…. Preaches Against Stigmatization
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has expressed concern that the country was not making desired progress in the fight against drug abuse because critical stakeholders were not doing enough to combat the menace.
Governor Diri stated this at the grand finale of this year’s commemoration of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in the state on Monday at the Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall, Government House, in Yenagoa.
The Governor who spoke through the Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, explained that government at all levels, the Church, the mosque, parents and the youths are to blame for the current upsurge in drug and substance abuse in the country.
His words, “To what extent have we also expanded the campaign beyond what we do as a ritual every year. Sometimes we even misappropriate our targets. Secondary school students are not the only ones engaging in illicit drugs”
“Sometimes government does not get the right targets. We must first identify the problem and diagnosed it well before we can trace the solutions.
“So what are the causes of drug abuse in our society, we cannot just level it against those in our secondary schools. We have areas we call drinking spots, and I stand to be corrected that over 70% of the energy drinks sold in those places are all intoxicant.
“And so, government must take the issue of drug abuse beyond this annual ritual. We must take the campaigns to our borders.
” We must also address the issue of stigmatization because it is the enemy to the success of any programme. Once, you start stigmatizing people, they will not come out and make themselves available for the the purposes of getting rehabilitated..
“So, society must stop stigmatization and we must try as much as possible to empathize with victims of drug abuse and not to sympathize with them. We really have to encourage ourselves and be on top of this issue.”
He said it was not enough to come together to observe the ceremony every year without making concerted effort to target the anti-drug abuse campaign at all the social demographics in society.
According to the Governor, the real battle should be directed against the manufacturers and traffickers of illicit drugs, and advised against stigmatizing victims of drug abuse by showing empathy towards them.
He said the State Government was poised to give all the needed support to its Committee on Drug Abuse Prevention and other relevant public agencies to tackle the menace in the state.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, King Bubaraye Dakolo, the Ibenanaowei of the Ekpetiama kingdom, said the illicit drug trafficking business attracts over $300 billion dollars annually.
The royal father, who is also the state Chairman of Traditional Rulers Council, advised the state government to work closely with the security agencies to secure the marine and land borders to checkmate movement of hard drugs into the state.
In her welcome address, the Chairperson of the Bayelsa State Drug Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee, Dr Faith Zibs-Godwin, thanked Governor Douye Diri for strongly standing behind the committee so far.
She noted that drug abuse results in numerous life-threatening health conditions like liver damage, kidney failure, high blood pressure, and other health conditions, and called for all hands to be on deck to win the war against drug abuse and trafficking.
In their separate goodwill messages, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Pabara Newton Igwele, and the Commissioner of Police, Mr Ben Okolo, stressed the need for people to take the issue of preventing drug abuse seriously, as failure to do so would cause collosal damage to society.
The Health Commissioner, who was represented by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Dr Toyin Azebi, explained that drug abuse means any use of drug that is not according to a doctor’s prescription.
Highpoint of the ceremony was the presentation of cash gifts to winners of a secondary school essay competition on the dangers of drug abuse in society
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