How I escaped drug addiction – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on Nigerian youths and students to steer clear of psychoactive drugs, emphasizing that such substances offer no benefit but instead lead to destruction.

Speaking in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the second edition of the “Fly Above The High” anti-drug campaign conference organized by the Recovery Advocacy Network, Obasanjo expressed concern over the increasing prevalence of drug use in Nigeria and across West Africa.

The former president recalled his tenure as Chairman of the West African Drug Commission under the Kofi Annan Foundation, where he learned that West Africa had transitioned from being a mere transit route for drugs to a major consumption hub.

Obasanjo explained that the commission had initially assumed the region was free from drug issues, as substances primarily moved from Latin America to North America and Europe. However, their findings revealed a growing consumption problem within West African countries.

“But to our dismay, displeasure, and pain, at the end of the exercise, we found out that West Africa has equally been a centre for drug consumption in a very bad way. That was more than 10 years ago, so the situation has since gone worse. And whatever applies to West Africa applies to all other parts of Africa,” Obasanjo said.

He also recalled that an attempt to embrace smoking by him as a young man led to a severe coughing, but he to run away from it.

“If I had persisted, I could have become addicted. Once you get involved, it is difficult to get out,” Obasanjo told the gathering of youths, students and mental health specialists and policy makers.

The former president insisted that “There’s nothing drug can do for you except destruction.”

He urged those already addicted to psychoactive drugs to seek help and warned the society against stigmatization.

In his address, the Managing Director of Serenity Royale Hospital, Dr. Kunle Adesina, revealed that about 14.3 million Nigerians, representing 14.3% of the population, have used a substance within the last six months adding that one in five drug users is female.

“Addiction treatment is best approached through prevention. We must focus on primordial and primary prevention levels to educate young people about the dangers of substance use before they start,” Adesina advised.

He called for strong legislation to reduce the availability of drugs, noting that the widespread accessibility of substances fuels the growing crisis.

A mental health specialist, Dr. Samuel Abah, said “From our experience we discovered that even those that are meant to control the substance are the one involved.

“We must stand our ground that this thing is not helpful, it’s destructive. It’s not just a pleasure but a destructive pleasure.”