Vanguard Mental Health Summit: Fight against drugs through trust, collaboration – NDLEA

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has called for stronger spot and collaboration among stakeholders successful the combat against cause maltreatment and its nexus to intelligence wellness challenges successful Nigeria.

Speaking astatine Vanguard’s 3rd Mental Health Summit, held connected Friday astatine the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, NDLEA spokesperson Dr. Femi Babafemi, who represented the agency’s Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd.), said the bureau has made notable advancement successful cause power but emphasized the request to follow much pragmatic and partnership-driven strategies.

“NDLEA has made strides successful cause control. We indispensable truthful rethink the exemplary and question pragmatic approaches to code this situation of cause abuse,” Marwa said.

The summit, themed “Taming the Tide of Suicide successful Nigeria” and sub-themed “Substance and Silence: Unmasking the Dual Crisis of Addiction and Suicide”, brought unneurotic intelligence wellness experts, advocates, and stakeholders to rise consciousness astir the increasing transportation betwixt substance maltreatment and suicide.

Recent statistic amusement that termination is present the 2nd starring origin of decease among Nigerian younker aged 15 to 29, portion implicit 450,000 Nigerians necessitate intelligence wellness and psychosocial enactment annually owed to suicide-related trauma.

Marwa stressed that spot and assemblage engagement are cardinal to sustaining advancement successful cause power and prevention.

“The combat against drugs is done rebuilding trust,” helium noted.

He added that the NDLEA has undergone important translation to fortify its capableness successful some cause power and nationalist wellness interventions, but insisted that occurrence depends connected corporate effort.

“NDLEA cannot run alone; we trust connected partnerships to tackle intelligence wellness issues,” Marwa stated.

“As the adjacent signifier of our reform, we shall, successful the months ahead, standard up our assemblage policing efforts done the deployment of NDLEA Community Liaison Officers successful each section authorities area. These officers volition enactment intimately with section structures and stakeholders.

“One of our flagship assemblage initiatives is the Alternative Development Programme, targeting cannabis-growing communities crossed the country. This programme is acceptable to beryllium piloted soon successful Ondo State.

“The Alternative Development Programme demands ethical work and committedness to processing transformative policies and humanitarian responses that mitigate drug-related problems and extremity the complexities and burdens of the warfare connected drugs successful Nigeria and globally.

He further called for a Nigeria wherever the NDLEA is seen not arsenic a unit to fear, but arsenic a trusted spouse wrong communities.

“The Nigeria successful which NDLEA is not feared but trusted, an embedded spouse successful each community. We request 1 different — the NDLEA, Ministry of Health, media, backstage assemblage — each of america collectively. As we instrumentality strides forward, we indispensable guarantee our gatherings not lone go yearly conversations; we indispensable determination guardant with resolute actions,” helium said.

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