Government Must Break The Supply Chain Of Illicit Drugs In Nigeria – Sunday Dare, Minister for Youth and Sports

To commemorate the International Day Against Drug Abuse And Illicit Trafficking that’s held annually on June 26, the MTN Foundation, in collaboration with Netng, Business Day, MTV Base and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) organized a virtual event tagged ‘Better Knowledge For Better Care: An Ally Against Drug Abuse.’

The event had the likes of Dakore Akande, Nedu, David Jones David, Sunday Dare, the Minister for Youth and Sports, Dr Yewande Oshodi a psychiatrist, among others as panelists to shed light on the issue of substance abuse in Nigeria. 

With a youth population of over 30 million, Nigeria faces a dire drugs and substance abuse situation. From marijuana to crack, opioids and other substances, drugs are in high demand by the youth and too easy to come by.

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare was one of the panelists of the live event and he shared his opinion on what the government should do to combat the flow of drugs into the streets.

According to him, the government has woken up a bit late in making the fight against drugs amongst the youth an “agenda item”. He says “institutional support is what has been largely missing on our part. We’re almost ten years late in starting.”

He mentions that the government should look into the laws that govern drug use in the country and  more than just criminalizing the use of these illicit drugs, the government should also look into their supply. “There’s a demand, but we must break the supply chain,” he adds. 

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He also maintains that the government should look into creating a system that looks out for the mental health of the youth, stating that the Nigerian youth population is largely depressed and there is no structure looking out for them or taking care of them. “Most of our youths go into drugs because they’re idle and unable to advance their careers.”

He concludes that the government must have “a system that rewards good behaviour as well as punishes to the maximum, bad behaviour.”