding 25 years.
2. Whoever transport or attempts to transport monetary instruments to or from Nigeria to or through another  country and knowing fully the illegal source of such fund, shall be liable to a fine of One Million Naira or twice the value of monetary instrument, which  ever is greater or a prison term not exceeding 25 years or  both

 

1. Commercial Carriers.

Every commercial carrier has a duty to assure that its means of transport are not used to convey  illegal  drugs. In this respect, they must train appropriate personnel to identify  suspicious  consignment or  goods, promote staff  integrity, submit their cargo manifest  in  advance, and make prompt reports of any related suspicions. Any organization  or person in charge  that falls short of  this  expectation shall be liable  to a fine not exceeding N100,000

Forfeiture After Conviction.

Persons convicted under the NDLEA Act, are to forfeit all property traceable to the  illegal  business  to the Federal  Government . Others to be forfeited include the drugs, equipment and instruments of conveyance including aircraft, vehicles or vessels.

NDLEA Decree 33 Of 1990 (Amendment)

The NDLEA Decree was reviewed and subsequently amended to import stricter penalties for Nigerians who indulge in drug business abroad  and subsequently  get arrested and jailed. These convicts, after sentence abroad, will be brought back to Nigeria, taken before a court of law, and handed down another sentence for dragging Nigeria’s name in the mud. The decree stipulates a sentence of up to five years, depending on the gravity of sentence served abroad.

National Agency  For Food And Drug Administration And Control  Decree (15) 1993. As Amended By Decree 19 Of 1999.

 

Functions:

NAFDAC is another crucial body empowered by law, to regulate and control the importation, exportation, manufacture, advertisement, distribution, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled water and  chemicals. It is also expected to conduct   tests to ensure compliance and undertake appropriate investigations into production premises and raw materials for mentioned regulated  products. NAFDAC is also expected to undertake inspection of imported food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled water and chemicals, establish quality assurance systems and compile standard specifications for their production, transportation, exportation, sale and distribution.

The  Nineteen functions of the agency, lucidly explained also refer to the fact that NAFDAC may  undertake measures to ensure  that the use of narcotic drugs and  psychotropic substances   are limited  to medical and  scientific purpose only.

NAFDAC is also expected to grant authorization for the import and export of such Narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. It is also to collaborate with  NDLEA in eradicating drug abuse in Nigeria.

Offences .

There are various regulations guiding the production, import, export, sales and distribution of regulated  products and they  carry  penalties for breach. These regulations are not explicitly mentioned in the decree. But on the principal Decree, reference is made to obstruction of an officer of the agency in the performance of his duties. This attracts a fine of N5,000 or imprisonment  for not more than 2 years. However, in the Amendment Decree 19, (1999). This is amended to read ‘where no penalty has been specified, the person who contravenes   the provisions  of any regulations made under the  decree shall  be liable to a fine of N50,000 or one year imprisonment  or both’ and in the  case of a corporate body, the fine is N100,000.

Counterfeit  And Fake Drugs And Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provision)   Act 25, 1999.

The Decree prohibits productions, import, manufacture, sale, distribution of or possession of any counterfeit, adulterated, banned or fake, substandard or expired drug or any wholesome processed food in any form whatsoever.

The penalty for breaching this provision on conviction is a fine of not more than N500, 000 or imprisonment for a term between 5 and 15 years or both. The second provision affects hawking, selling or display for sale in any place not duly licensed by the appropriate authority  and the penalty  for breach of the provision is a fine not exceeding N500,000 or imprisonment  for not less than 2 years or both.

The Decree also provides for the  establishment, constitution and functions of Federal and State Task Forces and  a Nigeria  Police Force Squad. In both provisions, any drugs etc seized  by a task force established  by the  decree shall be forfeited  to the Federal Government.

Alcohol And Liquor Laws

These have now been referred back to the States to administer. With the  advent of Shari’ah in some States of the Federation, Differences, exist for different Alcohol and Liquor related offences. Citizens should therefore inquire about the provisions of particular States on Alcohol before attempting to even  drink in public.

Money Laundering   Decree  3 Of 1995

The Decree provides a tough  penalty for its  breach as well as  set legal standards  for  financial transactions in Nigeria (here meaning in  Nigeria, in a Nigeria registered vessel  or plane). As we know, money laundering has become  the tool used by drug traffickers and other  criminals to legitimize their  drug money, we must know the implication of such destructive action.

Issues 

(1)      All transactions greater than N500, 000 for individual and  two million  for corporate bodies should be made  through  a financial institution and not in cash.

(2)      All sums greater than  $10, 000 transferred from another country to Nigeria must be reported to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

(3)      Prior to making business transaction, involving up to $100,000, the businessman must identify  the customer.

(4)      Casinos are also mandated to   keep record of the  customers, how much they spend     etc.

Offences.

(1)      Any body  who transfers  resources  derived  directly or indirectly from illicit traffic  in drugs with the aim of concealing  the origin of the  said funds or aiding  someone in this; or

(2)      Collaborates in concealing or disguising the genuine nature, origin, location, movement  or ownership  of resources, property  or rights  derivable   from such illicit drug  traffic shall be liable  on conviction  to  imprisonment for a term not less than  15 years  and not more than 25 years.

(3)      Other offences include failure to keep record  of transactions,  using false identity  to transact, making greater cash payments than that approved and even  tipping  a customer of the report one is supposed  to make. The penalties range from imprisonment to between 15-25 years,   down to fines   of between 250,000 to One million  Naira.

 Tobacco Smoking Control Act (Amendment)

The House of Representatives  of the National Assembly in March 2002, passed  a bill on Tobacco smoking in Nigeria . The Law takes stern measures to curtail indiscriminate  smoking and advertising. Much unlike the  1990 tobacco smoking control decree 20, which carried  mild penalties  for the offences of smoking and advertising of tobacco products.

Issues

(1)      Smoking is banned in public places  such as  cinema houses, stadia, offices, public transportations, elevators,  medical establishments,  schools and nursery institutions.

(2)      Advertisement of tobacco on bill boards, electronic and print media is banned forthwith.

Penalties

(1)      Any person found guilty  of smoking in these places will be liable  to a fine of  Twenty thousand Naira  or five years  imprisonment  or both.

(2)      Individual vendors or advertisers  will be  liable  to fine of  Twenty  thousand Naira.

(3)      Advertising attracts  a fine of five hundred thousand Naira .

(4)      Where the offence is committed by a corporate   body or firm, every director, manager , secretary  or  other similar officers will be liable  on conviction to a fine of one hundred thousand Naira or three years  imprisonment  or both.

National Drug Formulary  And Essential Drugs List Act (Cap 252) 43 Of 1989.

The Decree stipulates that no person shall import  into, advertise, display  for sale, sell, manufacture in Nigeria any drug, which is not contained in the  essential  drugs list, unless with the  permission of a Minister who is satisfied that it is necessary  to import or manufacture any drug not in the list.

The Minister may furthermore remove any drug from the list, where it has been established to his satisfaction that the drug in question is no longer safe for use.

Any person therefore who contravenes these provisions shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of N100, 000 or imprisonment for not more than five years. Were the offence is committed by a corporate body, every director or person in authority in that corporate body shall be held liable.

Some of the drug classes, which affect  this research include Central  Nervous System Drugs, Anesthetic Drugs, Diuretics et Cetera.

Dangerous  Drugs Ordinance: No 12 Of 1935

As variously amended, the ordinance was instituted by the colonial government to regulate import, export, manufacture, sale and use of opium  and other dangerous drugs in Nigeria. It has led to the Dangerous Drugs Regulations of 1937. The regulation has however been abrogated by the enactment of the NDLEA Decree. The ordinance had been prescribed a blanket fine    of One thousand pounds or ten years imprisonment   for its contravention.

Indian Hemp Decree 19 Of 1966

As amended in 1975 and 1984, the Decree was enacted against the planting and cultivation of Indian hemp, unlawful importation, exportation, smoking, unlawful possession, possession of utensils for use in smoking Indian hemp, use of premises for sale, smoking and preparing Indian hemp for smoking . The Decree was abrogated with the  enactment  of the NDLEA Decree. The 1975 amendment was however condemned   for reduction in penalty  for offences of possession and use of Indian Hemp,  because  it led  to increase  in drug  offences.

The Decree introduced the death penalty or a term of 10 years for planting of marijuana, though this   was reversed by amendment  Decree of 1975  to read ‘more than  ten years  and greater than Six Million Naira.’

Special  Tribunal (Miscellaneous  Offences Decree ) 20 Of 1984.

The  Decree in the relevant section, stipulates that any person who deals, sells, buys, exposes or offers for sale, smokes, drinks, inhales or induces other to so deal, should suffer death by firing squad and forfeit their assets to the Federal  Government. The 1986 amendment however abolished capital punishment. But illicit traffic attracted imprisonment for not more than 20 years; buying and selling, not more than the 14 years; while for usage it is between  2-10 years.   Manufacture attracts life imprisonment.

The NDLEA Decree 48, of 1989 provides that any person arrested for drug related offences shall be charged before the SMOT. However with the promulgation of the Tribunal  (Certain Consequential Amendments etc) Decree, 1999. The SMOT  no longer has power to try any of the offences committed under NDLEA decree, the Federal High Court is  now vested with  that power. Some Nigerians were executed by the SMOT due to drug  offences in the early ‘80s.

Amphetamine And Other Drugs (Control ) Decree Of 1968

The Decree required  that Amphetamine and other related Drugs be imported under license and sold and  dispensed  as prescription   drugs. It was repealed by the Food and Drug Act of 1974.

Food and Drugs Act, 1974

This Act widely controlled the importation, exportation, manufacture, sale and  distribution of Amphetamine, Secobarbital, Methaqualone  and other licit drugs, foods, cosmetics, chemicals and other related substances which may be subject to abuse. This Act was the precursor to the  NAFDAC Act.

CHAPTER THREE

THE DRUGS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS

 ALCOHOL

Alcohol comes in the form of beer, whisky, gin, brandy, burukutu, ogogoro, and palm-wine etc cetera.  Alcohol in some societies has become accepted as part of life.  it is used in public gatherings, parties, ceremonies etc cetera.  But most religions ban its use.

People generally take alcohol to feel ‘high’.  When they take it, they feel intoxicated and therefore out of this world.  At the time of intoxication, the drinkers forget worries and become carried away by dreams and false realities.  Important social issues like relationships, respect, parenthood, love, fear and importance all become a mirage.  That is why a drunk does not respect his parents, beats up his wife and children and commits kinds of atrocities, which when sober, he will regret and be filled with remorse for a long time.

Alcohol when taken enters very quickly into the bloodstream within minutes of consumption, and heads straight for the brain.  The brain will immediately react and the physical ability of the body to function properly will be affected.  The muscles do not receive appropriate commands from the brain, so both understanding and response becomes very slow.  Both his vision and ability to think are impaired.  The body does not respond quickly to the directive of the brain.

THE IMPLICATION OF DRINKING ALCOHOL

When a person takes alcohol, he makes his liver to work overtime in expelling the poison from the blood stream, thereby endangering its function.  Drinking also stimulates latent diseases for example lung cancer as a result of smoking can be made manifest by drinking.  It also weakens the will.  This easily leads to temptation for corruption and for all sorts of immoral acts.  Alcohol also lessens the sharpness of the mind, so it influences ones ability to make sound judgements.  Alcohol leads to premature deaths of many, permanent disability and intimate violence.  It also leads females into prostitution and males into occult and armed robbery.  It is principal causative factor for divorce and has a wide range of medical consequences on the user.

Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

The alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a cluster of symptoms observed in persons who stop drinking alcohol following continuous and heavy consumption.  Milder forms of the syndrome include tremulousness, seizures, and hallucinations, typically occurring with 6-48 hours after the last drink.  A more serious syndrome, delirium tremens (DTs), involves profound confusion, hallucinations, and severe autonomic nervous system overactivity, typically beginning between 48 and 96 hours after the last drink (Victor 1983).

An author has said:

‘Alcohol is a disease without a cure, it is the only disease contracted by an act of will, that requires license for distribution, that is bottled and sold, produces revenue for government, that promoted crime.  A disease spread by mass media through adverts, bring death on highways.  Alcohol is the only disease that keeps its victims out of heaven (Ahmadu, 2000).

TOBACCO

Tobacco is smoked in raw form, in clay pipes, chewed, used as snuff, cigarettes, piped tobacco, cigar and tobacco chewing gum. (Odejide, 2000)  All over Nigeria, people, both young and old can be seen smoking with reckless abandon.  It has become a fashionable thing to smoke in public; it is as if people are oblivious of the dangers of smoking.  As a matter of fact it is a socially acceptable habit, parents smoke in front of their children, or even send them to buy cigarettes.

Tobacco is relatively cheap and widely available.  It is the easiest drug to obtain anywhere and its production and distribution receive government support.  The use of tobacco generally starts early in life, thereby giving impetus for initiation into other drug use.  It is known that most drug users, especially cannabis and alcohol, started by smoking cigarettes.  The tobacco industry is a strong one.  In Nigeria, the Industry goes to a great deal of trouble to sell their product and pass it as safe and trendy.  Tobacco labels are used to sponsor events; through this they have free promotion of their products.  They also promote attractiveness, sex, health, glamour and excitement associated with western lifestyles.  They also present cigarettes as a rite of passage into adulthood.  It is also associated with self-expression, confidence, independence, freedom and identity.  They also equate smoking with masculinity for men and femininity for females.  They also liken the right to smoke with liberation and equity. It is also deceptively associated with wealth.

PREDISPOSING FACTORS TO SMOKING

1. Availability of cigarettes, their cheapness and uncontrolled production. Tobacco farms abound in Nigeria. In some places, they have succeeded in dislodging other cash and food crops. They are hawked all over the place.
2. Advertising and promotion of cigarettes. The sponsorship, the music shows, printed garments, and both radio, bill board and print media adverts daily, dominate the senses of all listeners and readers and the young is subsequently tempted to find out whether it was true that cigarettes are ‘great’.
3. Pressure from peers, sibling and parental example. It is clear that a substantial number of smokers learnt the habit from people they relate with everyday, friends have a serious impact in learning the habit. It is believed that if a group smokes, they are unlikely to relate with a friend who does not. Sometimes, in the quest for independence from parents, a youth ends up depending on his peer group and responds to their demands, while being heady to his parents. Parents who smoke expose their children to the habit and smoking peers then offer him an opportunity to experiment what he has seen at home.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF SMOKING TOBACCO

The most dangerous substance in all the products of tobacco is nicotine, which is highly addictive. There are also some 4000 chemicals in cigarettes made up of toxins and irritants. Another component of cigarettes is carbon monoxide, which disrupts the body’s ability to obtain and use oxygen.

CANNABIS (MARIJUANA)

This substance has several names: wee wee, ganja, Indian hemp, igbo, pot, weed, morocco, stone and so on. One peculiar thing about cannabis is that it is both a depressant and a stimulant. Its use has been widely reported by many researchers and it is obvious that cannabis use has attained widespread notoriety all over Nigeria.  Youths are now into it, like the generation before them struck to tobacco.  It is worthy to note that most of those who smoke cannabis started from tobacco.

Its use has been exacerbated by its ease of availability and cheapness.  It is produced in large quantities in Nigeria.  It is also the first illicit substance to be associated with maladaptive behaviour and psychiatric disorders in Nigeria and till date remains the most prevalent illicit substance used in Nigeria. It is instructive to note that children of both privileged and non-privileged parents used it.

The major predisposing factor to the use of cannabis is peer exposure, it is not advertised any were, and it is not sold publicly. So it’s users depends on a network, which includes their close friends who introduce them to it’s use. Most smokers of cannabis smoked the first few rolls free, and started buying after they have been hooked.

Smokers smoke the leaves and the resins. There is also hashish and hashish oil which are derivatives of cannabis and which are as strong or even stronger than the substance.  It is very deadly and has succeeded in destroying a large chunk of Nigerian youth.  Some youths believe it has ‘spirit’, which allows its user to stay safe feel like the boss of the whole world or see visions.  This is the euphoric state to which it subjects its victims.

HEALTH HAZARDS

Serious hazards abound in the brain and lungs for users of pot, and these subsequently impact on a person’s learning and social behaviour.  THC (Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the main active chemical in marijuana, changes the way in which sensory information is received in the brain.  The systems affected by this action are the same ones responsible nay crucial for learning, memory and the integration of sensory experiences with emotions and motivations.  In fact even learned behaviours gradually deteriorate.

PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS (STEROIDS)

Doping, as the use of steroids is called, is the use of prohibited substances or methods to achieve success in sports, without really earning that success.  It is therefore an unfair means of achieving sporting excellence and literally it means cheating or sporting malpractice as sports men and women who work hard, made personal sacrifices and self denial in order to succeed, always fall behind these cheats.

This practice has over the years gained considerable prominence among sports men and women, especially those engaged in heavy sports like weightlifting, boxing, wrestling et cetera.  The practices involve:

1. The use of prohibited substances: – These include:
2. Stimulants like amphetamines, caffeine, cocaine, ephedrine and strychnine etc. Both psychomotor stimulants and central nervous system stimulants are involved here as they are used to increase alertness, wakefulness and concentration.  They delay fatigue, decrease sensitivity to pain and increase aggressiveness.  All these effects combine to give an undue competitive edge to its user. However, sportsmen hardly look beyond their nose to see the side effects of these drugs, which could have actually dissuaded them.  The use of the drugs lead to irregular heartbeat, which could in turn lead to cardiac arrest.  It leads to rise in body heat and blood pressure, leads to dehydration, reduces blood circulation.  Cardiovascular collapse leading to stroke, increased aggressiveness leads to injuries while masking of pain could lead to fatal exhaustion, these are short term.  The long-term effects are mental depression, schizophrenia and psychosis.  In other words madness and death.
3. Narcotics like heroin and morphine. These are powerful painkillers that also produce euphoric feeling.  They help athletes to surpass their normal threshold of pain so they could lead to permanent tissue damage, they could also lead to respiratory depression, and physical and psychological dependence on the drugs.
4. Anabolic Androgenic Steroids – These are male sex hormones called testosterone which when used increases muscle bulk, strength, and bring more endurance. People who use these drugs look excessively masculine.  Today wrestlers, boxers, sprinters, weight lifters and many others use these drugs.  But their side effects which include aggression, liver damage, cardiovascular diseases, decrease in size of testicles and fertility, low sperm count, acne, breast enlargement, kidney damage are never given attention until they occur.  Social effects include intimate violence, seething rage and violence.  For sportswomen, these drugs lead to facial hair like moustache and beard, baldness, voice deepening and suppression of ovarian functions, – no more childbirth!
5. Others – These include Beta blockers, used to calm nerves of athletes like in archery, golf, shooting etcetera. Diuretics which help to eliminate fluids from the body, these are used in sports like boxing, judo, wrestling and horse racing in order to immediately reduce weight so as to compete in a specific category of a sport.  These are also used to reduce concentration of drugs by diluting urine.  The end result of these actions is either renal or cardiac failure; Peptide Hormones, Mimetic and Analogues.  These are a new method of using anabolic steroids, so they have the same positive and negative effects. Restricted substances – substances like alcohol and traditional herbs are permitted up to a point beyond which they become illegal in sports.

