BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, has bemoaned the effect of the use and abuse of drugs by Nigerian youths, because it would have a negative impact on their future.
Gov Diri expressed the position at the Government House, Yenagoa, during a Stakeholders Mega Sensitisation Campaign on Drug Abuse and Prevention, in a statement issued on Wednesday by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah,
He restated his administration’s resolve to rid the state of the scourge as it poses a negative effect on the society which has led to the setting up of the Bayelsa State Drug Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee.
While charging the youths in the state to shun drug abuse, he said, “Drugs and crime go together. The best approach to stop crime is to stop the youths from using drugs. We all have the responsibility to check drug abuse as it is not only the duty of government.
“We will stop at nothing until all parts of Bayelsa State is free of drug abuse and its effects. We cannot afford to have our youths involved in drug abuse. Some of them are very brilliant. Rather than choosing life, they have chosen the path of death.”
To tackle the negative effects of drug abuse, the governor stated that he has directed the construction of a psychiatric hospital, which would be completed within one year.
In their goodwill messages, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), represented by the Director-General/Secretary, Shadrach Haruna, and the Country Representative of United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, Oliver Stolpe, commended the efforts of the state government towards eradicating drug abuse.
Marwa observed that the initiatives to combat drug peddling and use by the state government were in line with the policy of the Agency, and called on all tiers of government and traditional rulers to support the fight against drug abuse.
