The Federal Government has thrown its weight behind compulsory drug tests for students in tertiary institutions across the country.
NATIONAL POST reports that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has been intensifying anti-drug abuse campaign across the country.
The Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa, during a meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, agreed that the fight should be taken to the tertiary institutions.
He met with the Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd).
The meeting centres on measures to curb substance abuse among students.
A statement on Wednesday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, Alausa, also approved the review of the current secondary school curriculum to incorporate updated drug education and committed to forming an inter-ministerial working group with the NDLEA.
Babafemi said the NDLEA boss had proposed a three-pronged approach: revising drug education content in schools, introducing stand-alone drug abuse prevention programmes in secondary schools, and implementing a drug testing policy for tertiary institutions — including for new students, returning students, and random testing.
Marwa described the drug scourge as a threat to national security and youth development, citing its links to criminal activities such as terrorism and banditry.
He disclosed that the agency had arrested over 40,000 drug offenders and seized more than 5,500 metric tons of drugs in the past two years.
“We are fighting for the souls of our children. Without drugs, many criminal activities would not be possible,” he said.
Responding, the Education Minister acknowledged the urgency of the problem.
He declared that: “When the youths get into drugs, they won’t go to school, and even when they go to school, they are not getting a functional education. And at the end of the day, what happens? Their level of critical thinking is lower.
“Their ability to make informed decisions in the later part of their life becomes significantly reduced. So, they become unemployable. And what happens? You now have that vicious cycle. They’re not functional.”
The minister stated that drug tests for fresh and returning students in tertiary institutions would be done.
He said, “You also said something very important about the drug test policy in tertiary institutions. We will do it.
"We have to do it. We do not have a choice. At least, we’ll start with tertiary institutions, for their fresh and returning students as well as random testing.”
He announced the creation of a Substance Use Prevention Unit within the Ministry and confirmed that a revised curriculum for secondary schools is underway.
Alausa said, “I would suggest we form a technical working group, an inter-ministerial working group between our ministry and NDLEA. As a result, I would also like to create a Substance Use Prevention Unit in the ministry."
They both agreed that the campaign should be cascaded to both secondary and primary schools.