KANO (AFP) – Drug abuse in
northern Nigeria’s largest city
has been on the rise in recent
years, with anti-narcotics
officials and experts warning of
serious social consequences if
the problem is not tackled.
Kano has the country’s highest
drug abuse rate based on the
number of seizures, arrests of
addicts and convictions of
arrested dealers, according to
the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
“It is a painful fact that Kano
tops the drug abuse chart in
Nigeria, a trend that all hands
must be on deck to change if we
are to save our upcoming
generation from ruin,” the Kano
commander for the NDLEA,
Garba Ahmadu, told AFP.
“The use of hard drugs,
especially among the youth, has
become a real social menace
and cuts across all social strata,
with children from both rich
and poor backgrounds deeply
into it.”
On December 6 the NDLEA
destroyed more than 10 metric
tonnes of drugs, including
cannabis, cocaine and
methamphetamine, with an
estimated street value of some $
1.4 million (1.02 million euros).
The Hisbah, Kano’s so-called
“morality police” which
enforces Islamic law, separately
impounded 100,000 cartons of
glue during a raid on a city
warehouse.
More unconventional drugs are
also being used, not just
codeine-laced cough syrup
which has become popular
among married women, but
solvents and powerful horse
stimulants.
Unemployment, broken
marriages blamed
According to Mairo Bello, who
runs a youth charity called the
Adolescent Health Information
Project, high divorce rates and
a resulting breakdown in family
values contribute to drug use.
Hundreds of factories in Kano
have closed in the past two
decades because of power
supply problems and
competition from cheaper Asian
goods, putting many out of
work and leaving them unable
to provide for their families.
Unemployment rates in Kano,
which was famous for its
textiles and tanneries, are the
highest in Nigeria, according to
the government.
In 2011, the National Bureau of
Statistics said as many as two-
thirds of the population (67
percent) were out of work.
“The government needs to
resuscitate dead industries by
providing the needed
infrastructure to get the youth
employed and off drugs,” said
Nu’uman Habib, who teaches
sociology at Kano’s Bayero
University.
Kano, like the rest of northern
Nigeria, is majority Muslim,
with men allowed to take up to
four wives, which has also
contributed to social problems.
High birth and divorce rates
compound financial burdens
and often see families on the
streets when marriages break
down, Bello said.
As a result, children often turn
to drugs to blot out hardships.
“I’m from a broken home,” said
23-year-old Usman Umar. “My
parents divorced when I was
nine and I continued to live
with my father, who remarried.
“My stepmother treated me
harshly. She would molest and
insult me but my father would
not do anything to protect me,
which forced me to stay outside
the house most of the time and
hang out with friends I made in
our neighbourhood.
“They introduced me to drugs,
starting with cigarettes and
moving to hashish, cough
mixture with codeine and other
psychotropics.
“A lot of young men take drugs
to get high and forget their
frustration. When you take it
you feel happy and your worries
disappear.”
Reconciliation, rehabilitation,
mass weddings
The Kano state authorities and
the Hisbah have responded to
the use of drugs because of
concern at the extent of their
use.
Last year, the state governor
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
launched a programme to target
fake and illicit drugs while the
manufacture, sale and
consumption of codeine-laced
cough syrup was banned to
curb its abuse.
“It is no longer drug abuse but
substance abuse as drug users
now experiment with anything
that will get them high,” Habib
said.
The state government has
established a sports institute
and vocational training centres
for young people and set up a
drug rehabilitation centre for
addicts.
Children sent to the city by
their parents from
impoverished villages, who
often find themselves on the
streets, will be sent back when a
ban on begging comes into
effect.
The Hisbah has in addition set
up a Matrimonial Dispute
Resolution Office to try to
reconcile warring families.
Mass weddings of divorcees
have also been held to help keep
children of divorced parents
from ending up on the streets
and turning to drugs.
In the past year alone, more
than 2,000 women have been
married off in this way.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/kano-tops-drug-abuse-chart-nigeria-ndlea/

E done tey wey nyash dey back. They have long been maintaining that position up north. Over there where alcohol seem a taboo, I learnt smoking, for example is free for all.

Awusa people has taken over smoking of indian hemp from their Yoruba slaves

Omexonomy: Awusa people has taken over smoking of indian hemp from their Yoruba slaves

Well it's good to know that the ibos maintain the number one position in cocaine and heroine.

Yes we are the merchants and peddlers, we dont sell to our brothers and sisters, we destroy our enemies gradually through it and use the profit to build mansions and patch some erosion ravaged portions.

*Natural disaster in East.
*Igbos induced Human disasters in North and Waste

Bluetooth2:

Well it's good to know that the ibos maintain the number one position in cocaine and heroine.

now I understand

Na today? Hausa peeps can take anything under highness even GUM and gutter..#respect

Arewarepublic the addled gutter-inhaling addict, now you see what I've been saying for so long..

Propaganda, liars.
Its no surprise the FG is using all of its parastatal to demonize kano just because of kwankwaso. The load of hard drugs in bayelsa alone is enough to supply 3/4 of nigerian drug addicts for a decade.

Bluetooth2:

Well it's good to know that the ibos maintain the number one position in cocaine and heroine.

those igbo people are more than id.ot them worst pass Yoruba people.

BuddahMonk: Yes we are the merchants and peddlers, we dont sell to our brothers and sisters, we destroy our enemies gradually through it and use the profit to build mansions and patch some erosion ravaged portions.

*Natural disaster in East.
*Igbos induced Human disasters in North and Waste

very stupid comment... a criminal is a criminal, cocaine dealer should be killed when caught....easterner will do all the wrong thing to get rich quick

There is a direct relationship between drug abuse and extremism.

hmm