By Nworisa Michael
The Coalition of Northern Groups has raised serious concern over the growing rate of drug abuse among students, youths and married women across Northern Nigeria, warning that the trend poses a major threat to social stability and leadership development in the region.
The alarm was raised by the National Coordinator of the Coalition, Jamilu Charachi, during a one-day public lecture organised by the student wing of the association for secondary and tertiary institution students in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Speaking to journalists after the event, Charachi disclosed that recent statistics show an alarming level of drug consumption in Nigeria, with Northern states emerging as major consumer hubs despite the absence of drug manufacturing industries in the region.
According to him, the lecture, themed “Building Responsible Student Leadership, Combating Drug Abuse, Thuggery, Extremism, Hate Speech and Campus Violence through Mentorship Education and Value Re-orientation,” was designed to educate students on the dangers of drug abuse and its negative impact on leadership, productivity and societal growth.
Charachi lamented that drug abuse has continued to erode the social fabric of Northern Nigeria, citing seizures of millions of tramadol pills along major routes linking Zaria and Kano as evidence of the scale of the problem. He noted that Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states remain among the highest consumer areas, describing the situation as disturbing given that the region does not host drug production facilities.
He further revealed that drug abuse is no longer limited to youths and students, adding that married women have increasingly become involved in the consumption of hard drugs such as tramadol and codeine. He explained that while the lecture focused on students, it was because early value reorientation among young people offers the strongest hope for long-term societal change.
Describing the event as more than an academic gathering, Charachi said the lecture represented a collective responsibility to shape character, values and leadership orientation among the younger generation. He warned that failure to address drug abuse would continue to fuel insecurity, extremism, banditry, kidnapping and other social vices ravaging the region.
The Chairman of the occasion and Chairman of Gubio Local Government Area of Borno State, Bulamali Gubio, described the programme as timely and urged youths to rise to their responsibility as future leaders. He stressed that the focus on drug abuse and extremism reflects the depth of challenges confronting development efforts in the country.
Also speaking, the Director of Logistics and Finance of the Association of Northern Groups, Students Wing, Borno State Chapter, Abubakar Fatima, explained that the lecture was part of a wider sensitisation campaign conducted across several states, including Adamawa, Kano, Sokoto and Bauchi. She said the initiative aims to raise awareness and encourage young people to abstain from drug abuse.