The Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Kwara State command, Hajia Fatima Abiola-Popoola, has urged the National Universities Commission to make drug tests a requirement for admission into tertiary institutions.
The commander, while answering questions from journalists in Ilorin, on Sunday, said students should pass drug tests before their admission into the universities.
This, she said, would serve as prevention measures as she lamented the increase in the number of drug users in the country, especially females.
“According to a 2018 survey, 14.3 million people are using drugs in Nigeria; one out of seven persons in Nigeria is a drug user, while one out of every four drug users is a woman.
“This shows that the society is in trouble. This is because a woman is the administrator of the home and now that women have started abusing drugs, then the society is in trouble,” she said.
Abiola-Popoola harped on the synergy with traditional rulers in the crusade against drug trafficking and abuse, stating that success in the fight depended on the support of the stakeholders at the behest of the traditional institution.
“The traditional rulers have some control over their people and they are the closest to the communities.
“Whenever they say a word, it almost becomes a law among their people who hold them in high esteem. They have a stronghold of their communities, and that is why they are very important in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
“We have been making use of the traditional rulers over the years. When traditional heads rise in their respective communities against drug traffickers, their people will join them in the fight.
“In 2021, the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, launched the War Against Drug Abuse and in launching it, all traditional rulers were represented because the aim of this WADA is community mobilisation, which will be led by the traditional rulers,” she said.
Abiola-Popoola appealed to traditional rulers to pay attention to their communities by placing people in strategic positions to help them gather information on the drug situation and invite NDLEA when the need arose.
The commander said she had earlier visited the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of the Kwara State Council of Traditional Rulers, Dr Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, expressed gratitude to the monarch for his support for the new leadership of the agency in the state.
“The Emir of Ilorin assured us of his support and cooperation. He even promised that other traditional heads in Kwara State will support us because any community that we are going into will be informed that we are coming, and this is very important for us, and we are grateful to the Emir,” she said.
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