16.05.2018
CODIENE: ONE OUT OF MANY ABUSED SUBSTANCES.
Ruana Meyer, a BBC journalist carried out an investigation on substance abuse in northern Nigeria. The investigative video documentary tagged ‘sweet sweet codeine’ was aired by BBC Africa eye 2 weeks ago.
The documentary evoked a lot of emotions and opened up a discussion that is long overdue both on and off social media.
Substance abuse, among the youths in northern Nigeria is an important discussion that has for long being evaded for unknown reasons. It is sadly a canker worm that has eaten deep into the society majorly because, we all watched it thrive.
Well, it is better late than never they say.
In the words of Pharm. Chijoke “…drug abuse is with us. It’s happening closer to us than we can imagine. It’s wrecking our youths, our future, our pride. All hands must be on deck towards solving this problem.”
An observant walk down most streets and neighbouring streets that house youth facilities in Nigeria, be it educational, or entertainment facilities would prove that the level of substance abuse among youths has gone beyond what meets the eyes. If you decide to count empty bottles of abused substances; drugs that are to be used solely on prescription, you may lose count as you are sure to see a lot of this empty bottles laying around the street. Also most of the Nigerian pop music whose major consumers are youths encourage drug abuse. The recent music called ‘science student’ and ‘codeine diet’ are evidences of how drug abuse has become a norm among the youths
The Nigerian minister of health professor Isaac Adewole the Minister of Health Professor Isaac Adewole, on May 1, 2018 announced that the Nigerian government had banned the issuance of permits for the importation of codeine. In addition to the ban, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) shortly afterwards announced the shutdown of the three pharmaceutical companies indicted in the BBC video for their alleged involvement in codeine syrup black market sales; Emzor Pharmaceuticals Industry Limited, Peace Standard Pharmaceuticals Limited, and Bioraj Pharmaceuticals Limited. Emzor however came on social media to clarify that just one of its production units have been temporarily shut down.
All of these, leave me seeking for answers to the question; did the Nigerian government have to wait for BBC? Will the codeine ban make any difference?
Taking statistic of the number of mentally ill patients and the cause of their mental illness in most of the psychiatric hospitals in Nigeria especially northern Nigeria would have been enough prompt to make the Nigerian government swing into serious action on the issue of drug abuse. This is not to undermine the current efforts being made but to point out how much we trivialise important issues until they get out of hand. What will become of a society whose most important resource; the youth are locked behind walls of psychiatric hospitals, chained to restrict them from harming themselves and others simply because they chose to abuse drugs that were supposed to be used for cure. Ironically, they become the cause of ailments.
It is interesting to note that an issue this important, resulted in a debate among some twitter users on the subject ‘drugs are abused more in the south than the north’. It seems the initiators of this debates saw it as a defence mechanism when there was obviously no need to get defensive over what is a common knowledge.
Substance abuse is a Nigerian problem that isn’t restricted to any region. It is a serious problem the youths have to face day in day out. In fact, it isn’t even related to a particular gender anymore unlike what was obtainable in the past. Women didn’t use to be a part of the drug abuse circle but lately, a lot of young ladies, teenagers and grown women engage in substance abuse. The question is, will the codeine ban make any difference? Is it the only substance abused by young people? Why do aa lot of youths resort to substance abuse?
Codeine is just one of the many substances abused by young people. People make use of things like ‘solution’ even common fuel to get ‘high’. Idleness and frustration as well as peer pressure turn a lot of youths to addicts.
Marijuana, Indian hemp and cocaine are all illegal to import as well as use. This hasn’t stopped them from finding their ways to the Nigerian streets.
After the ban, active measures should be put to ensure the ban is effective. There should be a lot of sensitization at the grassroots level, rehabilitation centres as well as counselling should be encouraged and enabled for those who are willing to come clean. Above all, this should not be a thing of the moment but a war that is fought until drug and substance abuse become a thing of the past.
0 Comments