Generally, the gains of doping are fleeting, while both the short and long-term negative effects are enormous.  We have seen athletes that won Olympic gold and loss it, we have also known of athletes who fell and died on the field of play.  Thousands more are recuperating in rehabilitation centers and hospitals.  Among teenagers, steroids use can lead to untimely halting of growth due to premature skeletal maturation and accelerated puberty changes.  All steroid users risk liver tumors, severe acne and trembling.

INHALANTS

The term “inhalants” refer to more than a thousand different household and commercial products that can be intentionally abused by sniffing of huffing for an intoxicating effect.  These products are comprised of volatile solvents, gases and nitrites and are commonly found in adhesive, cleaning solutions, and paint products.  Their easy accessibility, low cost and ease of concealment makes inhalants one of the first substances abused by growing children.

The most commonly abused substances in the category include; adhesives like rubber solution used in the repairs of leaking vehicle tubes, solvents like nail polish remover, correction fluids, paint thinner, aerosols like spray paint, hair spray, air freshener, insecticides, shoe polish, etc cetera.  In Nigeria, the abuse is not only restricted to young children.  Artisans car mechanics, welders, petrol attendants also use them.

They produce psychoactive vapors.  They are fat – soluble substances that easily pass through the blood-brain barrier to produce a change in the state of consciousness similar to a mild stage of Anesthesia.

HEALTH HAZARDS OF INHALANTS

Nearly all abused inhalants produce effects similar to anesthetics, which act to slow down body functions.  When taken repeatedly, the intoxicating effects of inhalants can last for hours and eventually lead to loss of consciousness.

Highly concentrated inhalants when sniffed can directly induce heart failure and death.  This can result also from suffocation by displaying oxygen in the lungs and then in the central nervous system so that breathing ceases.  Other effects include hearing loss, limb spasms, brain or central nervous system damage, bone marrow damage, liver and kidney damage and blood oxygen depletion.

HEROIN

Heroin is a narcotic drug but instead of being a stimulant, it is for reduction of the perception of pain.  It is in the same class with cocaine in international trafficking, abuse and dependence.  Other drugs in the same class with heroin include opium, morphine, codeine, hesperidins and methadone.  Most of these drugs can be used to ease pain, suppress cough and treat diarrhea, even though heroin itself has no medical use.

Some of these effects include shallow breathing; reduced anger, thirst, high sex drive and drowsiness.  It is also associated with lethargy, heaviness of limbs, apathy, loss of ability to concentrate loss of judgement and self-control.

HEALTH HAZARDS OF HEROIN

Heroin use is associated with serious health conditions including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, collapsed veins, and infectious disease including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.  Others include abscesses, cellulitis, pulmonary complications including pneumonia, infertility in females especially menstrual abnormalities.  Births to children with deformities are common.

Street heroin may also have additives that do not readily dissolve and this result in clogging the blood vessels that leads to the lungs, liver, kidney or brain.  This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs.

They are also associated with hazards like tolerance, physical and psychological dependence, withdrawal is often very painful, while overdose can lead to coma, convulsion, respiratory arrest and death.

Paraphernalia for administering heroin include hypodermic needles, small cotton, balls, razor blades, straws, rolled currency bills and pipes.  Synthetic opiates such as methadone’s exist.

Others are pethidine and hydromorphone.  But methadone is useful for the treatment of heroin dependence.

DEPRESSANTS

Depressants (also called sedatives & hypnotics) are psychotropic substances that slow down the nervous system.  These are many drugs in this category.  Benzodiazepines (valium. Ativan etc), barbiturates, tranquilizers and methoqualone.

These are also called goof balls, barbs, blues, soapers, quads, ludes and they were used to treat epilepsy, insomnia and to relieve anxiety and relax patients before and during surgery.  Generally people use them to sleep or to become intoxicated, especially when they are frustrated or sad.  People with marital problems are known to use this drug to temporarily drown their problems.  Unemployment is another predisposing factor to the use of depressants.

Some of the effects of these depressants include slowed heart rate and breathing, lowered blood pressure, slowed reactions, confusion, weakened emotion control, distortion of reality, reduced awareness, intoxication, drowsiness, loss of coordination, changes in personality, dizziness and hang-over.

The hazards of depressants include tolerance, physical and psychological dependence, can cause road accidents due to slowed down reaction, confusion, overdoses can cause coma, respiratory arrest, convulsion, even death.  Accidental overdoses occur because the user is unaware of how much of the drug have been taken.

Withdrawal can also be very dangerous and may require medical attention.  Combining psychotropic depressants mentioned above with alcohol, which is a psychoactive depressant, can cause worse conditions.  Hypno-sedatives were also taken to drown the effects of stimulants, cannabis, cocaine and amphetamines especially by school youths.

Depressants may produce a temporary sense of well being, produce mood depression, and apathy.  Intoxicating doses of depressants invariably result in impaired judgement, slurred speech and loss of motor coordination, in addition to dangers of disorientation, resulting in high incidence of road accidents, recurrent users incur risks of long term involvement.

HALLUCINOGENS

These drugs can cause serious changes in perception and consciousness.  They include MDMA, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) and Phencyclidine (PCP) others include mescaline, MAD, DMT, STP and psilocybin.

(MDMA) 3, 4 – methylenedioxymethamphetamine.

They are synthetic, psychoactive substance- possessing stimulants with mild hallucinogenic properties. They can produce stimulant effects like enhanced sense of pleasure, self-confidence and increased energy. Its hallucinogenic properties include feelings of peacefulness, acceptance and empathy.

Users claim they experience closeness with others and a desire to touch.  Consequently MDMA users embraced the misconception that it is relatively safe.  However, various researches have shown that this drug can cause serious health problems and in some cases, death. Used in combination with alcohol, MDMA and others of the so-called “club drugs” become even more dangerous, the long term psychological effects of MDMA can include confusion, depression, sleep problems, anxiety and paranoia.

Other effects of the drug include increased heart rate, blood pressure, increase in blood sugar, and irregular breathing, loss of ability to separate fact from fantasy, distortion of sense, hallucinations, paranoia, panic, violence, loss of coordination, depression.

Hazards associated with club drugs are that tolerance develops quickly, increase risk of birth defects in users children, death may result from suicide, murder or accidents, overdose can cause psychosis, convulsions, coma, death.

AMPHETAMINES

Amphetamines, Methamphetamines and Detroxamphetamines, are also called speed, bennies, pep pills, ICD, Crystal meth, crank, Ice etc.

Amphetamines are used medically to control weight, treat hyperactivity and it was used to treat narcolepsy and so on.  But manual labourers, farmers, masons, etc cetera generally use it, it is generally used also by community based organizations during their self-help activities that are physical-work oriented.

Hawkers also use the drug in order to sustain the energy to sell their wares.  People use the drug so they could work beyond their normal productivity thresholds, in other to earn more.  Drivers and conductors have been known to use ICD.

The drug has effects on the body like increased heart rate and blood pressure, loss of appetite, and increased activity.  It also includes a feeling of alertness, self-confidence, sometimes followed by depression, hallucination, paranoia and temporary mental derangement (as a result of overdose).

The has many hazards – the user may push beyond his or her physical limits and suffer exhaustion.  Tolerance, physical and psychological dependence can develop.  Continued high doses can cause heart problems, infections, malnutrition and also death.

Amphetamines act mainly by releasing serotonin from the presynaptic terminals and inhibiting its uptake.  This action produces an increased sense of well being, improves physical and verbal performance, decreases fatigue, induces loss of appetite and elevates the pain threshold.  Students, farmers, masons and long distance drivers and also artisans commonly use it.  Rural dwellers use it as well as urban dwellers.

COCAINE

Cocaine is a narcotic stimulant also known as coke, snow or flake.  It has become a very serious problem in the world today, people who use cocaine spend a substantial amount to do so, while the production and distribution of cocaine has attained billions of dollars with cartels and syndicates engaging in terrorism to have the drug reach the users.  Despite the effort of most world governments to curb its distribution and use, some still pass unnoticed to the consumers.

Cocaine is formerly used as an anaesthetic, but today it is rarely used for medical purposes.  It is whitish, like fine granules of sugar.

Cocaine’s activity in the body includes quickened pulse and circulation and restlessness.  It includes a feeling of confusion, anxiety and depression.  It also triggers paranoia, serious exhaustion, and hallucination as a result of heavy doses.

Users say cocaine is a great stimulant at infancy of usage, makes one feel on top of the world and capable of solving the problems of the world.  It is also claimed to free the individual from problems and it includes great success.  But the same users at the end agree that cocaine takes away freedom as one could end up in jail for its use, it also takes control of ones behaviour when the stimulation stage is over.  So that violence, insensitivity and unreasonableness take over.

Cocaine is said to take the heart our of a user body.  At the end, that is when dependence sets in, cocaine is no longer a stimulant but a problem.  Frustration sets in, glamour ebbs out and sometimes users have been known to commit suicide.

Some of the hazards of the drug are that the chronic use of cocaine can destroy nasal tissues, smoking it can cause lesions in the lungs; tolerance, physical and psychological dependence can develop; and the long – term effects of its use are unpredictable, convulsions, respiratory paralysis, cardiac seizures and death are always possible.

‘Crack’ or ‘rock’ is highly potent cocaine that has already been processed for smoking.  It is just as dangerous as other forms of cocaine and it is as well also extremely addictive.

CAFFEINE

Another category of psychoactive agents is the caffeine group.  These are mild stimulants which majority of people use daily without even recognizing their dangers.  Principal in this group includes Kola nut, Coffee, tea, and bitter kola.  Each of these natural products contains caffeine in substantial quantities and abuse of these can be very dangerous.  Students use them to stave off sleep, so they could read at night, while elders use kola nut for cultural activities all over Nigeria.  Eating kola nut for leisure is a strong norm especially in Hausa land.  It is therefore common to see young girls selling it.  Coffee and tea are also used especially as coffee black and drunk to stay wakeful and stimulated.

Some of their effects include increased alertness, nervousness, palpitation and sleeplessness.  These lead to a lot of problems which include agitation, (craving desire), habitation (increase in dosage), peptic ulcer, dependence and withdrawal symptoms.

OTHERS

There are countless other natural agents that are psychoactive in nature, which people take in order to feel “high”.  In some like zakami, zamarke, and ci-da- zugu, the seeds are swallowed, ground and taken to produce the desired effect.  Others like paw – paw leaves and zamalo are smoked.  All these produce effects that can sometimes be compared with that of marijuana.  In the olden days we can also remember ruwan tinya, and perfumes like lawanta and habanita.

CHAPTER FOUR

ABUSE, DEPENDENCE; THE PERTINENT QUESTIONS

Substance abuse sometimes leads to dependence and with that come a variety of consequences, especially but not only the individual. Whether soft or hard drugs, the implications are enormous.  Let us take a look at problem.

What Are the Criteria for Substance Abuse?

An individual can be said to be abusing drugs if he/she uses soft drugs (legal) without Doctor’s prescription, drugs like Valium, piriton, multivitamins, and antibiotics. He /she is abusing drugs if he/she is taking hard drugs (illegal) like cocaine, marijuana, heroin etc.

–         The individual indulges in recurrent substance use in situations, which endangers his life.  Like driving while drunk, operating dangerous machinery etc.

–         The individual will as a result of continuous use, fail to meet his role obligations at work, at school or at home.

–         The individual will continue to break the law and face legal action continuously, e.g. arrest for traffic offences, disorderly conduct etc.

–         The individual continues use of the substance despite having social problems, e.g. rejection by parents and relations, fighting with spouse, maltreating children et – cetera

When all these apply on an individual, he can be said to abuse drugs.  People who abuse drugs are in danger of dependence on those drugs as all the substance called drugs are psychoactive, meaning habit forming.

What Does It Mean To Be Substance Dependent?

When one becomes dependent on the use of a substance, he/she cannot do without such substance and can go to any length to acquire it.  The major indications of dependence on a substance include:

1. Tolerance – if the users body becomes used to the substance, it will sooner than later demand more to offer the same service. If for example one takes one tablet of valium to sleep during the day so he could read in the night, there will come a time when he must use two tablets before his body will respond, and this continues until he takes such a large dose that becomes a serious medical problem for him.  It is important also to note that the drug’s effect keep diminishing with more use.
2. Withdrawal Syndrome – a person who is dependent on a drug finds it extremely difficult to withdraw from the habit. Whenever he tries to quit or he is forced to quit his body will respond violently.  He will get very sick, be trembling, exhibit dryness, (dehydration) and other symptoms.
3. Another point is the increase in the quantity of substance one consumes. This also tells on the resources of the substance dependent individual, and if he does not have the resources, he will find it by all means.
4. A substance dependent person always thinks of quitting or cutting down, hoping that “this will be my last dose, I will stop next week, or after the examination” but is always unsuccessful.
5. The substance dependent person spends a lot of time looking for and obtaining the substance. He could spend a long time driving, not doing any other productive work, and even when he successfully stops taking them, he spends a long time trying to recover from its negative effects.
6. It can also be observed that important social, occupational or recreational activities like birthdays, gatherings, work hours, holidays etc cetera are given up or reduced considerably, as result of substance use.
7. The person continues use of the substance despite knowledge of the problem involved e.g. those who take cocaine know it induces depression, those who take alcohol know that it causes liver and heart problems, and those who smoke know that it breeds tuberculosis.

The above listed items prove that substance dependence is an abnormal sickness, which must be avoided.  So what are the easiest signs to look out for when looking for substance dependent persons?

The Signs

1. Possession of substance related items like rolling papers, pipes, and butane torches, small decongestant torches.
2. Odor of substance – Alcohol smells terribly and even tom – tom, sweets or other cover up scents cannot mask its odor. Some others smoke cigarettes after smoking marijuana to cover up its odor.
3. Some people are openly identified with the drug culture, the kind of magazines they read, the slogans they use, the conversation they prefer and even their jokes are on drugs and addicts.
4. Drunkenness – The impact of the substance can give them away, for instance an alcohol always has slurred speech, he has difficulty in walking straight.
5. Physical deterioration – An abuser of drug is bound to have memory lapses, and poor concentration as the sensori-motor co-ordination, which is the communication between the brain and the parts of the body becomes very weak and delayed. One also has unhealthy appearance and red eyes.
6. Behavior changes – An abuser of drugs manifests violence, beating up those younger than them, destroying things at the slightest provocation, some even beat up their parents. They are also very secretive, their motivation and energy are grossly reduced, they sleep very long and abnormal hours, they are very dishonest and they are prone to accidents.
7. Work/School Performance – The person loses interest in what he should be doing, absents himself for no reason, is not able to carry out his assignments and exams, and does this persistently.  At the end, he drops out of school or is retrenched from work.

From the beginning, how does one start taking these substances? What stage must one go through in order to be considered as drug dependent person?

The Stages

Primary Stage – This is the curiosity stage, most young people who take drugs do so as a result of curiosity.  When they do, the drug repulses some.   Alcohol is bitter and smells bad, marijuana and tobacco induce headache, so they drop it, while others still experiment further, probably due to peer pressure.  Mostly, the substance is given to the victim free.  He does not have to purchase it himself.

Secondary – When the experimenter continues use, the effects of tolerance of the drug will emerge and he will purchase his own drugs and subsequently establish and maintain his own supplies.  In this stage, the victim no longer feels shy to use the substance, especially tobacco and alcohol, which are accepted cultures in some parts of the country.  It graduates into abuse as some smoke up to a packet a day or more, or consume a whole carton of beer at one sitting.  Those who moke marijuana, do it mostly at social gathering of youths, football matches, parties, youth festivals, or in specific trades like Okada or express (commercial motorcyclists).

 Tertiary – This is the level of dependence, where the victim cannot do without the drug.  Labourers who use ICD or other performance enhancing drugs before they work must use it to work.  Otherwise they can’t.  The social consideration for the victim like job, family and even food becomes secondary.  The victim needs serious help or he loses his life or becomes mad.

 Why Do People Engage In Substance Abuse?

 Many explanations can be proffered on why someone would engage in substance abuse.  As noted earlier it never starts as an abuse, it grows into an abuse.  In fact most victims starts by having sincere intentions of a one-off use the substance but end up caged.

Some of these reasons include:

1. Mental alertness – some drugs are taken by students to enable them read for exams. Drugs like E and P tablets are to deter one from sleeping so that one can study TDB – till daybreak.  Other drugs like Valium induce sleep so that one can use the time of wakefulness later for study.  Some students take Nescafe or kola nut for the same purpose. 

2. Pleasure – When celebrating, people drink. This is referred to as ‘social drinking’ with the availability of free drinks, some people over-drink, and subsequently get hooked on alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes.  The same goes for kola nut.  In the present day, cocaine and heroin are consumed at high profile parties.  Some victims get initiated here. 

3. Pain Relief – Manual laborers, who work long hours, resort to the use of analgesics, stronger ones subsequently. Primarily in order to relieve pain and aches related to their jobs.  This starts from the likes of panadol to panadol extra and it gradually translates into bigger drugs like ICD, which not only masks the pains but permits longer work hours, which ultimately means bigger pay packet, but gradually becomes a real big problem.

4. Pressure – This can be either social, emotional or from one’s peers. In today’s life, stress has proven to be a major problem.  People take drugs in order to reduce its impacts.  Other problems like anxiety and frustration, also lead to drug abuse, for females there is anxiety about marriage, divorce, child bearing etc, frustration can come as a result of unemployment, ejection from accommodation, loss of spouse, parents et cetera.  Pressure can also come from peers who refuse to identify with a friend who does not engage in substance abuse.

5. Sports – Sports men and women use different methods to enhance their performance in sports. Steroids are the drugs used to do this.  Some drugs mask pain, others enhance strength, others permit longer hours of activity.  At the end, all the methods lead to dependence and failure.

6. Ignorance – it has been recorded that ignorance leads to drug abuse, some people believe it is safe, especially the therapeutic drugs like panadol Taking these without Doctors prescription can be dangerous. 

7. Unbelief – Some just refuse to believe that a drug is dangerous.  Some youths decide to take marijuana and refuse to stop even in the face of advice.  They believe, people do not want them to enjoy their life, until they become mad or end up as thieves, armed robbers or thugs.

8. Stubbornness – Some people are downright stubborn and will continue to use it even though they know and believe it is dangerous.

Other Factors that Lead To Drug Abuse

1. The desire to succeed and achieve at all costs makes one to copy wrong traits.
2. Social pathologies like unemployment and deprivation.
3. The get rich quick syndrome.
4. Mass media adverts on drugs
5. Parents/siblings drug use habit.
6. Open marketing of drugs.

How Are Drugs Taken?

–         Some drugs are ingested orally like those that are tablets, liquid or gaseous.  This includes alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana;

–         Some are injected into the blood stream through intravenous injections-this accounts for the 2^nd major transmission route of HIV infection after sex.

–         Snorting and mucosal exposure-snuff, cocaine, heroin

–         Inhaling-sprays (aerosol) solution, blue, petrol etc.

