NAOWA sensitises women on drug abuse, healthy homes
By Sumaila Ogbaje
The Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association (NAOWA) has sensitised wives of military personnel on drug abuse prevention, urging them to strengthen family values and create safe home environments to protect children from substance abuse.
The President of NAOWA, Dr Safiyyah Shaibu, made the call at the association’s National Executive Meeting in Abuja on Thursday during a sensitisation programme on drug prevention, treatment and care.
Shaibu said the programme was organised to equip members with knowledge that would help them protect their families and communities from the growing threat of drug abuse.
She urged members to apply the knowledge gained and share it with women in their respective chapters.
According to her, leadership should be guided by integrity and selfless service, while resolutions reached at the executive meeting must translate into practical programmes with measurable impact.
She said the association would also strengthen its multipurpose cooperative society to provide members with greater opportunities for savings, investments and economic empowerment.
Shaibu described the drug prevention lecture by experts from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as timely, saying mothers and wives have a critical role in recognising early warning signs of substance abuse and supporting affected persons.
In his lecture, an Assistant Commander-General of Narcotics, NDLEA, Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, warned that drug abuse had become a major threat to families, particularly within military communities.
Ibrahim said the family remained the first school for every child, stressing that children learn more from the behaviour of parents than from verbal instructions.
According to him, parents must intentionally create positive home environments built on love, discipline, communication and moral values to prevent substance abuse.
Ibrahim said many young people were introduced to drugs through peer pressure, poor parenting, cultural practices, trauma, depression and easy access to illicit substances.
He noted that Nigeria was no longer merely a transit route for illicit drugs but had become a country facing growing production, consumption and trafficking challenges.
The NDLEA official urged parents to monitor their children’s activities, know their friends, engage them in regular conversations and set clear family rules.
He advised parents against leaving children unsupervised on digital devices, warning that social media and negative online influences had become new gateways to drug abuse.
Ibrahim said substance dependence was a medical condition rather than a moral failure, adding that treatment and recovery were possible with early intervention and family support.
He called on mothers to build resilience in their children by teaching responsibility, confidence, contentment and the ability to resist negative peer influence.
According to him, preventing drug abuse is more effective than treating addiction after it has taken root.
“Resilience is not just the ability to overcome challenges; it is the strength to prevent them,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Yakubu Uba