From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has intensified its campaigns across the Niger Delta to end cultism and drug abuse among youths as part of efforts to sustain the peace in the region.
The Acting Managing Director, NDDC, Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua on Wednesday led officials of the commission to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State where they sensitized students drawn from various secondary schools in the state on the dangers of cultism, drug abuse and other social vices.
The commission, which earlier held similar programmes in Cross River and Akwa Ibom states with support from the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana, also distributed educational tabs configured with one year subscriptions and smart school bags to the students.
Audu-Ohwavborua, who was represented by the NDDC Director of Youths and Sports, Offiong Ephraim, at the one-day seminar tagged, “the Dangers of Drug Abuse and Cultism”, said apart from illicit hard drugs, students should abstain from taking drugs without prescriptions from medical experts.
Audu-Ohwavborua said there was a correlation between drug abuse and cultism stressing that secret cult members were always induced by drugs to engage in social vices.
He said: “We have had a problem in this country, not just in this country, as a whole about drugs and drug abuse. So it is always good to see a medical practitioner or a doctor before you consume anything into your body.
“But the one we feel concern about is the use of illicit, illegal and all kinds of drugs. We saw that even the students are more compelled to doing that than even adults.
“We discovered that most members of one cult or the other are people that are taking drugs because it is believed that maybe the drugs will make them high, there are some things you might not ordinarily do but the moment you become high, you probably didn’t even know yourself again and you indulge in various nefarious activities.”
The Bayelsa State Director of the NDDC, Theophilus Alagoa, harped on the need for students and others to avoid self-medication, saying it could lead to their untimely death.
He said: “Some of us are taking it. We may even be taking supplements without prescriptions. It is a serious matter”.
Speaking during the panel discussion, the Special Adviser to the NDDC boss on Youths and Sports, Udengs Eradiri, said the programme was designed to cover the nine states of the Niger Delta.
Eradiri said the event offered a unique opportunity to educate the youths about the ills of drug abuse and cultism, catching them young from secondary schools.
“These are going to be the young ambassadors of the NDDC to cause positive change in the society. They will talk to their colleagues on the dangers of drug abuse and cultism.
“The tabs we have given to them are e-learning tabs that have been subscribed for one year covering a wide range of courses that will help develop and expand their knowledge. We want them to invest their time on their studies and through this process resist societal pressures.