            Major Terminal Point of Substances in the Body

All substances have negative impact on very important organs of the body.

1. The Stomach – The stomach lining is destroyed by alcohol. That is why most drinkers end up getting ulcer.  All other drugs that are ingested orally like tablets also impact on the stomach.
2. The nose – the lining of the nose is damaged by drugs that are sniffed like tobacco, cocaine and heroin.
3. Eyes – Alcohol and most other drugs also effect the colour of the eye and ultimately impair eyesight. This also leads sometimes to blindness.
4. Kidney – the kidney is poisoned by alcohol abuse. This leads to kidney failure, the kidney no longer performs its statutory function and the victim dies.
5. Heart – weakness of the heart, heart attacks, high blood pressure, breathing problems, injected drugs enter the blood stream directly.
6. Lungs – lung damage, lung cancer, bronchitis, tuberculosis, pneumonia. These are caused by smoking of hemp, cigarettes, heroin etc.
7. Brain – Drugs ultimately damage brain cells, the abuser exhibit trembling body, short memory and slow mental coordination, drugs lead to mental problems like psychosis, schizophrenia etc, in short madness.
8. Liver – The liver, which is a store and detoxifier, finds it difficult to continuously digest alcohol and other drugs ultimately it develop symptoms like cirrhosis, hepatitis and liver cancer.
9. Death – The body organ collapse at any time and that means sudden death from any of the mentioned drugs. It should be remembered that drug abuse could also cause death by taking more than the necessary dosage of the drugs.

Dangers of Self Medication

 Self – medication is widespread today.  Many people prefer to treat themselves for diseases that recur very frequently, like malaria, diarrhea, stomach ache, and body pain.  The ‘quine’ family is available any time for malaria as tetracycline, flagyl and buscopan are available for stomach related ailments.  Others do not treat themselves for diseases, but use the therapeutic drug for other purposes like physical strength for work, or for increased ‘macho’

The impact of all these translate into drug abuse.  These therapeutic drugs are meant to be prescribed by medical personnel.  They are not meant for personal use.  This abuse or misuse as other would prefer to call it is fraught with many dangers.  The drugs purchased may be fake, or expired, they can be inappropriately applied, there is a strong possibility of reaction on the user or even danger of overdose. There is also the issue of unqualified drug hawkers who may not even know a drug has expired.  Infact there could be a multitude of short and long term effects.  It has become common today for hospitals to make culture and sensitivity tests for a disease with more than ten drugs in vain.  This is because the body has grown resistant to the drugs and so a patient may die of any human infection.

The prevalence of this misuse extends to all sectors of society.

–         Prostitutes wrongly use ampicillin, ampiclox, and gentamycin as security against sexually transmitted infections.

–         Farmers and labourers use drugs like ICD, indocid, buta, seven powers, panadol extra etc.

–         Most other people use multivitamins, which they believe can be taken without any danger.  Others even mix drugs and take them together, drugs like indomethacin, paracetamol and buta, for pain relief and hallucination.

The Consequences of Substance Abuse

Substance abuse leads to a variety of consequences both to the individual and to the society. More often than not, people realize the dangers and drop the habit but others continue and end up dependent on such substances.  Whether the drugs are ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ the consequences of their misuse are grave and wide-ranging.

1. Economic Loss – The society as a whole incurs huge financial loss as a result of substance abuse and its consequences of crime, mental derailment et cetera. Taxpayer’ money is used to finance special law enforcement.  In Nigeria, NDLEA and NAFDAC had to be set up and gulp millions of Naira every year.  Even trials and incarceration gulps a lot by the justice Ministry, the police and prison services.  Treatment, rehabilitation and other medical emergencies are another drainpipe.  Thousand of drug dependent people are treated and cared for at the society’s expense.  The countering of the associated negative social repercussions of the abuse or the effort to stem the flow of illegal drugs is enormous.  All the finances involved could have gone to building a road, another school, hospital or give employment for people in the society.
2. Drug – Related Mortality – Every year, thousand of lives are lost to substance abuse. Alcohol has been known to account for a substantial number of deaths through vehicle accidents.  Infact, some reports have it that nearly half of all traffic fatalities are alcohol related.  It is pertinent to mention also that substance overdose accounts for a substantial number of deaths every year.  Others die through sexually transmitted diseases especially those abusers that share needles.  They end up with HIV, which they spread to their colleagues.  Other abusers die of diseases, like tuberculosis, hepatitis and endocardiasis, suicide is another aspect of drug-abuse mortality, and many drug dependent people commit suicide at the slightest emotional depression.  Even murder had been exacerbated by drug abuse.  Armed robbers mostly abuse drugs before their operations in which they kill innocent people.  Others kill even their beloved wives, children, parents or friend because of the impact of drugs they abuse.  It has been reported how children get hold of automatic guns and open fire in classrooms killing their classmates and teachers or someone killing his whole household before killing himself. 

3. Sexually risky practices – individuals who abuse drugs have the potential to indulge in sexually risky behavior especially alcohol abusers engage in unprotected sex and they are more likely to select high risk STD sex partners. Infact they are more likely to have sex with multiple partners. So the risk of getting an STD infection is very high, even higher is the danger of HIV infection, which can be spread faster by drug abusers. The cost of HIV/AIDS epidemic today is a societal burden that could have been transferred to a more productive use. Unwanted pregnancy could result from drug abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome in which babies are born deformed, miscarriages, restricted fetal growth, the threat of abortion and maternal and child mortality all have a strong impact on the society.

4. Medical Complications – The health of a drug user is almost certainly at risk. The possibility of a substance abuser falling ill is very high.  Various substances that are inhaled, ingested, huffed, injected or smoked have dangerous consequences on various organs of the body.  The heart, liver, lungs, kidney, pancreas and others.  A full discussion on this can be found at ‘Their terminal points’, earlier in this chapter.

5. Psychiatric and Neurological Impairments – A lot of people who abuse drugs end up as ‘mad’ or ‘ crazy’ people who parade the streets naked. A person known to have been intelligent who could have turned out very successful professional ends up sleeping on trash and living on dead animals and other unthinkable inedibles, his only companions being jeering children.  Substance abuse-related automobile accidents can also lead to paralysis. 

6. Delinquency and Criminal Behavior – People who abuse drugs do not have regard for law, order and constituted authority. They also do not have regard for the rights of others.  When taking drugs crosses the threshold of common sense, every abuser can exhibit criminal tendencies.  The surge of armed banditry in Nigerian can be easily ascribed to the abundant supply of drugs and other substances.  People are no longer safe even to walk the major streets, because they could be mugged.  People sleep in cages to be safe from armed robbers, on the roads, when traveling, at home, when walking the pavements or even staying in one’s shop in the market, one is no longer safe.  The real culprit is the drug that permits these criminals to operate without sensitivity or fear.

7. Impulsivity, Alienation and Psychological Distress – Any abuser subjects himself to being impulsive in his relations with others, he prefers to be secluded from the public and has to suffer from depression. This in itself could lead to dementia, which could in turn lead to suicide.

8. Developmental Problems – the use of these substances could deter one from completing the tasks of adolescence and transiting into adulthood, a drug abuser cannot effectively date a partner, may never marry, because no one wants a substance dependent spouse. So one cannot consider fathering children in marriage and raising them.  Substance dependent persons cannot establish a career and cannot build rewarding personnel relationships.  Both his intellectual and emotional growth would have been hindered.

CHAPTER FIVE

 FACTS AND FIGURES

 (1)      A Total of 2781 arrests were made at the Nations ports of entry for Drug peddling offences. Over 318,000 kilograms of drugs were seized in the year 2001 alone, while 955 Traffickers were convicted in the year 2001 (NDLEA)

(2)      In 1989, there were 50,000 Drug Addicts In Nigeria.  These are untreated and un-rehabilitated.  The estimated figure for 2000 was 500,000. There is still no program for their treatment or their rehabilitation.

(3)      Cigarette brands were introduced in 1913, while links between smoking and cancer emerged in 1954. Alcoholism was declared a disease the same year. Links between smoking and various health problem were confirmed in the US.

(4)      Alcohol abuse caused 46% of illnesses, 21% of premature deaths, 12% of medical expenses of government, 11% of other cost due to fire, motor accidents, social welfare etc., 9% of crime administrative cost and 1% cost of special conditions which  include HIV AIDS. Smoking of Tobacco gulps 58% of Medical expenditure, 36% of premature deaths and 6% of illnesses. Drug abuse also gulps 7% of medical expenses, 16% of illnesses, 15% of deaths, 4% of special conditions and 58% of the direct cost of crime administration.(NDLEA)

(5)      In Nigeria, there are 21 doctors to 100,000 citizens. Therefore 49% of the population does not have access to health care facilities. This reflects in infant mortality. 114 in every 1000 live births, an under 5 mortality rate of 191 per 1000 of live births, maternal mortality rate is 1% of live births. Adult literacy rate is 57.1% among 15-24 age group, average illiteracy rate is 28.8%, 37.5% female and 18 .6% male. (UNDCP) 

Alcohol And Road Accidents: (FRSC)

• Deaths as a result of drunken drivers average 100 per week
• 8mg/100ml alcohol in the blood (approximately 2 bottles of beer) the risk of road accident is 10 times what it would be if there is no alcohol.
• 12m/100ml of alcohol in the blood (3 bob) the risk of a road accident is 5 times what it would be otherwise.
• In Norway, auto injury was 5 times higher in drivers who took diazepam alone or combined with alcohol than in alcohol- free drivers.
• Marijuana has a strong carbon monoxide content, which is 3 times that of tobacco.
• Deaths from road accidents in 1995 were 6771 and in 1996/7 it was 12,000.
• Traffic fatalities per 1000 vehicles in Nigeria is about 3 times greater than in other African countries, and 60 times higher than European and American Countries.
• 43, 668 people had road accident injuries in 96/97.
• 1 out of 6 Drivers on the express is drunk
• About 7000 of 1997 fatalities involve alcoholic drivers and alcoholic pedestrians, 40% could be diagnosed even before  the accident.
• 3 out of 5 fatally   injured  drivers  had been drinking  and  60% of these had blood alcohol concentration above 0.19%.
• Most accidents occurred during weekends, highest drinking period. (parties and ceremonies ) In  Britain, more than 500 deaths  and 25,000 injuries  a year are caused   by drinking drivers  or pedestrians.
• In USA, more than 51% of all fatal motor accidents are caused  by drivers under the  influence of
• Problem drinkers are increasing at the  rate of 250,000  per year.
• In UK cost of Alcohol related accidents is 250 million pounds per year.
• Other drugs/medications which impair driving  ability  include Anti -histamines, Depressants,  anti-depressants, Narcotic analgesics, psychoactive agents. Etc.
• Heroin and Morphine lead  to highest rate of death from overdose than all other drugs. (NIDA)
• In 1975, 12,000 deaths were as a result of Drug abuse (NIDA)
• Barbiturates cause 18% of accident deaths and 6% of all suicides. (NIDA)
• 86% Marijuana smokers drink  regularly  (NCD)
• 55% of drug users combine sedatives with stimulants (NCD).
• Amphetamine and  other drugs (Control ) Decree 1968 was repealed  by   Food and Drugs Act 1974, which  in turn was repealed by NAFDAC Decree .
• Indian Hemp (Amdt.) Decree 34 of 1975, reduced penalties associated with the smoking  and unlawful   possession  of Indian Hemp. This resulted in significant increase in cases of drug offences.
• Special Tribunal (Amdt) 1984-1986 abolished capital punishment but provides for  illicit  export –20  years or less buying  , selling , exposing for sale etc 14 Years – or less and  between  2-10 Yrs for drug
• High rates of cannabis use were recorded  among drug  detainees 48% and for prison inmates 29% – UNDCP
• For street children it is 20%, Secondary School Students, 7.4%, student in Tertiary institutions  6 % -UNDCP.
• For Motor park touts. Cannabis use is 38%, commercial sex workers  27% and commercial  drivers 25%.
• On cannabis, Lambo (1965) found 18 cases of drug abuse (mainly cannabis , out of a total  of 4000 cases treated at the  Neuropsychiatric   Hospital , Aro Abeokuta between  (1954-1959)
• Asuni (1964) reported 13 cases of cannabis abusers out of 380 patients discharged from the psychiatric Hospital  Yaba in 1962. Other observations include.
• Boroffka (1966) in Lagos, Oviasu (1976) in Benin and Odejide and Sanda (1976) in Ibadan .
• The psychosocial correlates of Alcohol, cannabis and Tobacco use in Ilorin University, (Adelekan et al 1993) are peer influence, self reported poor mental health, religiosity, parental / guardian supervision, perceived availability   of substance, perceived harmfulness  of drug, male gender and self reported  difficulty with studies.
• Adelekan et al (1991) reported that substance consumption among University students are; – Salicylate analgesics 78%, alcohol 42%, stimulants 35%, hypnosedatives 18% and cigarette 11%.
• Abiodun et al (1992)  reported the substance consumption among secondary  school students  are ; – Salicylate analgesics 50% , alcohol 12%, stimulants 22% antibiotics  24% and  cigarette  4%

 –         Between 1993 and 1997, a total of 88, 174 accidents occurred on our roads.  Out of this, 30, 000 were fatal. NPF

–         During the same period, a total of 83, 948 people were injured from road accidents, while a total of 33, 997 people lost their lives. NPF

–         Also between 1993-1997 a total of 9,788 robbery cases occurred in Nigeria source – FOS.

A total of over four Million-Kilograms of cannabis has been destroyed in the operation Burn – The – Weed programme between 1994 and 1999 by the NDLEA.

–         High prevalence of the use of cannabis has been established for the following target groups: commercial sex workers, secondary school students, commercial drivers, tertiary school students, the unemployed and prison inmates.

–         As for benzodiazepines, patent medicine dealers, health care professionals, law enforcement agents and teachers are said to consume it mostly – UNDCP

–         Cannabis has also resulted in most hospital admissions in –Nigeria. The total is 1155 between 1994 – 99 while the highest age group for such admission is between 20 – 29, a total of 635! – UNDCP

–         Rural drug consumption is an average of about 45% of urban consumption.

–         Kano State has the highest Consumption rate for both cocaine and heroin, 37 and 127 respectively, out of a respondent population of 741 males, while the old Sokoto has the least with none! – UNDCP.

• Drug related murders in the US have declined yearly from 1367 in 1990 to 564 in 1999. FBI-uniform crime reports
• Drug induced deaths climbed steeply from 9463 in 1990 to 16,926 in 1998 – CDCP.
• Drug related arrests have declined since 1997 in the United States from almost 1.6 million in 1997 to a little more than 1.5 million in 1999 – FBI – UCR.
• Drug abuse violations and alcohol related arrests combined accounted for an estimated 31% of overall arrests in 1999 – UNDCP
• In order to break the link between drugs and crime, the criminal justice system must work with treatment agencies to decrease the demand for illegal drugs by providing substance abusers with the skills to become clean & sober –ONDCP
• Also in the US, the economic cost of drug abuse is on the increase yearly and in 1995 reached a peak of 110 billion dollars. NIDA and NIAAA
• In 2001, Americans spent a whopping 64 billion dollars to purchase illegal drugs.

CHAPTER SIX

 DRUGS AND CRIME

 Nigeria has been described as a major illicit drug and major money laundering country.  It is also seen as a country whose financial institutions engage in currency transactions involving significant amounts of proceeds from international narcotics trafficking.  This was contained in the International Narcotics Controls Board Report of 2001 – a publication of the US State of Department.

To a large extent, the chicken – egg relationship applies to drugs and crime.  Some believe that the proliferation of crime is a result of the availability and use of drugs.  It is also believed that drugs came as a result of crime, criminals need something to charge themselves with before their operations.

However, the focus of our discussion relates to how drugs impact on the commission of crime.  For the purpose of this work, crime will be discussed from two perspectives:

1. International Crime
2. Local Crime

The International crime refers to the crimes committed across international borders.  Since we are referring to the drug crime, we then by extension mean the trafficking of drugs as a criminal activity and money laundering.

Drug trafficking is the movement of drugs from one country to another with the purpose of distribution and subsequent sale to consumers from a drug producing country to a drug consuming country sometimes via a transit country.

The drug barons, their paramilitary forces, organizers, couriers and nocturnal sales outlets form the body of drug traffickers.  As a multimillion-dollar business, drug trafficking attracts its staff very easily, what with unemployment and poverty all over the place.  The couriers are the ones we hear about every so often, arrested at airports or seaports and Seizures of hard drugs made from them.  Thousands of these couriers are in jail in Nigeria and almost all countries of the world.

It has been confirmed that 20% of women in British prisons are Nigerians who were arrested either as couriers or as peddlers, while in holloway prisons alone, 50% of women are Nigerians.  In 1994, 50 million pounds worth of drugs were seized at Heathrow Airport in London.  The same statistics exist for many countries of Europe, Asia and the Americas.  The condition of these jailed Nigerians is pathetic.  Once they are arrested, they refuse to make contact with their families back in Nigeria, for the shame it involves.  They remain there until the expiration of their jail terms before coming home.  While in jail, some of them deliver babies and some are arrested with children, which ultimately have to be taken to foster homes.  Sometimes, the parents or children die.  If the parents die, the children end up without family and grow up with no roots back in Nigeria.  It is a sad picture indeed.  Government in Nigeria has shown a lot of concern for the notoriety of its citizens in the drug trade.  It has decreed that any drug trafficker jailed abroad will return home for the second leg of his prison sentence in Nigeria from a minimum of five years.  Before that law came into being, which has been referred to as double jeopardy, pictures of convicts in foreign jails were produced in posters and advertised in Newspapers and Magazines to deter new entrants.  All these, coupled with other stringent measures initiated by the NDLEA have gone a long way in reducing the tempo of drug peddling.

The humiliation Nigerians undergo at foreign Airports is a result of this scenario.  An eighty-year-old man in subjected to a dehumanizing search; same goes for a baby of a few months.  This is because, there are times when arrests are made of people who ingest drugs sometimes up to 50 sachets, or capsules of cocaine or heroin, by children, or old people, at other times dead bodies are ripped open and loaded with drugs.  Holy books have been torn in order to load drugs in them.  Infact some couriers have died due to the leaking of the drugs in their bodies and so – on and so forth.  The truth is, we cannot blame the countries for treating us bad, and we should rather do something to stop our citizens from spoiling our good name everywhere.  There are thousands of Nigerians doing legitimate business all over the world; others are University lecturers, Doctors, Engineers and the like.  These people and tourists who feel wealthy enough to take their families for a treat abroad are the subject of these insults.

The drug trade has blossomed over the years and Nigerian criminal barons have established firmly in the producing countries, the transit countries and the consuming countries to manage what to them is legitimate business. The producing states are Bolivia, Columbia and Peru for cocaine.  While opium, comes from what is known as ‘the golden triangle’ of Burma, Thailand and Laos, and the ‘Golden crescent’ of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Nigerians have a transit country in Nigeria to bring the drugs in, and re-direct them to other consumer countries.  This is because, the consumer countries had targeted the producers, and had put stringent checks on whatever comes from them.  The traffickers are reported to have resorted to even more complex routes using fake and multiple documents as well as multiple couriers.

