By Daniel Obaje

Drug prevention advocates and law enforcement officers have urged parents, teachers, and community leaders to intensify efforts toward guiding teenagers away from drug abuse and harmful peer influence.

They made the call  at a two-day workshop on substance use prevention, organised by the Siki Springs Foundation in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), FCT Command.

The event focused on educating secondary school students about the dangers of drug abuse, how to identify harmful substances and ways to resist peer pressure.

According to the  stakeholders, prevention is cheaper and more effective than rehabilitation, which often comes too late.

Joy Onatoyinbo, Chief Executive Officer of Siki Springs Foundation, stressed that awareness alone was not enough, but more practical training was needed for students on the dangers of drugs abuse.

“We need to educate the students, like a training workshop, to see this substance being shown to them so that they can recognize it and protect themselves from being influenced by their peers or even older ones who may take advantage of them.’’

Onatoyinbo noted that the foundation focuses on government secondary schools where exposure to negative influences is high.

She therefore highlighted funding as challenges while emphasizing on the importance of offering the training free of charge.

She called on individuals and organizations to support early prevention initiatives, describing them as cost-effective and essential for national security.

“Getting funds is basically the challenge because we would not want the students who will be trained for this two-day workshop to pay a dime so that they can be encouraged. Already they are having challenges paying tuition fees.

“My focus is actually government secondary schools because these are children from backgrounds where a higher percentage of them may not be able to afford tuition fees, not to talk of a training like this.

“We would say it’s less costly preventing substance abuse compared to when you have to rehab the person. We shouldn’t wait for rehabilitation.

‘’We shouldn’t wait because they become a threat to national security. It is time now for them to assist us so that we can help these children, train them during this summer class,” she added.

Similarly, Augustine Nduka, Chief Superintendent of Narcotics, NDLEA FCT Command, underscored the role of families, schools and religious institutions in curbing drug abuse among teenagers.

“The advice we keep giving to teenagers is that they need to open up to their teachers, they need to open up to their parents, they need to avoid peers that are into drug use, and they need to get involved in religious activities inside their worship places.

“They need to understand that drug use affects their brain, affects their emotions, and they will not be able to achieve their life dreams if they continue in that direction.”

Participants at the workshop highlighted the knowledge and practical skills gained from the sessions broadened their perspectives on key issues discussed, they equally appreciated the interactive approach and expert facilitators.

Mercy Nnamele, a participant at the workshop, said that early detection was key in tackling drug abuse.

“Drug abuse is really increasingly becoming a problem among youths and one thing I learnt is that, you don’t wait to catch your child, try your best.

‘’If you even suspect,  you can take them for the drug test. And once you do that, you can pick the symptoms early or if they find those traces, they can deal with it early.

Another participant, Deborah Sen, urged schools to invest more in preventive programmes without waiting for government.

“I advise schools to invest in programmes like this, to invest in workshops like this because sitting down here and listening have changed my perception a lot.

According to Aisha Haruna, the workshop was an eye-opener on the harmful effects of drug use, adding that “I learnt that drugs are very harmful to the health and it can easily cause damage to the health if we take them.(NAN)

Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz