Hajia Fatima Abiola-Popoola, Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s Kwara State Command, has urged the National Universities Commission to mandate drug tests for admission to higher institutions.
While answering questions from journalists in Ilorin on Sunday, the commander stated that pupils must pass drug tests before being admitted to institutions.
This, she added, would act as a preventative measure, as she regretted the country’s rising drug use, particularly among females.
“According to a 2018 survey, 14.3 million people are using drugs in Nigeria; one out of seven persons in Nigeria is a drug user, while one out of every four drug users is a woman.
“This shows that the society is in trouble. This is because a woman is the administrator of the home and now that women have started abusing drugs, then the society is in trouble,” she said.
Abiola-Popoola emphasised the collaboration with traditional rulers in the fight against drug trafficking and misuse, claiming that success in the fight was dependent on the participation of stakeholders at the request of the traditional institution.
“The traditional rulers have some control over their people and they are the closest to the communities.
“Whenever they say a word, it almost becomes a law among their people who hold them in high esteem. They have a stronghold of their communities, and that is why they are very important in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
“We have been making use of the traditional rulers over the years. When traditional heads rise in their respective communities against drug traffickers, their people will join them in the fight.
“In 2021, the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, launched the War Against Drug Abuse and in launching it, all traditional rulers were represented because the aim of this WADA is community mobilisation, which will be led by the traditional rulers,” she said.
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Abiola-Popoola urged traditional rulers to pay attention to their areas by putting people in strategic locations to gather information on the drug situation and inviting NDLEA when necessary.
The commander stated that she had previously met the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of the Kwara State Council of Traditional Rulers, Dr Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, and expressed gratitude to the monarch for his support for the new leadership of the agency in the state.
“The Emir of Ilorin assured us of his support and cooperation. He even promised that other traditional heads in Kwara State will support us because any community that we are going into will be informed that we are coming, and this is very important for us, and we are grateful to the Emir,” she said.