Other ways of trafficking include the use of postal services and couriers services which are mailed as mail-parcels from one end but carry drugs which are comfortably received without hassle at the other end.  NIPOST is now more conscious and greatly assisting in this regard.

The NDLEA has been trying very hard to arrest the situation, and they have succeeded to a large extent, as today their efforts have resulted in the increased use of the neighboring cities and countries, rather than Nigerian cities.

It is also noteworthy that drug barons involve themselves in narco-terrorism in order to fight law enforcement agencies or their competitors.  Sometime they apply terrorism just to instill group discipline among their members.  They have their Para-military fighting units, well equipped with modern weapons and drugged enough to be inhuman and insensitive.  Drug trade is a monster.  Sometimes they sponsor candidates for elections in some countries so that their activities can be allowed to flourish unhindered, where they succeed, narcocracies are established.

Drug trafficking cartels exist in many countries, and because of their existence, other crimes of international dimension proliferated.  The principal among these is money laundering, which the drug dealers have applied in order to ‘cleanse’ the drug money, legalize and then use it.  Another is prostitution; most of the prostitutes of Nigerian origin that are found in other countries were usually taken there with drug money.  It is noteworthy that a lot of these prostitutes are forced to use drugs, and some even end up as street peddlers of drugs.

Among the illicit international trades associated with trafficking of drugs is smuggling which by itself is a serious crime.   Another is forgery, most of the passports used by couriers and the visas on them are forged.  That explains why the courier can travel with more than one passport at any given time.  Another is the advance fee fraud, which has been fingered to source money to start a drug trafficking/trade.  Yet another is credit card fraud.  This last problem has forced European banking system to subject Nigerians to weird enquiries before opening an account for them.

The fact remains that any country that allows itself to be used for the trafficking of drugs will ultimately be disenfranchised by the international community, especially by countries that suffer most from the problem.  Our erstwhile decertification by the U.S. is a result of this precedence.  Certification is a potent weapon used by the U.S. to ensure that governments abide by the provisions of UN conventions.  As the strongest country in the world, with veto power at the United Nations Security Council, and a huge, vulnerable population, the country through its financial assistance act empowers its president to

“Certify annually” that each major drug producing or transmit country has cooperated fully or has taken adequate steps to meet the goals of the UN drug convention of 1988, including rooting out public corruption.  Any country that falls short of this act will lose military and development assistance and a ‘no’ vote on loans in six multilateral development banks”

So far, the Nigerian government has shown strong political will in this regard.  An Anti-Corruption Commission was set up with wide ranging powers to checkmate corruption in public life, another effort is the support of Act 33, 1990 that was described as double jeopardy for drug traffickers. The Act provides that they spend an extra five years in jail (minimum) on their return from jail sentences abroad. In November of 2000, four fugitives were extradited to U.S. by the federal government to face narcotic-related charges. Two of these have been on the U.S. presidents list of significant foreign narcotic traffickers.

Because of the position Nigeria has found herself, in negative light, it has over the years also cooperated with various other countries in order to control the drug crime.  She has signed memorandum of understanding with other countries sharing the same problem.  These include; Uganda, U.S.A, Russia Iran, Britain etc.   Nigeria is also involved in a joint task force with USDEA to assist each other in the area of sharing of information between them and NDLEA on drug offenders to expedite arrests. The  USDEA is also helping  NDLEA  in developing competence in drug and drug related money laundering investigations.

The UN international drug control program (UNDCP) resident in Nigeria has done a lot and still doing more.  So far, hundreds of thousands of US Dollars has been spent by the organization to assist NGO’s in executing their programs in fighting drug abuse and rehabilitating it victims.  It has also helped NDLEA and NAFDAC to strengthen their capacity, and execute their mandates better.

MONEY LAUNDERING         

Drug traffickers and other criminals of international disrepute; launder the proceeds of their illegal activities in order to spend them legally.  Money laundering is used to disguise the origins of these illegal moneys.  Drug trafficking, a very lucrative venture has embraced money laundering and perfected it through the following stages.

1. Placement – This involves the placing of these funds into financial institutions through deposits and transfers.
2. Layering – They also layer the transactions one over another, until the original source is missing.

• Integration – This is when illegal funds finally lose their original background and become legal.

In Nigeria, many car dealers, high tech equipment dealers, electronic dealers have been fingered for drug dealings.  All these may still be benign but in other countries, these funds provide fuel for terrorists, illegal arms deals, high profile corruption and other crimes to operate and expand.

Money laundering is also carried out through currency exchange houses, stock brokerage houses, gold dealers, casinos, automobile dealership, insurance companies and trading companies.  Money launderers invest where their businesses are less likely to be detected rather than where they will make profit.

As a result of the preponderance of money laundering, Heads of States and Government of G7 in July 1989 set up the Financial Action Task force to tackle financial aspects of drug trafficking.  It is also to assess the results of cooperation already undertaken in order to prevent the utilization of the banking system and financial institutions for the purposes of money laundering and to consider additional preventive efforts in this field including the adaptation of legal and regulatory systems so as to enhance multilateral judicial assistance.  In West Africa, as in other regions, an Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering (GIABA) was established just five months after FATF in order to actualize its statutes.

CONSEQUENCES OF DRUG TRAFFICKING

The production, trafficking, distribution, abuse and control of drugs are associated with many problems, political, social, economic and health.

1. Production, trafficking and distribution of illicit drugs lead to the employment of violence to protect the trade against law enforcement agents, competitors and to discipline members. It also leads to terrorism which has now been tagged narco-terrorism which could be used to intimidate people into electing narco-cratic governments (government of drug barons for drug barons)
2. Drug trade is associated with extremely large profits which is laundered into economy, this has serious negative repercussions as it distorts economic and development planning and leads to ultimate devaluation of currency and failure of monetary policies leaving the national economy in the doldrums.
3. The problem causes loss of social and mental competence in the society, family disintegration, neighborhood and community disorganization, spread of diseases.
4. Diversion of resources from productive and social development sector to law enforcement, security, medical and rehabilitation and justice identified with drug trafficking and abuse.
5. Trafficking and distribution helps breed bribery and corruption in high places, which ultimately affects the implementation of policy.
6. Nigerian citizens are constantly harassed and subjected to uncivilized searches on their persons whenever they leave their country. That comes after scaling the hurdle of visa application.

LOCAL CRIME

Crime was seen by some researchers in terms of its being conventional or unconventional.  The latter covers what today we refer to as international crime, crimes like drug trafficking, advance fee fraud, smuggling, money laundering and so forth.  While the former are mostly carried out against the laws of only one country.

Conventional crimes are broken into crimes of violence and acquisitive crimes.  Both crimes are exacerbated by the use of drugs; others include crimes against public order and crime against moral mores.

Crimes of violence require some kind of drug support in order to take place.  Virtually every armed robber uses drugs, these drugs give the criminals the hallucinogenic, stimulating back-up to destroy with insensitivity.

Drugs are surrounded by crime.  Their cultivation is crime, their manufacture or processing is crime, their transportation is crime, their distribution is crime and their consumption is crime.  At each stage, one could get jail sentences.  Beyond that, there is something in drugs that make users indulge in crime.  Principally, drugs affect the mood, thought and feeling of users.  The mood of the user can be unnaturally happy or sad which may ultimately affect his relationship with others.  It can affect his thoughts and relate to him that such a thing that he desires is attainable through use of brute force e.g. a woman he wants.  His feelings can be affected in such a way that the person he loves can become an object of hatred and harm and so forth.  These three areas lead the users decision and outlook to be warped and consequently he indulges in actions, which ultimately may be anti-social or even criminal.

Another perspective is that of affordability of the drugs.  Most drugs are not cheap and people who use them gradually become less productive.  Consequently, they come to a stage where they can no longer afford the drugs.  But because of its psychoactive nature they cannot stop it, so they create other ways of getting easy money to sustain the habit.  Pilfering and theft graduate into robbery or misappropriation.

Crimes against public order, like prostitution, drunk driving which leads to traffic violations or accidents, secret cult are all shrouded in the cloak of drug use.  Others like hired assassins and thugs are known to use drugs.  It is then important to note that a significant percentage of the criminal cases we have daily are a result of drug use and a lot of more as a consequence of the drug trade.  People from all classes use drugs male or female, the rich and poor, young and old et cetera.

It is very pertinent to note that drugs fuel the activities of thugs and groups of destructive youths who go by different names; area boys in the south, ‘yan daba in the north.  Their existence to a large extent is a result of a complex of dynamics of socio economic depravation and challenges faced by the youth of sprawling urban centres and large cities.  The coercion, persuasive requests, the petty crimes, and sometimes violent offences by these youths to acquire resources in the generally over crowded areas of the city and even on traffic jammed expressways and streets has become an unending problem.  The drugs used by these youths are mostly inhalants as they cannot afford hard drugs.  They only get to use hard drugs as they progress in the trade; most of them end up later as armed robbers.  Some of them have become sadists and rapists who maim their victims for minor reasons.  Drugs are the main fuel for their delinquent and subsequent criminal activity.  These children start taking drug at very tender ages of 7-8 years old and graduate to other serious drugs as they grow.

Other groups whose activities are closely associated with drugs are the secret cults.  it is generally believed that many higher institutions of learning in Nigeria have the problem.  It is believed about forty-one (41) cult groups exist in Nigerian institution of higher learning.  They are shrouded in secrecy and are only manifested after arrests at initiations or after incidences of violence in which many Nigerian students have lost their lives over time.

INTIMATE VIOLENCE

Another aspect of crime, which is exacerbated by drugs, is intimate violence.  This involves the abuse of wives, children, house helps, boy friend – girl friends etc.  Intimate violence can take the form of murder, rape, sexual assault, robbery and other forms of assaults.

Many drug abusers have taken to intimate violence as a form of catharsis.  People who drink alcohol, cannabis, cocaine or heroin especially have turned violent after taking the substances; it is generally believed that it affects the moods, thoughts and feelings of a person.  The drugs sometimes depress the user and make him feel rejected and unloved by his spouse.  At other times his children are seen as disrespecting him because of his behaviour.  At extreme instances, men who abuse drugs are reported to rape their daughters and house girls and sodomize their sons.  Many wives have fallen victim of acid attacks by their husbands, especially when they threaten to leave.  Many others have been killed.  Infact there are reports of whole families being killed by the drug victim, while he also kills himself afterwards.  Suicide is a common crime associated with drug abuse.

Drug abuse has also led to breakage of marriages, and there are reports that women, who are left with the burden of child bearing, end up using drugs themselves to drown the weight of the problems associated with the responsibility.  Sometimes, they meet with undesirable elements and join mainstream crime or become drug dependent.  Intimate violence then is a direct consequence of drug abuse.

Our societies must ensure that the problem of drugs is rooted out completely; otherwise, we will at one time pay back by witnessing terror and insecurity amongst ourselves.  The preponderance of arson, thuggery, gangsterism, armed banditry and wanton looting coupled with the prevalent ethnic and religious upheavals will to a large extent be seen as the result of drug abuse.

CHAPTER SEVEN

PUBLIC ENLIGHTENMENT EFFORTS

Various organizations saddled with responsibility on the drug cause have done a lot to convince people not to get involved with dangerous substances.  Public Enlightenment is one such method, and there is no better way to enlighten than by pictures.  Living pictures, each of which tells a full story.  A picture, it is said, is worth a thousand words.

Attractive pictures are by far the fastest means of communication especially among youths.  Youths are the same everywhere.  A youth in the US relishes pictures as well as that of Nigeria.  There is therefore a great need to review the sketch posters being employed by the enlightenment agencies.  It is not out of place to relate the behaviour of Nigerian youths in their appreciation of music, fashion and the drug culture, it therefore follows that as much as we believe our youth are not well exposed, they have taken full advantage of the communication explosion which has made the world a global village.

The following pictures are the particular efforts of some websites maintained by the UNDCP – office of National Drug Control Program of the United States Government.  The websites include: www.mediacampaign.or; www.freevibe.com; www.theantidrug.comm. Please relish the messages and take heed.

CHAPTER EIGHT

RELIGION AND DRUGS

It is instructive to note that religion abhors taking substances which can intoxicate, and which can lead to people losing their sense.  The prominent religions that are followed in Nigeria are Islam and Christianity, and they both say no to drugs.

Islam and Drugs

During the lifetime of the Holy Prophet [SAW], the only intoxicants available where the alcohol-type.  The modern day cocaine, heroin and the arrival of synthetic drugs are a new introduction to which Modern Jurists have to give a modern definition in Islam.  Some of these drugs are appearing well over a thousand years after Hijra.

The Holy Quran strictly prohibits all intoxicants in chapter 5vs 90-91. Allah said:

“O you who believe! Truly intoxicants and gambling and divination by arrows are an abomination of Satan’s doing.  Avoid it in order that you might be successful.  Assuredly Satan desires to sow enmity and hatred among you with intoxicants and gambling and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and from salat.  Will you not then desist?”

It is clear that the verses speak on the negative impact of intoxicants as the breaking of relationship and ensuring enmity and hatred in addition to the harm they do to man’s soul by causing him to neglect his religious obligations.

Prophet Muhammad himself has made statements, which can refer directly to substances of abuse, rather than only alcohol.  In the following hadith [tradition] The Prophet has taken further elucidation to the above-mentioned verses of the Holy Quran.

“Every intoxicant is Khamr and every Khamr is haram’ [prohibited] –reported by Muslim.

‘Of that, which intoxicates in a large amount, a small amount is haram.[Prohibited]” Ahmed, Abu Daoud, Tirmidhi

“If a bucket intoxicates, a sip of it is haram”        Ahmed, Abu Daoud, Tirmidhi.

The rightly guide caliphs that took over after the demise of the Holy Prophet also acted in like manner.  Umar bn Khattab, the 3^rd caliph of Islam said from the pulpit of the Holy Prophet;

“Khamr is that which befogs the mind”. Reported by Bukhari and Muslim.

“Truly, Allah has cursed Khamr and has cursed the one who produces it, the one for whom is produced, the one who drinks it, the one who serves it, the one who carries it, the one for whom it is carried, the one who sells it, the one who earns from the sale of it, the one who buys it and the one for whom it is bought.” Tirmidhi, Ibn Maja.

“Whoever believes in Allah and last day must not sit at a table at which Khamr is consumed.”          Ahmed and Tirmidhi.

Umar bn Abdulaziz, a renown 2^nd generation caliph of Islam ordered the flogging of people who were at a drinking party, but were not drinking; one of them was even fasting, but was flogged.  Umar’s reason?

“And he has revealed to you in the book that when you hear the revelation of Allah rejected and mocked, you are not to sit with them until they turn to some other theme, for if you do so, you will be like them…” [Quran 4:140].

Alcohol not a medicine

Some people are of the belief that intoxicants may have some medicinal value and can therefore be taken as medicine.  The prophet of Islam had said in relation of this;

‘It is not a medicine but a disease’ reported by Muslim, Abu Daoud, Ahmed and Tirmidhi.

‘Allah has sent down the disease and the cure, and for every disease there is a cure, so take medicine but do not use anything haram as medicine’ – Abu Daoud

Ibu Mas’ ud said – Allah has not made a cure for you in what he has prohibited to you.

Other Drugs.

Umar bn Khattab had said ‘Khamr’ is what befogs the mind.

Therefore, Allah and his messengers prohibit any substance, which has the effect of befogging or beclouding the mind, impairing its faculties of thought, perception and discernment.  This covers marijuana, cocaine, opium and other psychoactive and psychotropic substances.  Earlier Muslim jurists were unanimous in prohibiting those drugs, which were found during their time.  Sheikh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was one such example. He had said.

“The solid grass (hashish) is haram, whether or not it produces intoxication.  Sinful people smoke it because they find that it produces rupture and delight, an effect similar to drunkenness.  While wine makes the one who drinks it active and quarrelsome, hashish produces dullness and lethargy; furthermore, smoking it disturbs the mind and temperament, excites sexual desire and leads to shameless promiscuity and these are greater evils than those caused by drinking.  The punishment for smoking hashish, a small or large amount of it, is the same as that for drinking wine, that is eighty or forty lashes’  Fatwa Ibn Taymiyyah, vol. 4p.262f.

A general rule of shariah is that it is haram for the Muslim to eat or drink anything, which may cause his death, either quickly or gradually, such as poisons, or substances, which are injurious to health or harmful to the body.  As Allah [SWT] has said in 4:29.

“And do not kill yourselves, indeed, Allah is ever merciful to you”

And do not be cast into ruin by your own hands [2:195].  These are clear evidences for the prohibition of all psychoactive and psychotropic substances in Islam and the stipulated punishment in the shariah for anyone who drinks alcohol is eighty lashes.

Christianity and Drugs

Though there is no mention of specific alcoholic drink and tobacco in the Bible, God’s view on the issue are clear enough.  We have wine and strong drinks as well as intoxication forbidden in the bible.  The following bible passages specifically forbid priests from drinking wine and strong drink.

Leviticus 10:9, Numbers 6:3, Ezekiel 44:21, Luke 1:15.  As children of God, obedience is very important in our relationship with God (Deuteronomy 8:2.)  The attributes of a drunkard are given as woe, sorrow, contention, babbling, wounds without cause and redness of eyes (Proverbs 32:29-31).  The same bible passage went on to say that wine in the end “biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder”.  Proverbs 23:32, “wine and strong drinks are not for Kings and Princes”.  Proverbs 31:4 and 5 “But it is for those that are ready to perish”.  Proverbs 31:6.  “Love of wine is an invitation to poverty”.  Proverbs 21:17 why then should somebody in his/her right senses inflict all such horrible things on himself/herself.

Furthermore, the bible places a curse on those who follow strong drink Isa 5:11,22, Isa 28:1,3-7.  That is why we are admonished not to be “drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but to be filled with the spirit”.  Ephesians 5:18, intoxication can lead to all sorts of vices as we have copious examples in the bible, some of which are Noah in Gen. 9:21, the incident led to the curse Noah put on the children of Ham, Gen. 9:25.  Lot in Gen. 19:32-35 committed incest with his own daughters under the influence of strong drink.  Absalom was able to revenge the defilement of his sister on Ammon after making him (Ammon) drunk, 11 Samuel 13:28and 29.

Medically, it has been proved that cigarette smoking is injurious to health.  Anybody who smokes does not love himself and two great commandments, which cover all the others, are to love God with all our hearts and the second is to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Luke 10:27, it can therefore be inferred that God wants us to love ourselves.  Anybody who loves himself would cherish his body, as our bodies are the temple of God and we are not to defile ourselves with cigarette as the bible says “if any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” 1 Corinthians 3:16&17.  God wants us to prosper and be in good health, even as our soul prospereth 3 John 2.  Anything, cigarette inclusive, that hinders our good health is not the will of God for us.

It is imperative therefore, for all to ensure that young people are not exposed to any intoxicant or any drug that can ruin their lives and are not exposed to any intoxicant or any drug that can ruin their lives and stop them from fulfilling the purposes for which they were created.  Parents must ensure good upbringing, teachers must ensure good training and the society, as a whole must check excesses in children and reward good behavior.  The society must also as part of its responsibility check wanton advertising of all drugs, the following passages from bible are a reference point.

