SIR: It is alarming how vulnerable youths in Potiskum Local Government Area, Yobe State have succumbed to excessive drug abuse and addiction without realizing how dangerous it is to their lives, mental health, and the values held dear by the larger society.
The surge in drug abuse is such that demands drastic action and steps should be taken to halt its rapid growth among youths.
Potiskum Local Government Area of Yobe State is known as the epicentre of business and educational matters. It has been the giant pillar of Yobe State in terms of population and contributions to revenue generation, youth engagement and education. Sadly, it is today swarmed with thousands of youths who have taken to drug abuse and are helplessly living around some areas of the town. They hardly engage in productive work, and even when they do, their earnings are spent on hard drugs, thereby keeping them constantly detached from reality which predisposes them to sundry acts of immorality and crime.
Some of course had unintentionally become addicted to sedative drugs as a result of unemployment.
Here is drawing the attention of the Yobe State government and public agencies with the responsibility to curb the menace to wake up to their duties. The concerned agencies should immediately move to stem the tide and find lasting solution to a menace that could impair the future of our youths.
Of course, the surest route to dissuade the youths from that ignoble path is for government to provide job opportunities for them, and where this becomes difficult, support them with funds to start small business. Providing job opportunities will surely remove the avenue for enlisting the youths into illegal acts. It will also keep them from sabotaging government and public properties, thereby decreasing the crime rate in the state at large.
In the same vein, the drug abuse victims must be considered for government or private agencies’ support with funds or facilities to grow their businesses or get enrolled in schools since most of them are known to have dropped out of school due to lack of financial capacity or parental negligence.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) charged with controlling drug abuse and illegal consumption in particular must stand firm, step up on general patrols to reduce the circulation of illicit drugs while arresting and prosecuting those engaged in the illicit trade. This is necessary to safeguard the future of our youths.
- Kasim Isa Muhammad,
Potiskum, Yobe State.