THE United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has sensitised pupils and others on drug abuse and related organised crimes in Nigeria.
The campaign was organised to commemorate the World Drug Day on Tuesday at Victoria Island, Lagos.
The theme for this year campaign is: “Vision of the Child”. It was aimed at listening to children and youths to help them grow healthy and safe from drug abuse.
Speaking at the event, UNODC’s Project Officer William Wu Shiyin said the organisation was created to assist member states and others to roll back threats caused by drugs, transnational organised crimes in their countries.
“Our objective is to support the Nigerian government in its efforts to fight illicit drug production, trafficking and use, curb related organised crimes, including counterfeit narcotics and psychotropic substances,” he said.
However, to curb risk factor associated with the girl-child, UNODC will be launching “Techy girls’ initiative” next month. The initiative is a platform for educating the girl-child and making them innovative, creative as change-makers and productive through technology.
The initiative adopted 17 change-makers, who are pupils from various schools present at the event as its pioneers.
One of the beneficiaries of the initiative, Toluwanin Fayose, from CIS Lagos, was excited about the appointment.
“I’m honoured and excited to be part of this and it is my belief that through technology, Nigeria will impact the global world positively,” she said.
Fayose, who also showed her paintings depicting the situation of drug abusers in Nigeria, said: “In my work, I was trying to show that people who take drugs are not bad and should be listened to. My message is that people should care more for drug abusers and always be ready to listen to them.”
In another interview, Miss Mmesoma Okonkwo, from Lead Forte College, Lekki, Lagos, said innovation and less use of drugs will create a sustainable economy, which in turn will lead to more job employment for the youth.
UNODC also launched a movie – “Trapped” – in response to global campaign against drug at the event.