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6.

‘A child left to himself brings shame to his mother’-Proverbs 29:15.

Scholars have cited the following as some of the factors that lead children into drug abuse and other bad behaviors;

Bad lifestyle of parents, sparing the rod, lack of adequate time for children, parents disagreement, unchecked curiosity of children, unhealthy comparison with other children, showing favoritism, inadequate provision, misapplication of reward and punishment, use of force instead of dialogue.

CHAPTER NINE

PREVENTION STRATEGIES

Substance abuse in Nigeria has attained epic proportions and therefore calls for urgent measures to forestall imminent epidemic. This can be done through:

(a)      Primary prevention in which all stake holders must participate,

(b)     Secondary prevention in which government through its law enforcement and medical institution must reduce the impact of the problem, and

(c)      Tertiary prevention in which government must help to treat and rehabilitate former dependents and put them into the community for necessary reintegration.

PRIMARY PREVENTION STRATEGY

Primary prevention strategy has a better chance of success because:

(a)      It targets the underlying causes of drug use and therefore has the greatest chance of success.

(b)     Over time, it will reduce the need for drug treatment which is in short supply and

(c)      Media campaign has more potential to affirm the anti-drug attitude of non- starters than to change the abuser.

The primary strategy is an admixture of moves by the stakeholders severally and collectively to checkmate abuse and dependence, they are therefore generally targeted at young people.

Government has a large role to play thus:

1. There is urgent need to sponsor studies on drug use and abuse in order to aid its policy formulation and be able to better direct control and prevention programs.
2. There is need to expand economic opportunities and social welfare services like jobs, shelter, social security among the populace and entrench a child welfare initiative which will solve the problem of street children ab-initio.
3. A preventive drug education must be embarked upon to enhance public enlightenment through a school based strategy that target peer groups, teachers and parents through PTA; the programme must also aim to curtail cult activities, National Anti-Drug Campaign which is sponsored every year, can include in its schedule, sponsoring of athletics and drug free sports.  26^th June of every year has been set aside as drug free day.
4. Releasing adequate subvention to regulatory bodies and licensing authorities to ensure success in compliance with government provisions on drug manufacture, distribution/ sale/ advertising use and abuse of illicit drugs. These organisations include- NMDA, PCN, NAFDAC, APCON and so on. Presently, they are operating under harsh environments and are always cash – strapped.
5. Empower NDLEA with more funds and training to enforce the law on the sale/ purchase, use and abuse of illicit substances and strengthen intelligence activities to access more offenders.
6. National Media Campaign to bring to the attention of the whole nation the epidemic nature of the drug problem and put clear, short but pungent massages to warn the populace on the dangers of involvement in drugs. Special television and radio programs especially drama, movies, music must be produced to draw attention. Print media like Newspapers and magazines, cartoon strips must to appropriately designed and widely produced. Bill boards and signboards must carry large portraits that warn on drug abuse. The Internet must also be used. Today a large number of enlightened youths have access to the Internet both at home or at cyber cafes, special websites can be created for Nigeria youths to communicate with government counselors and read about trends and dangers on-line. Youths must also be informed that they could go to jail for using drugs. Small media like calendars, posters, handbills and stickers must be supplied in droves to people especially commercial sex workers, manual labourers, drivers, school children, project workers and civil servants. APCON must ban adverts on illicit substances, which inundate our hearing from radio stations, billboards and also newspapers. They should then advertise dangers of all substances on such publications and boards. Presently tobacco adverts have been banned. APCON can design anti-drug campaign and advertise them as its own societal responsibility on drug abuse.
7. All potentially dangerous substances must carry serious warnings on their containers as done with cigarettes.  The smokers are liable to die young statement is very crucial.  Alcohol bottles too must contain alcohol is dangerous to your well being so must pressurized containers of solvents, solvents can kill instantly or other warnings must be inscribed.
8. Destruction of drugs: there is need to improve on the sighting and destruction of cannabis farms, which abound all over Nigeria. Thousand of hectares of farmland that grow cannabis have been located and destroyed. Surveillance aircraft must be provided to the NDLEA to be able to scan more areas. Also of importance is the large cache of drugs regularly seized at ports of entry into Nigeria made up of cocaine, heroine and others, including therapeutic but illegal pharmaceutical drugs. Government should continue with the destruction of such drugs and expedite action in doing so to avoid it getting into the wrong hands.
9. Law Enforcement- Government should widen its dragnet and arrest youths who use dangerous drugs in public and use intelligence information obtained from such arrest to trace back the origin of all drugs in circulation. This should not be difficult as every user has a supply chain leading back to the importer or producer. Government must therefore be more committed by providing the needs of the enforcement agency NDLEA.
10. Establishment of research institutes to ensure continuity in research efforts that will regularly feed government with information for the formulation of policy. These institutes will serve as drug clearing house in the country where all information concerning drugs can be accessed. Today only CRISA helps in this regard

Community Role

Government cannot work in isolation; it does not have the resources to do so anyway. That is why the society must participate if the drug problem is to be solved once and for all.

1. The role of parents- parents exert a critical influence on their children especially young ones, so parents must talk to their children about dangerous hurdles they will have to cross in their transition to adulthood: sex, drugs, crimes, etc. Children who have the confidence of their parents hardly fail. Parents must put their foot down about bad friends, bedtime, high school performance, etc. They must also make time to go out together and share intimacy. This will enable parents to know their friends, their best and weak spots and so on, and advise accordingly. Parents in themselves, are an anti-drug, through the four-way route: Truth, Communication Love And Honesty, every parent will have full control and confidence of his child or ward and therefore ward them off drugs. The danger of refusing to do this is that the peer group will take over the responsibility, it all depends whether they are good or bad friends. The rest is conclusive.
2. The Risk Factors- the predisposing factors to drug abuse at early childhood include parent criminality and substance abuse, low verbal ability, social disorganization, violence in neighbourhood, poor family management practices, inconsistency or harsh parenting, low socio-economic status exposure to media violence and many others. The society that has preponderance of these factors is sure to have among others a drug problem. Internal management mechanisms must be employed by communities to solve internal problems.
3. Child welfare- the issue of street children, area boys, beggars, child hawkers, child prostitutes, and child labourers are all a sign of the moral degeneration of a society. The preponderance of these issues goes a long way to describe its drug use pattern. Societies therefore must not allow change to overtake them rather they should initiate change to serve their own communal good. The above- mentioned social problems must be focused, addressed and if possible reversed by the society.
4. Religion’s effort – most religions preach good parenting, good child training, no drug use, respect for elders even if they are not relations and many other positive traits. This then becomes a clear job for religious clerics who must preach against drug abuse, but they must also be fully briefed on the dangers of all substances from the perspective of modern research. Preaching sessions to parents and children at social gatherings and special session have become necessary.
5. Local coalitions of CBOs, peer groups, age grades etc can help to change attitude, positive peer pressure must be the baseline for these activities, mates can check themselves and deal with strays in their own way. When this fails, the society can punish offenders before it gets out of hand, in which case it goes to the police.
6. Individual youths must create for themselves a pastime that will serve as an anti-drug. Some youths write poetry or stories, others draw; yet others are very religious, others engage in sports and so forth. Every young person must set a challenge for himself, which he must pursue to occupy his spare time. And make it a habit to preach against drug abuse.

NGO Roles

Non-Governmental organizations are organized parts of a society, as they come to being to support and complement government actions or inaction. In the area of the drug problem, NGOs have sprung up as Drug- free Associations, research groups and advocacy outlets. Their main mode of operation is advocacy, that is the creation of awareness among non-drug users, high-risk groups, or even users. They conduct seminars, workshops and symposia; they visit schools, markets parks and other places to speak about the dangers of drug abuse. They sometimes organize shows, musicals, drama, beauty contests and games, all in order to draw attention to the ravages of drug abuse.

In considering their efforts, NGOs must continue to get finances from philanthropic individuals, national and international donor agencies to sponsor these events. Most of their campaigns end up successful. NGO activities therefore should be supported more as they contribute a huge quota in the fight against drug abuse.

SECONDARY PREVENTION STRATEGY

At this stage, warnings and advice have failed or have not been given, one has fallen victim to the drug problem and is now a regular user, so a different strategy must be employed to deal with this problem.

1. Early identification- whether the government or the society noticed first, the early identification of a drug user is very important. If it is by government, he should be reprimanded according to law. This will dissuade an early starter. If it is the society, he should be taken to a counselor and forced to go through counseling sessions. If the habit has been formed beyond counseling, he should be referred for treatment.

ii    Government input – Drugs take a huge toll on health, welfare, safety, security and economic stability, which are all principally the responsibility of government.

1. Supply Reduction-Government must ensure as a prevention strategy that it cut the bridge and the supply contacts for the drugs- traffickers, manufacturers, distributors, couriers, retailers and users. The chain is what gets the drug supply going government should cut it. Information can be obtained by interrogating arrested drug users. NDLEA has been doing a swell job in this regard.
2. Demand reduction –public awareness is the best way to deal with this problem, the organs of government responsible for this should be fully employed and equipped. The federal information centers in the State and the State ministries of information are ready tools for the NDLEA They can go out into the villages and towns and employ the use of their cinema, public address gathering and so on to pass the packaged information. Another effort can come through law enforcement.  Better still, government can set up a new civilian agency to tackle the problem of drug demand.  Already there are those who feel uniformed men should not be the ones to preach the anti drug abuse theory.
3. Harm Reduction- As efforts are made towards total eradication of the drug problem, there is need to minimize the harm caused by drugs both to the users and to the society. These include infection, violence, crime, mortality, and morbidity. The best way to achieve this is to extend services to them. Harm reduction centers can be opened all over the country to offer specialized information and counselling to drug users.  They can also offer specialized services like needle exchanges for drug injection victims.  It can also embark on the sale of some drugs, which might lead to violence in obtaining them.

TERTIARY PREVENTION STRATEGY

At the final level of drug abuse, the problem can still be helped. This final stage deals mostly with persons who have become dependent, for who there are hardly any possibility of retreat at least on their own as a result of the withdrawal syndrome. So they are taken to a hospital where they are gradually helped to stop the habit. Both society and government must work together at this stage. Government providing the treatment while the society ensures follow-up. Government must also provide for rehabilitation of the treated cases, offer vocational training or employment while the society ensure the reintegration of the victim and de-stigmatization of treated substance- dependent persons. At a much later time the treated person can be used in offering lectures to young people about substance abuse.

TREATMENT

Many people today look neat, smart and healthy.   They work in high government offices, corporate organizations and businesses, but they are really substance – dependents. Some of them are alcoholics, other live on psychotropic drugs everyday, yet others are hooked on marijuana, cocaine, heroin or tobacco. These people are aware that they have a problem and are willing to undergo some kind of treatment. But none would agree to go to a psychiatric hospital because of the stigma attached to it.  These are not mad people, they are just sick.

These people live with their problem until it leads to a more serious complication, like madness or death. This then calls for the need for government to open treatment centres for the substance – dependent persons in Nigeria.  Presently, only a few private efforts are available and they are either too expensive or too far-flung.

 INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS

All countries of the world must go one step further than their present efforts by enacting harsher penalties for trafficking of drugs and must ensure the apprehension of drug couriers at all ports of entry. There must also be trans-border co-operation between countries of close proximity and technical cooperation between developed and developing nations and between countries that have an interlinked interest in the problem. For example drug producing nations and drug consuming nations and/ or transit countries.

Some international organizations are helping developing countries to meet the scourge. UNODCCP, through its affiliate UNDCP has in Nigeria been cooperating on the one hand with government in policy improvement and on the other with other NGOs in direct advocacy and research. There is also HONLEA, a UN idea, the Organization of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, which meets regularly to update their records on trends in the trafficking and abuse of substance. The Commission On Narcotic Drugs initiates and deals with policy at the UN level for the consumption and subsequent application by member states though the UN General Assembly. There is the need for the international community to have as strong a force in controlling substance abuse as it does in substance trafficking. The difference between the two critical areas is too glaring. It is clear that drug abuse control requires more commitment political, financial and human but it should be seen as the object of trafficking in the long run and therefore attacked squarely.

 Publications

 CRISA, 1993, Epidemiology and control of substance Abuse in Nigeria, Jos, Nigeria, (Ed), Obot I.S.(1) 1,5,8, (11)9.

 

2. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment; Treatment of Adolescents with Substance Abuse Disorders; TIP series 32.

 

3. CRISA; African Journal of Drug and Alcohol Studies; Vol. 1, 2000; Axel Klien; Harm reduction in Nigeria; A new Approach to Drug Control Policy for a Democratic Government; pp53-70.

 

4. CRISA; Drugs and the Nigerian Society; A Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography, (Ed), Obot S.

 

5. CSAT; Additional Counselling Competence, The Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes, Professional Practice; TIP Series 21.

 

6. Yusuf Al Qaradawi; The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam; Translated by Kamal El Helbawy Et al, Al Tauheed Publishing Company, Lagos, 1989.

 

7. FOS: Annual Abstract of Statistics, 1998 Edition, Abuja, Nigeria.

 

8. FRSC, 1998, Alcohol and Road Accidents; Facts You should know. Major-General Haladu Hananiya.
9. Issues in crime prevention and control in Nigeria, 1996 (Ed) Dambazau Et al. (1)3, (11) 5,6,7, (111)9.

 

10. NAFDAC: PANORAMIC Report of Activities and Achievement, 1994- 2000.

 

11. NDLEA: Drugs and You, (pamphlet) Office of the chairman, Ikoyi, Lagos.

 

12. ONDCP; National Drug Control Strategy 2001 Annual Report.

 

13. UNDCP/NDLEA: Report of the Rapid situation Assessment of Drug Abuse in Nigeria, 2000.

 

14. UNDCP; Information Series; 1-6; (Ed) Dr Philip O. Emafo.

 

15. United Nations; 1992, The UN and Drug Abuse Control. New York.

 

16. USDS: International narcotics control strategy Report, Executive summary march 2001, Bureau for International Narcotics and law Enforcement Affairs, pp9 – 15, 20- 21, 94, 276.

 

Other References

1. Adelekan M. Ph.D., 1999, Substance Use Research and Practice in Nigeria, An Agenda for the next millenium.

 

2. Ahmadu I. M., 2002, Curtailment of Production of Alcohol and the Control of its Consumption in Nigeria.

 

3. Alemika E. E. O. Ph.D., 2002, Drug Control Policy in Nigeria and Harm Reduction Strategy.

 

4. Amali E, Ph.D., 2000, Alcohol Production, A case of profits versus Social Welfare.

 

5. Ganny M., 2002, The role of Drugs and Alcohol Abuse in Intimate Violence.

 

6. Ibok P. S., 1999 Factors of Drug Abuse among Students in Colleges of Education in Former South Eastern State of Nigeria.

 

7. Makanju O. O. A., PhD, 2000, performance Enhancing Drugs and the Nigerian Sports Scene.

 

8. Obioha E. E. and Onuoha N. C., 2002, Social Correlates and Pathways to Drug abuse and abstinence among youths in a pluralistic Society; A theoretical Discourse.

 

9. Odejide B. Ph.D., 2002, Research, Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Nigeria; Problems and Prospects. (10^th Anniversary Lecture of CRISA.)

 

10. Paul B. D. M., Et al., 2002, Drug Abuse Education among youths in school and churches in Northern Nigeria; The Experience of the Fellowship of Christian Students.

 

11. Vehcit D. 2000, Consequences of Drug Abuse in Competitive Sports.

 

12. Victor, M. Diagnosis and treatment of alcohol withdrawal states. Practical Gastroenterology 7(5): 6-15, 1983.

The Authors

 Hon. Umaru Aliyu Tsanyawa has spent all his life in drug – related postings in Community Health Institutions located in different parts of the present Kano and Jigawa States.  His first stint with politics started in 1983, where he won election as a member, Kano State House of Assembly.  He was chairman Health Committee.  This success encouraged him to contest elections into the National Assembly representing Tsanyawa/Kunchi, which he won in 1999.  In the house, he was a distinguished member of Narcotics Committee, and chairman of its Drugs Sub-Committee.  He is also member of Industrial, Appropriations, Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Committees.

He is involved with CRISA – The Center for Research and Information into Substance Abuse in Jos, and has travelled to all the states of the Federation assessing Mental Health Institutions.  He has also visited Saudi Arabia, Britain, U.S., Holland and China.

Suleiman Haruna is a Public Relations Practitioner and before that had all along been Federal Information Officer who worked in Lagos, Kano and Abuja offices of the Federal Ministry of Information and elsewhere.  In that capacity, he served in informing, enlightening and reorienting the citizenry on programmes of the Federal Government, which include the drug abuse issue.  He had also served various NGOs including Youth Movement of Nigeria, which mothered a Drug–Free Association in Kano.  He is an accomplished writer with three books to his credit namely: The Kano State of Audu Bako, 1996; Time’s Pace, Time’s Space, 2000; and A twist to the Tale 2002.  He is widely published.

Haruna is a graduate of Bayero University Kano and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.

 

DEWDROP COMMUNICATIONS, 2002

 

Displaced People in the eyes of Aisha Buhari

The most basic necessities in the life of an average Nigerian include food, clothing, shelter and freedom. We tend to overlook these necessities in our day to day lives because we have them available all the time. But there comes a time when we are challenged in one or more of these necessities and this exposes our vulnerability. There may be a flood that washes away homes and farms, or fire disasters, or even war.

War or in the case of Nigeria, insurgency, did take away people’s source of livelihood, their security and their freedom. It even took away loved ones, leaving with them indelible scars. This insurgency moved millions from the land of their forefathers to lands of refuge, changing their nomenclature from citizens to refugees and sometimes from indigenes to internally displaced persons.

Over the last eight years, this has been the fate of thousands of families in the North East of Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region. Many families have been cut off from their farms, markets and their work places; the cost of food, medicine and transportation, where available or accessible has become unbearably high and therefore unaffordable. These families faced hunger and starvation.

Worse than these are those whose communities have been overrun by the insurgency; where many able bodied men and heads of households have either been killed or maimed, sometimes even mothers and children are not spared. Their homes may have been completely destroyed, along with their farms and the food they had stored for the rainy day.  The survivors of these atrocities have one option; to leave and find security and succor elsewhere. This is not minding the wealth they had, the size of their farms, the size of their families or the amount of comfort that their homes had provided. Most internally displaced persons (IDPs) have to seek out people willing to host them; other communities, friends, relations and sometimes even complete strangers.

The Africa Report on Internal Displacement, 2016 states that Nigeria accounts for 30% of IDPs and refugees in Africa; and according to NEMA, Nigerian refugees in Cameroon are 80,709, in Niger 68,321 and Chad 20,804. Most of these are returning home in droves. The Displacement Tracking Matrix, released in January, 2017, indicate that 1,899,830 still remain displaced in the North East, despite drop in hostilities, which resulted in huge outflow of the IDPs from the camps back to their original communities.

