World Drug Day: Odunayo Sanya to lead panel discussion at MTN ‘Drug Convos’ on Friday

The Acting Executive Secretary of MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya, will join other panelists on Friday for the ‘Drug Convos’, an online event to discuss and proffer way out of the present drug abuse conundrum among Nigerian youths.

She will be on a six-member panel that is scheduled to speak on “Better Knowledge and Better Care: An Ally Against Drug Abuse” on Friday June 26, 2020 at 2pm.

Other panelists include Country Manager, ViacomCBS Networks Africa, Bada Akintunde-Johnson; Country Representative of UNODC, Oliver Stolpe; Director General of Christ Against Drug Abuse Ministry (CADAM) Dr. Adedokun Adedeji, Nollywood actors Dakore Egbuson and Ini Edo.

The event, organised by MTN Nigeria in partnership with The Netng, Business Day newspaper, music channel MTV Base and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is in commemoration of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking also known as ‘World Drug Day’, observed annually on June 26 since 1989.

Nearly 15% of Nigeria’s adult population (around 14.3 million people) reported a “considerable level” of use of psychoactive drug substances, a 2019 survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Center for Research and Information on Substance Abuse with technical support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed.

This is part of the reasons why MTN is hosting the ‘Drug Convos’ to collate bold ideas towards solving the drug and substance abuse issue among Nigerian youths.