MTN Foundation To Train 86,000 Students, 1,440 Teachers Against Drug Abuse

No less than 86,400 nationalist secondary schoolhouse students and 1,440 teachers crossed 12 States of the federation, including Kwara State, person been targeted for sponsorship acquisition against drugs and substance maltreatment by the MTN Foundation, Nigeria.

A elder manager astatine MTN, Chinyere Ikechi, disclosed this connected Tuesday astatine a stakeholders’ store successful Ilorin, Kwara State connected the implementation of the ‘Unplugged Teachers Training ‘ successful cause prevention successful the state.
She said the mediocre and uncertain information of Nigerian youths compelled MTN Foundation into action.
Appraising the request to put successful prevention alternatively than cure, the MTN typical delved into respective efforts by the multinational institution to rescue the youths from abbys, hinting that it has discouraged the youths from reliance connected banned substances done quiz and competitions successful superior and secondary schools.

“We promote them to enactment successful our quiz competition; facilitate a stakeholders’ store and a 3-day grooming for 60 secondary schoolhouse teachers successful Kwara and Kaduna; sensitise our communities done outreaches successful collaboration with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC,)” she said.

Speaking further astatine the jointly sponsored lawsuit with Kwara State government, MTN, the United Nations Office connected Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA,) Chinyere said, the post-training activities that would beryllium carried retired by the trained teachers done engagement and monitoring towards enabling sustained interaction is achieved with the students ‘who we each expect to beryllium advocates/ambassadors of this initiative,’ is what the MTN aims to achieve.

She said, the theme: ‘Unplugged Teachers Training connected Drug Prevention’ successful Kwara and Kaduna States would, done trainings, surely ‘pave mode for a integer model to beryllium developed due to the fact that the request to standard interaction connected this taxable substance is pertinent.’

The typical of the UNODC, Maria Ilugbuhi bemoaned the dense engagement of Nigerian youths successful drugs and different banned substances, recalling that, 1 of 7 of them indulge successful cause maltreatment with the largest colonisation successful the southwest.

She cautioned that unless contiguous exigency steps are taken by 2030, the fig would summation by 40 per cent.

According to her: 1 successful each 7 Nigerian is simply a cause user, adding that: 1 successful each 4 cause idiosyncratic is simply a female. She, however, confirmed that, caller survey stressed that “South West Nigeria has the highest fig of cause users successful the country.

“In a much caller survey of 84,000 youths conducted by UNICEF/UNODC, 50 percent of them said they personally knew idiosyncratic who uses drugs. So the complaint of cause usage successful the state is precocious and by 2030, it is estimated to summation by 40 per cent successful Africa.

“These figures underscore the request for broad strategies successful addressing cause use, including prevention, treatment, and enactment services,” she noted. Ilugbuhi identified socioeconomic, cultural, and health-related elements arsenic factors contributing to the menace. If we are going to avert this estimated increase, we indispensable put heavy successful cause prevention, she said.

In his remarks, the Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq commended MTN for its involvement successful a drug- escaped society, acknowledging the captious relation the teachers play successful moulding the students who are leaders of tomorrow.

The governor, who was represented by the elder adviser/ counselor, Alh Saadu Salahu, traced the information challenges confronting the state to cause addiction. He charged teachers to enactment the authorities authorities successful making its assorted interventions successful combating cause maltreatment successful.

The politician besides praised the operatives of the authorities assemblage policing successful warring transgression and criminality successful the state.

Earlier, the peculiar adjunct to the politician connected Drug Abuse Prevention and Control, Aileru Olamilekan described the store arsenic important “because it centres connected the Unplugged Teachers Training Programme—a globally recognised school-based prevention initiative.

“By equipping our teachers with knowledge, skills, and strategies to amended students astir the dangers of cause use, we are investing successful prevention alternatively than cure, successful acquisition alternatively than rehabilitation,” helium noted.

In their goodwill messages, the commissioner for Education, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe and the peculiar advisor connected Special Duties, Alh. AbdulRazaq Jiddah, listed the authorities government’s galore interventions to curb the cause maltreatment menace successful the state.

They recalled however the precocious recruited teachers successful the authorities were made to acquisition mandatory cause tests and the withdrawal of letters of assignment from those recovered wanting. The typical of the authorities bid of the NDLEA, Jamilu Usman, restated the age...