The IDP camps we hear about every day is populated by such families; some have gone far away from their homes to other states. These are the ones addressed as the internally displaced. Others have crossed international borders and are called refugees.

The IDP camps reveal a lot about the kind of people living in them. There are many camps in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, each bursting with people whose basic physiological needs have to be met by the managers of the camps; the food they eat, their health and their shelter. Most camps do not have adequate room and toilet facilities.  The daily bill of such camps is staggering to even government, which is already struggling to fund other budgetary items.

Well-meaning Nigerians and organizations, both local and international opened their hearts to those in the IDP camps, and helped them to meet the basic necessities of life. Some brought nourishment, some provided clean water, even clothing as well as simple tools for sanitation and hygiene.

Wife of the President, Her Excellency Mrs. Aisha Buhari is one such humanitarian actor who is fully aware of the challenges faced by the IDPs. As a mother, she is concerned with their condition and that is why, through her project, Future Assured she has made a lot of interventions and made a difference in their lives. She had targeted the weak and the vulnerable; these being women, children, young people as well as old people.

Young people (0-18 years) account for 56% of all IDPs, so they become primary targets of attention. 45% of these are male and 55% are female, 8.7% are infants below one, while 7.5% of all IDPs are above 60 years of age. Each of these group has peculiar needs.

The primary vision of Mrs. Buhari beyond reaching out to the IDPs with relief materials is to draw attention to the plight of these vulnerable Nigerians, so that others could see the magnitude of the problem and make their own contribution. Many individuals and organizations have keyed in, either directly or through her Future Assured Initiative.

In order to have a consistent, and standard protocol for providing assistance to the IDPs, Mrs. Buhari set up a task team of people who live within the North East to handle needs assessment and distribution of relief materials both to the host communities and the camps. She named the team Wife of the President’s Committee on the Distribution of Donated Items (WIPCOMDI) and charged it to identify the kinds of support that different groups of IDPs might require. Over time, this committee had conducted its assignment and had delivered boreholes at IDP camps and host communities, food items – including bags of rice and garri, as well as cartons of sugar, noodles, macaroni and other items; sleeping materials including blankets; enriched food formulas to expectant and lactating mothers and babies; baby sets including bath tubs, potties, soaps, creams for the new born. These donations cover both young and old, male and female and the basic necessities of life, especially in the IDP camps.

When our gallant soldiers conquered the insurgency, it became apparent that most of the IDPs began to return home, while others had to be encouraged to do so. Both sides require support to make this happen. The Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) had indicated that 1,099,509 IDPs have been confirmed to have returned to their homes by January, 2017; aside trauma, these people have lost their homes; so returning to their villages means rebuilding broken homes and broken lives. It is a hard process, especially for people who now have nothing. There is a lot of community work going on in these communities. That is why government’s effort at reconstruction in these areas need to be appreciated and supported by all Nigerians.

Future Assured has keyed into this by reaching out to those villages through the committee, interacting with the villagers to know what kind of assistance they would require, beyond the relief materials they received at the IDP camps. Resulting from this interaction, communities were supported with building materials including roofing sheets, wood and nails.

It is gratifying to see the IDPs overcome their displacement and return home to their initial livelihood. These formidable Nigerians will overcome their scars and rebuild their lives, thanks to the love and care they have received since leaving their homes.

Bringing People to Consciousness for Development: A Report of Theatre for Development Workshop in Barebari Community

Introduction

It is truism that without empowerment there can be no development. Such   empowerment necessarily results from ownership of knowledge and followed up with action by a community. Ownership and action on the other hand are the keys that open the doors of success to any project undertaken by such a community either on their own or in partnership with facilitators. Theatre for Development (TfD) as a genre of theatre provides a platform for that partnership as it has concerned itself  with people’s lives and experiences and aims at making them aware of their social, political and economic realities towards empowerment.

During the last Thirty Six years, there has been a perceptible tendency in developing countries to use theatre as an educative medium for social change and development. This is because theatre is neutral as a technique; it can serve the purposes of oppression as well as liberation. However, as soon as it is used to transmit direct information, knowledge or skills, neutrality is out of the question. Whether intended or not, it becomes an instrument with which people are persuaded to accept their situations or get involved in changing them.

Aristotle’s Poetics did not give room for man to have the critical thinking necessary for addressing his challenges, let alone how to change his society. Brecht however, kicked against such idealist theatre. He proposes a theatre that would be meaningful to the oppressed society; meaningful in the sense that it should be purposeful in the development of human life. Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” is very influential in the discourse of achieving a participatory education.  The work has significance for developing societies. First, his emphasis on dialogue has struck a very strong chord with those concerned with popular and informal education. Given that informal education is dialogical rather than a curricula form that is hardly surprising. However, Paulo Freire was able to take the discussion on several steps with his insistence that dialogue involves respect. It should not involve one person acting for another, but rather people “working with” each other.

Secondly, Freire was concerned with praxis-action that is informed and linked to certain values. Dialogue was not just about deepening understanding – but was part of making a difference in the turbulent developing nations in the South American States. Dialogue in itself is a co-operative activity involving respect. The process is important and can be seen as enhancing community building, social capital and to leading nations and nationals to act in ways that make for justice and human flourishing.  An important element of this was his concern with conscientization – developing consciousness, but consciousness that is understood to have the power to transform reality.

Freire’s teaching influenced Augusto Boal to develop “Theatre of the Oppressed” during the 1950s and 1960s. In an effort to transform theatre from the “monologue” of traditional performance into a “dialogue” between audience and stage, Boal experimented with many kinds of interactive theatre. His explorations were based on the assumption that dialogue is the common, healthy, dynamic between all humans, that all human beings desire and are capable of dialogue, and that when a dialogue becomes a monologue, oppression ensues. Theatre then becomes an extraordinary tool for transforming monologue into dialogue.

 

From his work Boal evolved various forms of theatre workshops and performances which aimed to meet the needs of all people for interaction, dialogue, critical thinking, action, and fun. While the performance modes of Forum Theatre, Image Theatre, Cop-In-The-Head, and the vast array of the Rainbow of Desire are designed to bring the audience into active relationship with the performed event, the workshops are virtually a training ground for action not only in these performance forms, but for action in life. The success or applicability of Boal’s “Theatre of the Oppressed” suggests that people by themselves are forced to or reach a consensus to develop governing and gathering individual’s response to bring about change.

 

Concerned with a participatory approach, this medium of education focuses on workshop participants who analyze, prioritize and create a story based on problems encountered in their communities. Commenting on the participatory approach in TfD as basically inclusive, Mda iterates that:

People must be active participants in the creation of theatre […] but with the objective of turning theatre into a much more effective medium of adult education (1993: 9).

The workshop participants, who normally constitute members of the target community, understand their problem better when they are engaged in the theatre process. They also understand the causes of their problems and anticipate solutions which they may choose to integrate in the story that is subsequently developed into a workshop play. The participants may also decide to leave the solutions to their problems for the audience to make attempts at finding solutions during post-performance discussion.

What is peculiar about TfD is the cultural dimension involved. It makes room for communities to employ their folklore.  Similarly, TfD depends on action, song, dance, drumming and storytelling to communicate educational messages relevant for the development of the community.

Significant TfD workshops in Africa include the Laedza Batanani experience (1974) in Botswana, The Kamiriithu theatre experience (1976) in Kenya, the Chilambana workshop (1979) in Zambia, the Wasan Manoma (1977) in Zaria Nigeria, the Murewa workshop (1983) in Zimbabwe, the Theatre-for-Integrated-Rural-Development workshop (1984) in Kumba, Cameroon etc.

 

FIELD TRIP TO BARE BARI COMMUNITY

Post graduate students of Theatre and Performing Arts and Development Communication of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 2009/2010, session embarked on Theatre for Development workshop targeted on six communities namely Zangon Tama, Nasarawa, Hayi, Dan Kawo, Unguwar Ilu and Bare Bari all in Giwa Local Government of Kaduna State. The workshop took place from Friday 10^th to Sunday 12^th June, 2011. Though other groups from the department have visited these communities before now, the group did not set any agenda for the project, rather it was agreed that the approach will evolve from field experience. This is as a result of studies of other notable TfD workshops in Africa like Murewa workshop (1983) in Zimbabwe that was described as having preconceived ideas, which made it difficult to marry theory with practical experience in the field. Martha Vestin, one of the resource persons that participated in Murewa workshop described it as too academic as nothing was left to improvisation and common sense. Another workshop that was studied was the Theatre for Integrated Rural Development Workshop in Kumba, Cameroon where it was discovered that majority of the villagers were farmers and were always in their farms during the day. This prompted the resource persons and student participants to apply homestead method as they followed the villagers to the farm and the stream to witness first hand the challenges of these communities. It was assumed that our group would encounter similar challenges because Barebari community and other surrounding communities are predominantly farmers and the season for the project is farming season. It was obvious that Homestead Method is preferable for the workshop.

 

On reaching Giwa Local Government, the first activity was a visit by the entire group to the Sarki (chief) in charge of the chosen communities. He welcomed the student participants and the co-ordinator of the project Mr. Steve Daniel, who was singled out for always remembering their communities. He charged the group to tell the story of their neglect and underdevelopment to the world. After the brief meeting, the group proceeded to the Zangon tama community, which was to be our base, 15km of  long, winding, untarred and weather-beaten road. Zangon tama was also our take off point to other communities. We were received by a welcome party headed by the chairman of the community development association. We were offered two classrooms of the mission school as accommodation and mats to spread on the punctured floor. The co-ordinator, Mr Steve Daniel shared mosquito nets to all student participants.

 

The day was already far spent after a long and hectic journey to Zangon tama community. The entire group decided to take a transect walk around the community; and from this we gathered preliminary information that was to guide our assignment better. By sunset, we were done and we retired to put our feet up. Our rest was to be cut short by an invitation to receive a formal welcome by the community; over a hundred villagers had already gathered and were waiting in the church hall. The liaison officer Mr. Mathew Myam introduced members of the group to the community as Mr. Suleiman Haruna served as an interpreter to those members who do not understand Hausa language. The community was very enthusiastic to receive the visitors as the youth staged two performances. One was a debate on “Education is more important than Money” and the second was improvised drama piece about a politician who during his campaign promised the community of infrastructural development and better life only to  abandon the people after winning election. The group also entertained their hosts with a comedy skit after which the group went to sleep ahead of the next day’s task.

 

In the morning of the second day, the students were grouped into six to visit the designated communities, Barebari community comprised of the following members:

1. Walter Temple Chukwuma        –        Group Leader
2. Haruna Suleiman                      –        Member
3. Jamila Mohammed                             –           “
4. Linda                                        –           “
5. Orifa Omore Gladys                  –           “
6. Zaki                                          –           “
7. Chata                                       –           “
8. Gilbert Clifford                                   –           “

 

The greatest challenge of that day was the early morning downpour which started in the morning and delayed the movement of the groups to their communities. The heavy rain had continued till 11.00am when the group decided to hold a meeting to discuss what was to be done. At the meeting, there was debate as to whether the groups would be able to conduct the visits to the designated communities and conduct a successful intervention. The alternative that was considered was for the whole group to remain at zangon tama and conduct the intervention that was to be decided. In the end, due to the shortage of time, the meeting agreed that despite the rain, each group should visit its assigned community even if no intervention was possible for each. The meeting also agreed that each group should invite people from the different communities for a forum session at zangon tama. (the meeting had from the transect walk identified education as a possible common problem).

 

A guide was assigned to our (Barebari Community) group in the person of Mr. Yahaya Sama who led us to the community. The distance from Zangon tama to Barebari community is about three kilometers and it took us about forty five minutes to walk to the community. On our way to the community, we passed a smaller community called Ikari. Our first point of contact in Barebari community was the Mai’anguwa (ward head) Alhaji Aliyu Musa who gave us his support but advised that men should interview men while the women among us should interview women as we can see that the community is Muslim dominated.

 

The community members are predominantly farmers in the area of cropping, fishing and animal rearing. The population of the community can be estimated at over 1000 people. The major food crops produced by the community are maize, Beans, and soya beans. The major cash crop is rice while the animal they rear are Cow, Ram, Goat and Guinea Fowl. One of the men that had interaction with us in the community Mr. Abdullahi Sani who has a Rice Processing Mill in his compound informed us that during harvest season, they used to take over 2000 bags of rice to market every market day (twice a week) from the community.

 

One thing that struck our attention was the seeming comfort and prosperity we noticed among the people as we had entertained the thought that the community was occupied by impoverished people with malnourished children and women. To our greatest surprise, however, we met an economically empowered people who had no government support and unfortunately no conscious self effort to develop their community.

 

Another interesting aspect of the life of the people is the use of Animal Labour for farming. They have a unique way of fixing a plough in the middle of two cows which enable them weed, till and cultivate crops. This animal labour system serves the purpose of a tractor.  It was discovered that in the past, they practiced what is called “Gayya” which means ‘group labour’, involving group of people who collectively help each other in farming. We were informed that when the use of animal labour was discovered for farming, “gayya” shifted to other areas like road repair. We had gathered that every adult from 18 years owns two cows and a plough.

 

Apart from cultivating crops, the community members engage in fishing especially during rainy season as it constitutes their major source of income at that period. One of the villagers, Malam Mai’anguwa Kambaya told us that some fish dealers do come from town to buy their fish products. Their major source of water supply is from Well.

 

IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES OF THE COMMUNITY

One of the problems identified through interaction with different community members is lack of fertilizer to improve their crop production. When we enquired as to why they do not have a co-operative society, which could have helped them obtain or purchase fertilizer and sell to members at a subsidized rate, they informed us that they do not have and even if there is, the government will not listen to them. This indicates the level of despondence about government as opposed to the issue of dependence on government which is always blamed for lack of empowerment. The most pathetic aspect of this challenge is that they buy a tare of fertilizer for N500.00, which is too expensive and which is why they resort to the use of manure as an alternative.

 

We saw a school with a dilapidated structure and enquired whether it was in use. The community members frankly told us that the school was not functional. They also informed us that the school was built through community effort but was taken over by the local government which posted teachers to the school. Eventually, the teachers refused to stay, on account of the remoteness of the location. The community claimed that they made every effort to make the teachers happy so that they can stay but to no avail. They went as far as training their own children to take over the management of the school but Giwa Local government refused to employ them. They claimed to have over 700 school-age children who are out of school. We asked them why they were not attending the school at Zangontama for which they answered that it was privately owned and managed by a church; and as a Muslim community they are not comfortable attending a school owned and managed by Christians.

 

Another problem that the community members identified is lack of health centre. We were shown a health centre constructed in the community that never operated for one day. Malaria is the prevailing disease in the community. There is a clinic in Iyatawa but during the rainy season, they cannot cross the river for medical attention there. They are forced to go to Giwa town for medical attention. They also gave the same reason above why they would not attend the health centre located in Zangon tama (the clinic is also owned and managed by a mission).

 

A very vital problem as stressed by the community members is accessible road to enable them take their farm produce to the market and have access to other communities. One of the villagers Mr. Mai’anguwa Kambaya boasted that they have enough money to buy any car of their choice but cannot because of lack of the road on which to drive them. Also, if they had accessible road, they could take their children to any school of their choice in other communities.

 

GROUP DISCUSSION AFTER THE COMMUNITY VISITS

The groups gathered together over the visits of various communities to share their experiences. It was discovered that these communities have similar problems. Mr Steve Daniel, who moderated the discussions advised the groups that we should not “forget the key issues in TfD include coming, dialoguing, planning and acting together”. After much deliberation on the field experiences of various groups, it was agreed that the group should have a collective performance and intervention. One of the reasons for this decision is as a result of limited time as rain has taken most of the time of the day. The second reason is because the communities have similar problems and meaningful intervention may not work without bringing these communities together.

 

One of the vital observations of the groups is lack of religious integration. Though the communities cooperate on social and political issues, it was evident that there is a cold religious war among the Christian and Muslim communities. For example, in Barebari community where a school collectively built by both Christian and Muslim communities is being utilized by the muslims as an Islamic school, rather than a private secular school, as there were no government employed teachers. they have also refused to attend the school operated by a church. Thereby leaving 700 children without formal education. The groups therefore agreed to address and intervene on the matter so as to provide a bridge which can help in integrating the children from the different religious groups in all communities through education. This facilitation process may not succeed if the communities are not brought together. These differences among communities were linked to a similar challenge in Hammocks to Bridges: Theatre for Integrated Rural Development workshop held by Community Development Training School, Kumba, Cameroon as reported by Eyoh Hansel Ndumbe the co-ordinator of the workshop.

 

The group that worked in Konye community discovered two other neighbouring communities called Ndoi and Ngolo-bolo. These three communities have their differences though they are not religiously motivated. Their differences hinge upon the battle for supremacy. Konye community felt that they have well to do people, they see themselves as the real owners of the land as they classify Ngolo-bolo people as strangers. These affected their effort to construct a Bridge to replace the hammocks in the Mungo River. The facilitating group succeeded in bringing the communities together and performed an improvised play addressing their differences and this prompted these communities to agree to work together for the construction of the bridge. Having drawn from this experience, our group decided to bring the communities together to address their religious differences.

 

The groups went into creation of improvised play of conscientization on religious harmony/tolerance, the importance of education and health facilities and personnel, tree planting and the need for accessible roads. The students that participated in the play are Jimmy Akoh, Zaki, Suleiman Usman, Gilbert Clifford, Daniel Bawa, Andesati Danladi, Linda and Terngu Gwar. The community leaders directed the town crier to summon other communities to Zagon tama for the play.

NIGHT OF CONSCIENTIZATION

The performance night that took place on the second day was eventful one. The student participants nominated Mr. Suleiman Haruna to co-ordinate the event due to his understanding and interpretation of Hausa and English Languages for the purposes of translation and interpretation. The women, children and the youths were fully involved in the performance process. Tsibati Lass, Orifa Omore Gladys, Linda and Grace Basa created children’s theatre for the children where they played moonlight games. Teenage girls presented their performance derived from their folklores. The women group presented an aesthetic dance performance. One interesting thing about the night performance is that we were informed that the women have not danced together in this manner over thirty years (some, since their wedding days). The youth also put up a fantastic improvised play emphasizing on the need for education, health care and accessible road.

 

All in all, the play by the visiting group drew a lot of discussion at the forum level and it was agreed by the communities that they have not done enough to help themselves. They therefore agreed to meet next morning (Sunday, 12th) in a dialogue of all the communities by 11.00am to crystallize a strategy. The student participants’ performance helped in no small measure in bringing the communities to consciousness on the need to work together for their development. The groups rested the night with a bonfire which lasted till the early hours of Sunday morning.

 

 

DIALOGUE AMONG THE COMMUNITIES

The dialogue was a fruitful one; the communities realized the need for religious tolerance, peaceful co-existence and self effort in pursuit for development. They came to consciousness that unless they come together as one indivisible people, the effort for self development would not be realized. The high point of the dialogue was when they decided to jointly build and run a school for their children. They stressed that the project would commence immediately.

