By Owei Lakemfa

Following a codeine-propelled high drug addiction problem, the Federal Government in a swift reaction, banned the production and importation of codeine containing cough syrup. The syrup usually taken by millions of youths who mix it with soft drinks, alcohol or illegal drugs, leads to physical and mental reliance on the drug and can be fatal.

Five days after the welcome ban, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on May 5, held its Ward congresses across the country. In most of the thirty six states, they were characterized by thuggery, manipulation, imposition, and in at least two cases, murder. In Rivers State, a member was shot dead right in the party secretariat while in Ughelli, Delta State, a party chairmanship aspirant, Mr. Jeremiah Oghoveta was stabbed to death. In Oyo State, supporters of Governor Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi and those of Communication Minister, Adebayo Shittu, were engaged in a mini Civil War with the Governor accusing the Honourable Minister and some members of the House of Representatives of perpetuating the violence and threatening arson.

The Minister was luckier than his Labour and Employment colleague, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige whom security agents had to spirit out from the venue as APC members loyal to the party’s 2017 gubernatorial candidate in the Anambra State elections, Mr. Tony Okechukwu Nwoye, allegedly tried to lynch him. The party violence spread to Imo State where State Governor and Chairman of the APC Governors Forum, Rochas Okorocha declared the congresses as fictional. In Bauchi State during the resultant violence, party members burnt down a local government secretariat while congresses in states like Taraba, Ondo, Ebonyi, and Adamawa were consumed in an orgy of violence. Rather than completely condemn the congresses in Enugu State as a sham, the country’s chief diplomat, Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama said “The processes were totally flawed.”

In a number of instances, there was no level playing field. In Kaduna State, the two Distinguished APC Senators, Shehu Sanni and Suleiman Hunkuyi, already had a Fatwa pronounced on them by Governor Ahmed el-Rufai who days before, had told a mammoth crowd that the senators are enemies of the state and when found, should be seized and their heads and beads, forcefully shaven. The National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun did not bother to show up at his Ward congress as weeks before, leaders of the party in his Edo State constituency, had shown him as a spent force who should not recontest for his post. In a number of states such as Ebonyi and Adamawa, parallel congresses were held.

This certainly is a bad report card for a party that promised to rescue the country from the shameful past of the former ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) What happened at the congresses were bad for our national psyche, bad for our politics and bad for our reputation as a country. I expected the APC to be sober and reflective; why so much violence and thuggery? Why should people be murdered for Ward congresses? How can the party ensure that their future congresses and the inevitable inter-party elections, are democratic and violence-free especially in a country that has been subjected to so much violence and massacres? READ MORE:
https://atlanticpostng.com/perspective-banning-codeine-in-apc/

Can the leopard ever change its spots? No.

A bunch of denigrate, disgruntled and out of favour politicians came together, used lies and propaganda to grab power, and has totally reversed all the gains of the past 16 years. How do you expect them not to get high?

Codeine is the answer.

Banning is not the way forward cos those addicted will always find a way to get it. Sensitization and orientation is the only way to tackle drug abuse.