African Council on Narcotics (ACON) plans to set up 200 Drug-Free Clubs in Secondary Schools in Abuja - Federal Capital Territory to foster drug abuse prevention among teenagers. This project will create critical awareness to support substance abuse prevention education among Nigerian children in other to check their increasing involvement in the substance abuse culture.
There has been a prevalence of abuse of illicit substances in Nigeria in recent times. This prevalence is the direct consequence of the increase in the supply of narcotics and psychotropic substances in urban and suburban areas of the country. Drugs like cocaine, crack, codeine, amphetamines, tramadol, marijuana and LSD among others are now being abused by teenagers. Consequently, our youth are involved in banditry, insurgency, robbery, kidnapping, prostitution and other vices.
This problem will be stemmed or curtailed by creating critical awareness via a platform that will support drug abuse prevention education among secondary school students through Drug-Free Clubs. Setting up Drug-Free Clubs in secondary schools will create the necessary awareness about the dangers of drug abuse and thereby curtailing youth involvement in illicit substances. Needless to say, this will impact positively in the reduction of criminal activities involving teenagers and young adults.
This project will immediately impact over 20000 students in 200 secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, in the first instance. It has the prospect of replication and self-sustainability. It is one of the best ways a new hope will be added to the bud promise of future generations in our country being the 7th most populous nation in the world, with a lot of regional influence.