Another outcome of the dialogue was the agreement by the communities to use the already existing structure in the church to inaugurate an adult education centre. The inauguration was scheduled for Saturday, 25^th June, 2011 though it was rescheduled for Saturday, 2^nd July, 2011 for logistic reasons. The student participants were invited by the communities for the inauguration programme. The students on their part agreed to honour the invitation as a follow-up process.

 

The community members through the Liaison Officer, Mr. Mathew Myam deeply thanked the co-ordinator Mr. Steve Daniel and student participants for this development-driven visit to their communities. He expressed that it is the wish of the communities that such visits would be a continuous one. He prayed for journey mercies as the group travels back to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The group was led by Mr. Mathew Myam to bid farewell to the Sarki, who was visited at the beginning of the workshop.

 

METHODOLOGY

Though it was agreed by the student participants to allow the methodology and approach for the project to evolve from field experience; it was also suggested to use Homestead Method due to the fact that the members of the communities are predominantly farmers and we may not meet them at their various homes during the day time. Homestead Method was only applied in Zangontama community.

 

However, Flood Method was applied in other communities including Barebari. According to Steve Daniel and Salihu Bappa (), in the Flood Method,  “the whole external group goes or invades the community, meeting the villagers wherever they are holding informal discussions with them. It is also referred to as the ‘Migrant Technique’ in which facilitators go in and out of the community from a central base potentially assigned by the community”(Osofisan ed : 20).  The reasons for this methodology could be attributed to the following:

1. There was limited time as the project lasted for only three days.
2. The period of the project is rainy season and most of the plans by the groups were thwarted by rain.

iii.           For example, Barebari community was not consulted about the group’s visit early enough so as to enable their families make arrangement to host us.

 

CONCLUSION

Despite the limited time assigned for the project, it was a very successful one as it proves the point that Theatre for Development should be pursued as the process of democratizing culture with the intention of effecting a positive change in the lives of rural and marginalized populations. It does not necessarily have to be used as a medium of protest; rather, it should be exploited for its effectiveness in consciousness- raising.

One unique thing to note about this project that made it different from many other projects in Africa is that the people took centre stage in the drama making process. Apart from the student participants making drama for the people, most of the improvised plays were made by the people themselves unlike the Kumba (1984) workshop that made drama for the people.

 

Team members

Walter, Temple c.

Suleiman Haruna

Jamila Mohammed

Orifa Omore Gladys

Clifford Ayabowei

Linda Ashio

Chata Emmanuel

Zaki Emmanuel

 

REFERENCES

Boal, Augusto (1995):  The Rainbow of Desire:The Boal Method of Theatre and Therapy. London: Routledge

Boal, Augusto (1993): Theater of the Oppressed. New York: Theatre Communications Group.

Brecht, Bertolt (1964): Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic ( Ed. and trans. John Willett),  London: Methuen.

Eyoh, N. Hansel (1986): Hammocks to Bridges: An Experience in Theatre for Development. Yaounde: Bet & Co. Ltd.

Freire, Paulo (2000): Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum

Kavanagh, M. Robert (1997): Making People’s Theatre, Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.

 

Kerr, David (1995): African Popular Theatre: From Pre-colonial Times to the Present Day. London: James Currey.

Mda, Zakes (1993): When People play People: Development Communication Through Theatre. London: Zed Books.

Mlama, M. Penina (1991): Culture and Development: The Popular Theatre Approach in Africa. Uppsala: The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies.

Osofisan, Femi (ed): Communicating Children and Women’s Right in Nigeria: Experiences from the Field, produced by Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan and Planning and Communication Section, UNICEF, Abuja.

Tohu TV: A Participatory Video Intervention at Tohu Community

Tohu TV: A Participatory Video Intervention at Tohu Community

 

Preamble

Tohu is a cluster of villages located at Sabon Gari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria. It is agrarian and nomadic, and one community that is yet to feel the presence of government in terms of social services and infrastructure. Apart from a primary school with three blocks of classes, the community does not have roads, potable water or even a health center. Citizens of the community however do not complain of unemployment as most of them have farms which they cultivate and animals which they rear. Apart from these, many of them are engaged in quarrying, as the neighborhood has an abundance of granite, which ironically is being used as roadstone to make roads in more favored communities.

Objective

The team’s objective in conducting this practical project is to initiate an intervention process at Tohu community with the hope of engendering a community driven approach to cause an improvement in the life of the people.

Methodology

The team’s plan is to conduct transect in order to feel the community and have an idea of the basic indices of development; thereafter, a community dialogue is expected to spark-off discussion on the important issues. Depending on the nature of the problems prioritized, the community can take action towards sustained development.

 Courtesy call on the chief

The Zaria group of Class 2009/2010 chose Tohu community for their practical intervention project. The team made contact with the community and got permission to visit on Friday 17^th June, 2011. Members of the class paid the visit and were received at the house of the local Sarki (chief). While explaining the purpose of their visit to the chief, they said they were students who were on a project visit to learn more about the lifestyles of different communities and hoped to meet with a cross section of the communities that make up Tohu. In his response, the representative of the chief, Alhaji Usman, welcomed the team and apologized for the inability of the chief to be physically present to receive them. He however promised that the team would receive all the support they needed to make their project a success. He promised to send invitations to people from all the villages to attend the meeting, which he proposed to hold at the Tohu Primary School.

 Reconnaissance

After the introductory visit, the team conducted reconnaissance on the villages which numbered about six and which were linearly located along a 7 – kilometer, weather – beaten track wide enough only to carry an ox – driven cart. The residents, for whom this road is second nature, generally travel by motorcycle.

We conducted transect to obtain information on the villager’s health and sanitation status, sources of drinking water, prevalent diseases and availability and type of latrines in the community.

From the transect, the team gathered that the community had a relatively healthy population, other than cases of malaria that are usually home treated. The community had pit latrines in every home and had very little refuse other than degradable material. As for the wells used to source drinking water, some are covered while some are exposed.

On our way out, the undulations and potholes eventually became our nemesis as one of our vehicles broke down and had to be left there overnight.  On Saturday, 18^th June 2011, the team was at the primary school by the appointed time of 10.00am for a community dialogue.

The community dialogue

The community dialogue was attended by about 50 citizens, cutting across age but not sex, as all those that attended were males. This is not unexpected as Tohu is a Muslim community, where women hardly attend mixed public functions.

The meeting was opened with words of welcome by Suleiman Haruna on behalf of the team, after which he explained the purpose of the visit, which is to study the community in order to learn from them, join them in identifying their problems and in coming up with solutions. Members of the community responded by welcoming the team and expressed their willingness to support the project.

As provided by the participatory model of development communication, the team went with the objective of carrying out an intervention in the life of the villagers, but without any chosen area in mind. This is to be decided by the villagers themselves. The team therefore invited them to prioritize the problems of their community, which after series of discussions and adjustments were listed as follows:

• Lack of a clinic
• Lack of motorable road
• Lack of electricity
• Lack of potable water

It was during further discussions that other villagers seem to express their discontent with the four listed problems. No less a person than a mai’ anguwa (ward head) stood up and blurted that all the listed problems are secondary as none of the villagers attending the dialogue is guaranteed of a continuous stay in the community, let alone hope to get clinics or roads. He therefore called on the meeting to be realistic and truthful in identifying the most crucial problem of the community, which as he explained, was the military shooting range that is located at their backyard.

The military shooting range

The villagers seem to agree with the mai’ anguwa and roared in support. He was therefore invited to speak about the problem. He said the military have been using their grounds as shooting range for trainee soldiers for almost a hundred years. Despite this length of time, they met the villagers already domiciled in the area. They have related peacefully over the years, he said, and never had cause, despite the inconveniences of the shooting range to have any kind of misunderstanding with the soldiers.

Some years back, the military came to Tohu community without notice and took an inventory of all the homes in many of the villages. They granted themselves access to the homes without seeking permission from the owners. When they were through, they told the villagers that they were to be relocated in order to expand the shooting range and would be compensated for their homes. They however did not speak about the fate of their farmlands or where they were to be moved. All further questions from the villagers were rebuffed.

The villagers assembled and discussed the issue and agreed to report to the district head and the local government chairman. They also gained access and paid visits to the two officials who calmed them down and promised to follow up the matter on their behalf. They also wrote to the then chief of Army staff, who, while on a phone discussion with the district head, denied knowledge of any plans to move any community for the purposes of shooting range expansion.

Since the incidence, the community had not heard from the military on whether the movement was still on or not. This, they complained had kept them on tenterhooks, as they cannot plan anything without thinking they would be asked to be moved the next day. This, to the community, is the most important problem.

Sensitivity of the issue

From this point, the dialogue took a different turn. The villagers seemed to freeze along two unequal groups. Majority of the villagers believed that the shooting range is the most important and should be accorded top priority, while the minority, those behind the community leaders, did not. Eventually the majority had their way after the minority had had their say; discussion then centered on what the community could do to solve the problem.

The suggestions that were proffered were based on the following premises, the first being that the whole Tohu Community should be involved in whatever solution was eventually decided, even though some of the villages were not involved in the relocation order. Another issue raised was that some communities outside Tohu also were also to be moved, they should therefore also be contacted and involved. Besides the relocation issue, the villagers complained that each time the range is in session, they had to make long detours to get to town, which was highly inconvenient.

Participatory Video

The team was moderating discussions with questions, challenging some of the suggestions made. One of the suggestions made was to go the press with the complaints in order to gain public sympathy and the attention of the military leaders. To this, the team had said they were in a position to help, but wanted the villagers to be sure they were ready to handle the consequences, as their leaders, who are against this move could take them up on it.

When they overwhelmingly expressed their support for the move, the team suggested the use of participatory video (PV) to address their problem. PV has been defined as ‘an unscripted video production process directed by communities themselves’ (ICT Update, 2006) with the aim of highlighting the living conditions of the people towards a horizontal, vertical and exchange learning.’ (Haruna, 2010) The villagers were briefed about what PV was and how it could be used to address their problem.

The significance of the PV was hinged on the fact that it would enable the villagers to share the video with their neighbours who have the same problem, in order to secure their buy-in while taking action. The villagers were told that they would have to produce the video themselves. Responding to issues concerning training and equipment, the team promised to allow the villagers to use their camera as well as train them to use it.   Chris Lunch (2006) had explained PV as an accessible, interesting, inclusive methodology that differs fundamentally from traditional filming, in which the focus is on creating a finished product.

The community leadership

The community leaders seemed not to be comfortable with the way things were going. They therefore requested the team to give them a few minutes in order to ‘confer among themselves,’ to which the team obliged. As soon as the team left the classroom, many of the villagers also left, obviously distraught. The meeting eventually took almost an hour, after which the team rejoined the discussions. They had decided to first seek the consent of the district head before reverting back to us. They therefore asked us to give them a week. They felt that since he had made efforts to address the issue, it would be unfair to jump over his head and go to the media. Because of the furore that the meeting attracted, the villagers, speaking to us later, explained that the decision was not unanimous, as the district head had never cared to make contact with the military officials that sent the visiting detachment to take the inventory. Another reason given was that the Sarki of Tohu had given himself choice allocations when the soldiers came. These included the school compound and playgrounds for which, even though were common grounds, he claimed compensation.

The community dialogue had resulted in a classic fight between the leadership and peasants as typically discussed by authoritarian and libertarian theories, with each fighting for prominence. The authoritarian theory had promoted zealous obedience to a hierarchical superior and reliance on threat and punishment to those who did not follow the censorship rules or did not respect authority. This was the belief of the community leaders. The libertarian theory advocates absence of restraint, as the state was seen as a source of interference on the rights of an individual and his property. This was exemplified by the position of the villagers.

‘To be or not to be’

The team was disappointed at the decision of the community. However, we believed that there were layers of positions from the close – door meeting. So we decided to conduct personal interviews across the two sides of the divide. As expected, the three positions that appeared from the interviews were;

• That it is necessary to obtain appropriate permission before further action on the intervention could continue, these group, obviously pro – establishment, believes that the PV could hold, but covering other problems than the shooting range.
• That securing necessary permission is alright; provided it would lead to an approval for the conduct of a PV on the shooting range.
• The last group is made up of the popular side, who are more in number and who believe that the PV should commence right away. They are of the opinion that the problem affects them and the final decision to act rests on themselves and not on someone staying many kilometers away, who they claim has nothing to lose by their ejection.

It became clear to the team that our project is about to be stifled by the decision of the community leadership, who have covertly stamped their ‘no’ against a popular position, due to its threat on their primordial interests. We held a small discussion and came to the realization that we may never be allowed to continue the project as the approval being expected may never come.

We had a choice to make; either to accept the decision of the community leadership, and suspend the project, or come up with an idea as to continue the project through the backdoor. We considered the time, resources and energy expended in the project, as well as the possibility of the same kind of scenario repeating itself wherever we decided to venture to. Most importantly, the intervention was about the people, not the leadership, and since the PV was what the people wanted, we upheld their choice and decided to go ahead with the PV.

Most of those in favour of the PV were the youths (18 – 35) who were restive throughout the debate; they also happened to have fervently requested us to forget the ‘old people’ and go ahead with the PV.

In order to avoid getting into trouble with the establishment, the team decided it was best not to implicate the youths by making them aware of the team’s intentions to go ahead with the PV. We therefore told the youths they were just going to learn how to use the camera to save us the time of teaching them when we return the next week as agreed. We invited them to return to the class room to learn the Camera’s basic operations. They did, very enthusiastically. Their return however, drew the curiosity of some pro-establishment spectators, who returned to ask whether the programme was still on. We told them it had ended, but that the youths also wanted to be interviewed like their elders. Another question they eventually came to ask was what the youths were doing with our camera, and we told them they were interested in studying it, and we were allowing them to feel it.

The youth’s were all individually given an opportunity to use the camera. The team then informed them that they were going to interview themselves just as the community leaders were interviewed. They agreed it was a good idea as they wanted their own voices to be heard. They then selected the one who handled the camera the best amongst them to be the Camera Man and a small audition was organized for the person who would do the interviews. They unanimously selected the one who spoke more fluently, confidently and asked important questions. It was an exciting process for both the youths and the team as everyone enjoyed the drama. A series of discussions then followed amongst the youth under the guidance of Jamila Mohammed and it was agreed that the PV team would interview not just their youth colleagues but also the community leaders to get their views on the issues bordering the community.

Tohu TV

Two interviews were conducted in the classroom to make the Camera Man and Interviewer have a feel of the process before they ventured into the village. When we got to a place they referred to as the mini-village square, the interviewer decided to stop and interview some elders who were holding a discussion about the meeting held earlier. He asked them basic questions about the village and their problems without giving them a hint of what he wanted them to discuss. They, on their own, ended up naming the shooting range issue as one of their major problems. He interviewed a few more people in the vicinity before he suggested going into the houses to interview the women who were always left out of such important discussions. Our team was apprehensive about taking a camera into the houses in the fear of overstepping boundaries but he assured us that it was okay to do so.

At this point it was decided to have the interviewer talk directly into the camera to explain to the viewers what he was doing and this was where the idea to make the Video a Documentary Report of the Tohu Village for a TV station was borne. The camera man and interviewer excitedly named the TV station ‘Tohu TV’ and we ventured into the houses.

The women were surprised to see the team going into their homes with a camera, but they quickly relaxed when they saw their own children doing the recording and asking the questions. Surprisingly, for the women their more pressing problems were lack of roads and access to a hospital facility as they were the ones who suffer when their children fell ill or when they needed to go for ante-natal care. They also complained of lack of electricity but would only mention the shooting range issue when prompted by the interviewer. A couple of women were interviewed in their homes and the team had to tell the interviewer that time was up; for, if he was given the opportunity he would have excitedly interviewed all the villagers.

The team went back to the school where a group of youths had gathered waiting for our return. The interviewer signed out by summarizing what he learnt from the interviews and the Camera Man handed us back the camera for a playback. It was an exciting experience and the youths could not wait to view what had been recorded.

Everything seemed to be going well until the team experienced firsthand one of the issues bothering the village: lack of electricity. Due to some technical issues, the battery of the lap-top computer that the team went with ran down and needed to be recharged for the video to be played back. Thankfully, one of the youths offered the use of his small generator to power the computer.

It then became the moment of truth as the youths all sat eagerly waiting to watch themselves on the screen and the moment the first picture appeared they all shouted in excitement. As they watched the video they praised themselves and we could see the pride in their faces to have been able to come up with such a piece. At an interview with the Camera Man, he said it was the best moment in his entire life as he felt as if he had just been told he was going for Hajj (Mecca).

It was a wonderful moment and we were also proud to have initiated the process.

The benefits of the project

Despite the fact that we were unable to accomplish exactly what we had hoped, a PV on the problem on shooting range in the villages of Tohu community, one thing is certain; we have activated the community and initiated a process that is doable, sustainable and practical.

• The community has for the first time initiated a discussion on the problem of the shooting range from the two sides of the divide, the villagers seem to have dissipated a fear of authority and opened up. The most critical points of this reality are the way some of the villagers left the hall in indignation to express themselves and their position. The second being the decision, which reverberated, on the need to hold an expanded meeting one week from now to regurgitate the issues for further action. This would lead to sustained community dialogue, which would in-turn lead to sharpening of skills for debate, negotiation and resistance.
• The villagers have opened their eyes to the possibilities of using enlightenment, putting pressure and soliciting buy-in to solve their problems.
• The PV format has provided for them a platform to express themselves and to seek change for their community. Being able to handle a camera, record a shot, and screen such a shot is not just a lifelong experience, but it will exert some kind of pressure on those who tried it, to secure another camera with the hope of doing it on their own.

Conclusion

The team received word from the community leadership after six days that the district head had turned down the request to allow us conduct the PV; what is more, we were told that we cannot return to the community to continue the project in any way. The reason being that the community has ‘unnecessarily’ attached importance to the issue of shooting range and are not likely to discuss other matters.

The team has therefore decided to stop the project, having achieved the successes listed above and having substantially achieved our stated objective.

Team members

Suleiman Haruna

Jamila Mohammed

Samuel Lawal

Maryam Mbacha

Aager Taver

Elaigwu Ameh

Omore Orifa

Jamila Umar Afilaka

Alkasim Yahaya Kajuru

 

 

References

Becker, D. G. Development, Democracy and Dependency in Latin America: A Post –Imperialist View. Third World quarterly 6, 411-31. 1984

Bull, H., The Anarchical Society, Basingstoke Macmillan, 1995

Chris Lunch. ICP Update. Perspectives: Participatory video –a revolution in communication for development. Issue 34, November 2006. http://www.insightshare.org

Dagron, Alfonso Gumucio. Making Waves: Stories of Participatory Communication for Social Change. A Report to the Rockefeller Foundation (page 61). New York. 2001

Denison, Julie. Behavior Change — A Summary of Four Major Theories. Family Health International 1996 http://ww2.fhi.org/en/aids/aidscap/aidspubs/behres/bcr4theo.html 11/12/2004 4:51:45 AM

Editorial. ICP Update. Digital Video Empowers Communities in the South. Issue 34, November 2006. http://www.insightshare.org

Tegan Molony, Zeze Konie and Lauren Goodsmith. Through our eyes: participatory video in West Africa. http://www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR27/24.pdf

V. N. Dubey and S. K. Bhanja. Using Video in Rural Development. Perspectives on Development Communication. Nair, S and White S. (eds). New Delhi. 1993.

