The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), in collaboration with the Issah Adedotun Foundation, has intensified campaigns against drug abuse and cultism in schools with a view to discouraging students from falling victim to the two social menaces.
Both organisations launched the distribution of educational materials and kitted first-aid boxes to pupils, students, and schools in Oba Oke, Osun State.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Protocol, Ambassador Issah Niniola, presented the items.
In a presentation on drug abuse and cultism in Nigeria, the NDLEA Deputy State Commander, Drug Demand Reduction and Sensitisation, Mrs. Toyin Adegoke, advised the pupils and students to shun drug abuse and cultism.
Adegoke noted that youths were the major abusers of drugs, stating that drug abuse has become a source of sorrow to victims’ families and the society at large.
Ambassador Niniola remarked that President Tinubu has laid a solid foundation to permanently end incessant strikes by lecturers in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. He said while the education system remains a work in progress, the president is determined to do everything possible to place it on a solid foundation.
“Currently, we can assure you that there will be no strikes again because of what the president has done. He has laid the foundation to stop the strikes forever in the country,” he said.
Niniola said the president was also ensuring students receive quality education through the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), while providing necessary allowances for lecturers in tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
He therefore urged Nigerians to support the president’s second term in office so he could continue the good work, stressing that the president will also do more in education and other sectors.
On the distribution of free educational materials, Niniola said supporting the education system and lifting vulnerable people, particularly children from less privileged backgrounds, has always been his passion.
The presidential aide, who said he had been distributing free educational materials to pupils and students for the past 25 years, stressed the essence of primary and secondary education in laying a solid academic foundation.
He said while primary and secondary education fall under the purview of local and state governments, he would continue to support them to ensure a solid foundation for academic excellence in the locality.
I graduated from one of the primary schools that are here today, and I never knew I could become who I am today. You also can be great, irrespective of where you are and who you are.”
Niniola consequently advised the students to shun drug abuse and cultism, describing them as “destroyers of destiny.
Credit: von.gov.ng
