On November 9th and 10th, our member the African Youths Initiative on Crime Prevention (AYICRIP), in partnership with ourselves, organised the 7th National Youth Summit on Drugs and Substance Abuse Prevention in Abuja, Nigeria. The theme of this year’s Youth Summit was The Fight against Illicit Drug Trafficking and Substance in COVID-19 Era – Challenges and Prospect.

The Summit had a great attendance rate with 145 delegates (80 male and 65 female) from the field of drug and substance abuse prevention cutting across secondary and tertiary institutions, practitioners, academia, policymakers, and some strong prevention advocates and champions.

The founder/executive director of AYICRIP, Amb. Christogonus C. Ibe, welcomed the participants on behalf of the board of trustees, staff, and volunteers. According to him, the Summit brings together youth leaders and heads of NGOs that spearhead the fight against drug, substance abuse, and illicit trafficking within the country as it affects young people.

The keynote speech was delivered by the Executive Chairman of the Drug Law Enforcement Agency, who was represented by Mr Chidi Ndukwe, an Assistant Narcotic Agent. He called on youths to rise up against the scourge of substance abuse, considering the dangers it poses to their growth and development and highlighted some of the successes the agency has recorded. He also called on the civil society organisations and Nigerians to adopt a prevention approach that will be peculiar to the Nigerians culture and society against the foreign imports that are promoting legalisation in an open, young, and vulnerable community like Nigeria.

Goodwill messages were provided by Dr Emmanuel C. Ibe (Chairman Board of Trustees of AYICRIP), Regina Mattsson (Secretary-General of the World Federation against Drugs), the Honourable Minister of Health, Pharm. Ezeaguhi Oluchi, Director General of NAFDAC, Ms Yunusa Suzie Ibrahim, the registrar of Pharmacist Council of Nigeria, Pharmacist Peter Iliya, the Director-General of Nigeria Television Authority, and barrister Eze Eluchie (PADDI Foundation).

The participants joined the training on prevention, sensitisation, advocacy, and care in illicit drug trafficking and abuse. The training session was facilitated by Dr Paul Agbo, who is a trained Master Trainer on the instruction of Dr Akanidomo Ibanga (National Project Officer DDR). The training was followed by a panel of a discussion session focusing on the topic: Nigeria and the fights against Illicit Drug Trafficking and Abuse: the role of media and effective regulation.

A full report has been written on the structure and the outcomes of the Summit. Read the full report here!

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