What YESSO is Bringing to the Table

What YESSO is Bringing to the Table

Suleiman Haruna

For any government to succeed, it must necessarily design deliberate policies and institutions to reduce poverty and enhance inclusion, domestic income and social cohesion. In Nigeria, many such projects and interventions abound, targeting different aspects of social assistance. YESSO is one such intervention.

The Federal Government of Nigeria received financing from the International Development Association (IDA) for Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) to support the proper coordination of social safety net projects across the country and the expansion of existing social assistance projects in partner states. Presently, these states are Bauchi, Cross River, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Niger, Kogi and Kwara. These projects are Skills for Job, Conditional Cash Transfer and Public Workfare. Discussion is ongoing with some other states. The project is to run from 2013 to 2020.

Before YESSO, many Social Safety Nets (SSN) projects have come and gone. Many have made a considerable difference, but had sustainability challenges. Others had issues with scope and size, while there were issues of duplication of responsibilities and cross servicing of beneficiaries. Indeed, the activities of many SSN could be said to be random.

YESSO was born with all these problems, and more, in mind. It was established to ensure the maximization of the benefits of a social assistance programme to the most-needy of communities, families and individuals, whether they reside in the rural or urban areas. This operation will therefore succeed because adequate preparations and shock absorbers have been put in place to ensure this.

It was discovered that most of the expenditure on social assistance is untargeted. Therefore, results and outcomes cannot be ascertained. Some project benefits end up with the wrong beneficiaries, in many cases, people who are not even poor, who see these benefits as largess. There was therefore the need to come up with a credible beneficiary selection process that would lead to the selection of people who are in genuine need of help. YESSO came up with a Community Based Targeting (CBT) process, where communities themselves choose which family and which individuals are the poorest and should form the first line of support. The communities themselves are chosen through an equitable geographic targeting process, which reflects an even spread among local governments in the states that are identified as poor by the National Poverty Map.

YESSO also provides a sequenced, ordered, effective and efficient process of data generation, processing, archiving, referencing and mining not just for its own use, but for use by other interested bodies. It also provides for easy tracking of beneficiaries and avoids double dipping – a process where an individual enjoys benefits from more than one support basket.

The operation, through its effective processes, is sure to revamp existing SSN interventions for better efficiency and effectiveness. This would take place through spot checks, monitoring, training, best practice references, and even study tours. In fact from the readiness and effectiveness visits of the World Bank and FOCU staff to states, compliance to laid down procedures was insisted upon and quality assured. This also breeds synchrony and peer review among all SSN interventions and programmes.

In order to ensure that the bulk of the project funds reach their target, YESSO was domiciled in existing government agencies, which have similar responsibilities. This is the same for the Federal Operations Coordinating Unit, which is domiciled in the PIU of the Graduate Internship Scheme in the Federal Ministry of Finance. GIS has the semblance of Skills for Job, one of the components of YESSO. The same obtains in all partner states. Using this system, savings are made on office accommodation, staffing and some ancillary costs.

The process of approval of any state into YESSO is the existence of one or more of S4J, PWF and/or CCT. The project must be fully active, with MDAs running them, with appropriate staffing and a budget line, which is being funded annually. The state must be ready to also establish the SOCU (State Operations Coordinating Unit), which will superintend the relevant MDAs and monitor compliance and progress.

The fact that most YESSO beneficiaries live in remote rural areas and are unbanked, leaves most projects with cash payment as the only option to settle the stipends of beneficiaries. In many cases, the money is tampered with by people who ordinarily should not have access to them. In the spirit of financial inclusion, therefore, and to ensure that beneficiaries have timely access and complete control of their funds, an enhanced and transparent payment delivery system has been developed. Besides the stipends, this system will expose beneficiaries to other aspects of financial inclusion like cash transfers and payments.

 

YESSO has set the pace with the development of the Single Register (SR) of beneficiaries, which is open to sharing by interested SSN mandate organizations. This register is unique in many ways; it was generated by the community, entered and secured under the strictest conditions. Therefore, in order to ensure its credibility, an efficient Management Information System has been developed and armed with a Data Management Protocol. This protocol will also regulate access and provide enhanced tracking processes.

In its tradition, YESSO has developed generic manuals for operations, Financial Management, M&E, CBT/SR and others for partner states to study and adapt for their use, reflecting their peculiarities and ensuring ownership. A task team of social protection specialists from the World Bank are always at hand to provide technical support both to FOCU and SOCU with a view to addressing challenges and grey areas. The project has also made provision for a Federal Operations Steering Committee (FOSC) made up of representatives of SP related MDAs to among other things provide overall guidance and oversight through implementation.

In conclusion, YESSO has proffered the need for a National Social Protection Policy to institutionalize a standard for social protection packages and serve as a guide to all operators in the country. The document was produced in collaboration with all stakeholders and is being finalized by the National Planning Commission for onward processing to the National Assembly. With the new policy, Social safety nets programmes are no longer seen as giving handouts to the poor, but are to be administered as an investment in human capital and an empowerment tool that will yield better human capital for the country. This would be the culmination of the coordination bit of the YESSO mandate.

Crafting a Future Through Graduate Internship: Sani’s 4G Wireless Network Dream

In line with the aspirations of the graduate internship scheme, beautiful flowers are blooming among graduate interns all over the country, with many interns being securely employed while many others carving their own niche in private business. This has proven that interventions meant to achieve quick wins and that are efficiently managed are bound to succeed.

The pilot scheme, which is targeted at just 50,000 of the multitude of the unemployed in Nigeria, has proven that with efficient management, every unemployed graduate has an opportunity to learn both hard and soft skills required in every work place. They have a chance to live a life with the little stipend they take home every month, helping them to manage scarce resources, and live on their own without having to live off their parents. This serves a psychological and emotional need in every individual, especially those that have left school and are still under their parents roof.

Dignity of labour, knowing that pay is earned, the value attached to time and its relation to the achievement of work objectives, the value of keeping and managing official secrets as well as work ethics all contribute to building a better person through internship. With internship, some graduates get a feel of management, having been directed to manage beats when their mentors are off; they get to see the challenges of managing personnel and resources and even information, they face these challenges and come out the other side stronger and more fortified to face more daunting challenges.

During Internship, friendships are established, friendships that may endure and even transform into networks for business and cooperation. These networks have resulted into cooperative societies in many states, which have grown into small scale businesses. These businesses, starting with meager savings from members have the potential to grow into conglomerates, employing thousands. Yet other interns have gone solo.

One solo project that GIS is proud of is in Gusau, Zamfara state, where an intern, whose area of study was marketing was deployed to ICT by his employers, Hoe Farmers, Ltd. In the tradition of GIS, registered graduates are required to indicate sectors and sub sectors where they wish to work, not necessarily tied to their area of study. As the firm has secured a contract with the state government to map 450,000 farming families across the state, he had the task of managing the data generated by this study. He eventually developed a software to do this, and as he progressed, made many other innovations that eased the work and hastened delivery period for the firm.

He had witnessed the poor quality of network as provided by internet service providers in the state, especially the capital because of his frequent cyber-forays and eventually came to the realization that someone had to do something about it, and that someone should be him. He developed a business plan and fine-tuned it with the help of his employers, who suggested that he requested funding from another special intervention of government, YouWIN. He eventually won a 10 million Naira grant to establish this business, which is targeted at providing a 4G wireless telecommunication network service in Gusau township.

The service, which is the best among states of the old Sokoto state (Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi),   is meant to cover a 6 – kilometer radius in Gusau to provide an efficient wireless network service to businesses, schools and other establishments as well as individual users at a price commensurate with user requirement, in other words, cheaply efficient. The service has the capacity to run for 21 hours on alternative energy and uses fibre-network, rather than VSAT.

The spirit of starting small, coupled with the background of the intern, struggling through school, energized the low rates charged for the service, mostly so that students can afford it and they can use the internet to develop themselves and be part of the cyber community. The project will surely open the portal that will allow Zamfara state to be part of the knowledge society.

Beyond this service, the company also provides web design and hosting, program software and technical consultancy. It also boasts the best internet café in Gusau township, with initial 6 containerized cyber cafes spread in key areas of the city, each equipped with 20 computers. The firm also provides ICT training.

Speaking at the launch, the Project Director, Graduate Internship Scheme, Mr. Peter Papka was full of praises for both the employer, MD Hoe Farmers, Hon. Abdulkadir Nasir who provided mentorship, training and the enabling environment for the intern to grow and excel. 75 of the interns were employed by the state government and two have won You WIN grants. GIS indebted to this quality of mentorship.

For the intern, Ahmed Sani Ibrahim (GI-ZAM-MAD-0003), the MD of Ansar Technology, he has proven that if an intern takes his destiny into his own hands, he is sure to excel. For providing cheap and accessible internet service, he has linked Zamfara to the world and would be recognized not only at home but abroad. Mr. Papka called on other interns to use Ahmed as an example in their lives.

On his part, the MD of Hoe Farmers, Hon. Nasir, commended Ahmed for being a unique intern who had a drive to succeed and acknowledged GIS and YouWIN for providing the platform and funding to actualize the dream of the intern.

Ahmed Sani Ibrahim commended his employers, the Federal Government and his first set of customers. He commended GIS for the mentorship and the support he has received.

Youths in Agriculture: The perspective of Graduate Internship Scheme.

By Suleiman Haruna

The  most crucial period in the life of a Nigerian graduate begins with the completion of national service. The dreams that have piled up after years of study and exposure to endless possibilities, either come true or pop like balloons. Some graduates get jobs, others start small businesses, while yet others remain disconnected and roam the streets in search of direction. This sometimes takes years, leading to disillusionment, anger, and in extreme cases, negative payback.

Key things that jobs do to graduates are providing a means of livelihood, a constant destination for the day, a stream of colleagues to share with and above all a justification for all those years spent studying. Even though these are the yearnings of all graduates, only those that get jobs benefit from them; but those that do not have jobs now have a bridge that will link them to the job market and expose them to all the benefits listed above, at least on a temporary scale.

Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) has provided the bridge that transports graduates from the classroom to the labour market in a transmogrified, sharpened, blended, garnished, motivated format that makes them more appealing, hands-on and ready to perform the task set before them. GIS has done this to thousands of graduates for over a year now and every one of them has a different story to tell, putting the lie to the assertion that Nigerian graduates are not employable.

GIS can stand by this claim based on the number of graduates that got full employment within a few months of internship, others get retained at the end, or get employed by other firms that find them skillful and experienced – something they were not before their internship. The firms that take these graduates are in every sector; public and private, providing a kaleidoscope of experiences for both the firms and the interns across the country.

Beyond these individual experiences, there have been challenges that have appeared in the polity that require new windows of solution. Many states governments have over time abandoned agriculture and now desire to get back to it and make it attractive, especially to young people. They desire to contract the services of agricultural scientists, agricultural economists, agricultural engineers, veterinarians, extension workers and many more professionals in that sector. Problem is they do not want to employ workers, especially those that are not hands-on.

In Zamfara state, a conglomerate of four firms in the agriculture sector, Hoe Farmers, Food, afrimea trading and applied for 500 graduates and got approval for 250, the interns were primarily trained to provide extension services to farmers in their local governments of residence. This, according to the coordinator of the conglomerate, Hon. Abdulkadir Nasir, has become necessary as farmers are now on their own.

“The public extension workers are getting old, few and are retiring, while the service is still in demand, as farmers need to have climate information, improved seedlings, options in procuring fertilizer and information on programs and schemes of government they can benefit from.” He said GIS has provided a convenient window to get graduates that can be trained and motivated to take over the extension sub-sector and build a career along the agriculture value chain.

“We have trained and deployed the graduates and they are now in the field in their various locations to provide extension services; we will continue to update them to be able to do their jobs well. We have asked interns in each local government to register a cooperative association with a view to providing them a basis to continue as a business after the expiration of 12 months of internship. Each intern contributes N5000 monthly, out of their N30,000 stipend, to their cooperative account, so that they can use the funds to secure facilities from lending institutions. The farmers, seeing the importance of the services provided, may subscribe to the cooperatives for regular updates and queries, thus divesting government of the service eventually.”

The interns have their individual stories – Hassan Bangaje studied Cooperative Economics. He claims to encourage his colleagues on how to maximize the benefits of the cooperative associations they have set up. He participates fully in the primary assignment of providing extension services to farmers. As a secondary posting, he works in the fisheries unit of the state agricultural service centre at ..where he is learning how to raise catfish. He is already saving money to start his own fish farm to sustain himself. Mahe Bala studied Botany, works in the same unit but he has already set up his own catfish farm, which he did with savings from his stipend, he plans to sustain himself after internship. The same goes for Ibrahim Hassan Magazu, who studied agricultural engineering and plans to set up his own farm after exit.

Other interns have branched out and taken advantage of the financial inclusion policy of government, which has birthed mobile money and agent banking businesses. All interns have received training in this area and they are encouraging their farmers and community members to subscribe and make and receive payments through them. Francesca Nnaji and Amina Suleiman Mohammed are examples of interns that are taking this business seriously as it is expanding very fast and will eventually obviate the need for them to seek other paid jobs as they now make between 12,000 and 20,000 monthly. Abdurrahman Salihi has invested into agro-chemical business, for which he makes supplies to government and private agencies and believes he has no need for a paid job anymore. Hamisu Hamidu who works in the poultry unit claims to have saved N40,000 and set up a poultry business, which is doing very well.

Hon. Nasir said they have introduced all interns to irrigation farming, which is good business in the state, as well as cooperative housing which the interns can use their cooperative societies to apply for from the Federal Mortgage Bank and the National Health Insurance Scheme to enable the interns to benefit from the scheme’s Community-based health insurance package. The interns have also been keyed into the state’s tree planting campaign to ward-off desertification. “our hope is that this scheme should have a policy to make it permanent, so that this youth unemployment cancer can be done with once and for all”

Within the first six months of the scheme in Zamfara, the state government has sought the permission of the conglomerate and employed 75 of the interns, while Teasy Mobile, a mobile money firm has employed 7 interns to run its business in various localities due to the interest they have shown and progress they have made since their orientation. The conglomerate is recognized as a shining example in the utilization of interns and have been granted approval to replace the 82 interns that have moved on.

Various sectors are benefitting from the deployment of GIS interns across the country, each in their own way, having their own story. GIS will share those stories, for, there is love in sharing, especially for this project of social protection and common good.

Participating is simple. Graduates visit http://www.wyesurep.gov.ng to register, indicating their degrees, location and sectors of choice, then they wait to be matched to an employer that indicates interest to have them. The employers also register on the same site, indicating their business as well as location and branch details. They get called to confirm registration and tax details in order to screen out those that are not eligible, they also get physical visits to confirm their statements during the calls. Once they qualify, they get an approval with a ceiling on the number of graduates they can match.

Governments, businesses, NGOs, Civil Society organizations, professional bodies and institutions and any viable and verifiable organization that has mentoring capacity is eligible to apply. By so doing, they will be fulfilling their corporate social responsibility, getting free labour and selecting staff for permanent appointment with ease.

GIS is one of the social safety net components of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).

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How to Drastically Reduce Unemployment

HOW TO DRASTICALLY REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT
Suleimanharuna.wordpress.com
@suleimanharuna
One of the most critical questions facing any government today is how it could reduce the spate of unemployment among its citizens. No country, whether big or small can deny this problem. Instead of employment however, what is becoming the glaring reality, is the need to sack more people. This can easily be explained away on increasing automation, necessity of cuts on personnel and overhead spending, and improved human resource management, which always points to trimmer systems. The issue therefore is not to employ, but to sack.
 
How did the world get to such a pass? The question of engaging idle minds so they don’t turn out to be ‘devil’s workshop’ has continued to be one of the most primary challenges of humanity. For one, there are too many people to engage. Every year, millions turn 18, out of which many graduate from schools, with certificates or as failures and pool themselves into the vast ocean called labour market. Lucky ones who have skills from their education or their chosen vocations find avenues to employ themselves or get employed. Millions more continue the ‘more you look, less you see’ struggle.
Nigeria’s Minister of National Planning had declared that unemployment rate for 2011 stood at 23.9%; which translates to almost 40 million citizens. Another figure from the National Bureau of Statistics had indicated that over 70% of Nigerians live on a USD a day or less. These figures have actually been rolling over for decades to reach the monumental level they are today.
Governments, apart from the key responsibility of ensuring security for life and property are also mandated to provide a means of livelihood for their citizens. Resources to employ are always scarce, useful skills are always low, while, not addressing the situation is breeding fresh problems for the polity. Intelligent youths set their minds to do the only thing left to do; use their heads, literally. They defraud, kidnap, rob, and even do the unthinkable, give up hope and go into suicidal missions.  It is therefore not an option for governments to allow this to happen as the repercussions are far worse than the fear of the cost of getting everyone engaged.
Now, how do you drastically reduce the number of these unemployed citizens? It is by coming up with stop gap programmes that can engender hope among them and douse the desperation that follows their despondence. Not all job seekers are looking for N100,000-a-month jobs. Most would gladly accept lower pay that could address their immediate needs, while still looking ahead to better opportunities. These stop gap efforts, by virtue of their low financial implication can go round many people.
Remember the partial withdrawal of petroleum subsidy at the dawn of 2012? It sparked off recriminations within the polity such that government had to guarantee that the funds accrued from the subsidy withdrawal would be re-infused into the system, through a Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, which was quickly launched early February, 2012. One half goes into development of critical infrastructure and the other in developing social safety nets, the funds are shared among the three tiers of Government.
The safety net angle led to the introduction of the Community Services, Women and Youth Empowerment Program in October, 2012, which oversees the Community Services Scheme, meant for the unskilled and uneducated. So far, about 120,000 Nigerians are benefiting from the scheme. The Graduate Internship Scheme is meant for unemployed graduates. Each beneficiary is to benefit for a period of one year, after which it is assumed they would have improved their employability in the labour market, or even get retained by their firms of engagement, or even seek other opportunities through other government programmes like the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin), where they can develop business plans and get loans to run their businesses independently.
The workability of the Graduate Internship Scheme depends largely on the involvement of Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations as well as private business enterprises in all sectors of the economy. They need to request for such interns. Over 70,000 Nigerian graduates, far higher than the 50,000 per year threshold of the programme have applied and have been registered; only a few hundred however, have been engaged. The firms have a number of advantages if they engage the graduates. They get free labour at government expense as government will pay the monthly stipends of the interns, they get to select the best interns to join their workforce and they get a cost-free opportunity to render their Corporate Social Responsibility. The project is also planning other incentives like tax rebates for companies registered with the Project.
The problem of unemployment is having its impact on all citizens and all sectors of the economy. It is only through inter-sectoral synergy therefore, that the problem of youth unemployment can be tackled. Government has provided the funds and the enablement, the youths are willing, registered and ready; what remains is for firms to do their own bit by engaging them.
 
 

RETURNING SMILES TO UNHAPPY FACES

RETURNING SMILES TO UNHAPPY FACES.