2021 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking Drug Free World Africa Commend NDLEA For WADA Initiative Calls it Strategic Approach_ Engr China Knaru
National Trend News reports that Engr China Nkaru the Intercontinental president of drug free world Africa on Friday 2nd of July in a press briefing commended NDLEA for the brilliant initiative of War Against Drug Abuse WADA.
The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiated by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), is not just a slogan, but a call to action, Engr China said on Saturday during a press briefing.
She spoke at the launch of the initiative on a day that also coincides 2021 UN International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Engr China Nkaru went further to expanciate the composition of the activities that played on the 26th of June that is set aside by the united nation to mark the day.
The day has the theme “Share Facts on Drugs. Save Lives.”
It is annually marked on June 26 to strengthen action and cooperation in achieving a world free of drug abuse.
According to Engr China the war against drug abuse and illicit trafficking is a war that must be fought by well-meaning citizens.
“It is therefore my pleasure to support the declaration on behalf of the good people of Nigeria, a War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), not just as a slogan, but a call for civil action for all Nigerians to take active part in this war.
“Let me say that this war is deadly than the insurgency we have in the Northeastern part of the country or the acts of banditry in the Northwest or acts of kidnapping that transcends all the geopolitical zones of this country because it is a war that is destroying three generations.
”I’ve seen clips of where grandparents are on drugs, parents are on drugs, and by extension, their wards, their children are on drugs.
“So, this is a war that is targeting three generations in a stretch.
”I believe strongly that every effort must be put in place to ensure that we deal with the issues of substance abuse and trafficking and manufacture so that we can get to the root cause as ably elucidated by our keynote speaker this afternoon.
”I believe strongly, with every bit of conviction, that if we are able to deal with the issue of drug abuse, our security challenges will drastically reduce as we walk toward a drug-free Nigeria.”
Engr China said NDLEA, implored Nigerians from every strata of life, including traditional and religious leaders, local leadership at every level, to be vigilant and to support WADA.
Buhari charged the NDLEA to intensify efforts at ridding the country of criminal elements.
NDLEA added that criminal elements had made forest areas their hideouts, from where they had been launching criminal onslaughts as well as for farming marijuana.
“She suggested to NDLEA to develop a robust risk-communication and community engagement strategy that will not only disseminate the four pillars of the plan to responsible entities, but deal with destroying production sites and laboratories.
“NDLEA should also break the supply chain, discourage drug use and prosecute offenders as well as traffickers, rehabilitate addicts and enforce relevant laws.
“She want to particularly draw the attention of the agency to the fact that the use of many of our forests as criminal hideouts is because large swathes of cannabis plantations are hidden deep within those forests.”
She also urged families, schools, Civil Society Organisations, professional associations, religious organisations, the academia, community leaders and individuals to work for the common good to rid communities of drug use and trafficking.
She appreciated stakeholders and international collaborators, especially the European Union and the UN Office for Drugs and Control, for their unwavering support to the nation’s drug control efforts, including the development of a roadmap