Introduction
Drug abuse is a matter of grave concern to educational stakeholders, medical practitioners, sociologists, religious leaders, counselors and parents. It is a national and international sensitive challenge that needs urgent attention due to the alarming rate of involvement of the youth.
Alcohol is most widely used among young people. students, as a subset of the youth population, consume large quantities of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
Premarital sexual practices and drug abuse constitute social ills that have been age-long problems in the system, drug abuse has been identified as a serious constraint to effective teaching and learning process in the Nigerian educational system. It could be described as the wrong use or inappropriate use of chemical substances that are capable of changing functions of cells in the body, stimulants, which are substances that cause an increase in the activity of an organ in the body, as chemicals that excite certain activities of the central nervous system.
It could also be seen as over-dependence and misuse of one particular drug with or without a prior medical diagnosis from qualified health practitioners.
We have identified dangerous drugs like cocaine, Indian hemp (marijuana), morphine, heroin, tobacco, ephedrine, valium five and Chinese capsules, high dose Tramadol, cow urine, Tutolin, codeine, lizard faeces, used menstrual pads, gutter water, fumes from latrines as few among the drugs and substances commonly abused by youths.
Despite worldwide concern and education about psychoactive substances, many adolescents have limited awareness of their adverse consequences.
Curiosity, social pressure and peer group influence are noted to be the primary reasons for substance misuse.
A substantial percentage of the national budgetary allocation is utilized for treatment and rehabilitation of people with substance use problems in Nigeria.
In an attempt to control sleep or energise themselves, most adolescents and young ones start experimenting with tobacco, alcohol, ephedrine and other caffeinated substances such as Nescafe, Lipton, Alabukun, Bullet and Red Bull energy drinks. Some of the reasons for the drug abuse, are to reduce pain, anxiety and tension due to ignorance and misinformation, parental background, urge to commit crimes, peer group influence, isolation and loneliness.
Students see the use of stimulants in positive terms for relief from pain and problems, elevation of mood, wakefulness, increased confidence, feeling and psychomotor activities and athletics and feeling of euphoria.
Drug abuse has now become a part of their lives and perhaps may have now contributed to their academic failure. Cannabis is by far the most commonly used illicit drug with usage of 4% of the world population compared to 1% for all other drugs combined. Marijuana is the most commonly used substance followed by tobacco.
In the United Kingdom, cross-sectional studies have shown that among students aged 15-16 years, at least 40% had used illicit drugs, mainly cannabis, at some time during their lives. Also discovered that alcohol hypo-sedatives, tobacco and psycho stimulants were commonly abused substances with varying prevalence rates found for both overall and specific substance use. The lifetime prevalence rates of substance use among secondary and university students were found to vary between 1.5% for tobacco and 47% for psycho stimulants in Ilorin, Kwara State of Nigeria.
It was found that in a number of school and college surveys in Nigeria, alcohol use is the most common among students, with many drinking students having had their first drink in family settings. It was also discovered that the majority of students affected were initiated into the use of alcohol at a tender age of 16-20 years.
The motive behind drug abuse may be sociological (status-seeking, peer pressure, the news media or substance-oriented society), psychological (to banish pain or discomfort, to attain euphoria, fantasy or to escape from unpleasant reality), out of curiosity, boredom, to alleviate fear, derive sexual and physical pleasures, or family background, despite the fact that drug abuse has adverse effects on the youth involved by changing their brain perception of difficulties and problems, the number of undergraduates that use or abuse stimulants has steadily increased in recent years.
University students who witnessed dissatisfaction with life due to anger, frustration and boredom, consume alcohol to fit in.Stimulant use and abuse appears with increasing frequency in the nation. The reasons individuals, including students, often give as a reason for stimulant usage include the need to belong, expectancy, mental set, sex, certain drives, integrative use, ceremonial use, hedonistic use, utilitarian use and disintegrative use.
It was also confirmed that students use drugs for relief of stress and for self-medication at night in order to study.
A research specified that in Kenya and South Africa, the major drugs of abuse have been known to be alcohol, cannabis, tranquilizers, and tobacco. Also, the prevalence of abuse of alcohol, cannabis and other substances among the population of students, prisoners, and patients in psychiatric facilities, among others.
In a survey of 1,400, it was discovered that, across the United States, the prevalence of alcohol use by university students was over 80%, while one-third of this population used marijuana. It was also revealed that gambling, which goes hand-in-hand with other dysfunctional behaviours, such as substance abuse, is part of the university environment.
Despite the efforts of Nigerian National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and other governmental agencies to stem the tide of substance abuse in Nigeria, there has been a consistent rapid rise in the number of cases of drug abuse among young people (ages 10-24) in Nigeria.
Drug abuse has some social, economic, psychological, cultural, physical, moral, and health consequences that may lead to poverty, disability, maladjustment or death of the abusers.
In addition to chronic diseases that may affect drinkers after many years of heavy use, alcohol contributes to traumatic outcomes that kill or disable one at a relatively young age. It has also been confirmed that alcohol is estimated to cause about 20-30% (worldwide) disease of esophageal cancer, liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, homicide, epilepsy and motor vehicle accidents.
The consequences of drug abuse are; aiding crime rates, cultism, mental illness, low self-esteem and self-respect, injuries to one’s health, and becoming a social outcast and bringing shame to their kin.
Bunulites may we not bring shame to our families and Bunu kingdom.
The consequence of chewing kola nut – taking bland coffee and other substances that enhance one to stay awake at night – could lead to addiction and substance abuse which may result in negative health implications and adversely affect performance in examination contrary to the expectation of the students.
The World Health Organisation (WHO, 2009) reported that risk of exposure to substance abuse has become one of the factors that influence the development of the burden of disease. It was also noted that one-third of the disease burdens of adults can be associated with behaviours that began in adolescence.
WHO (2009) further stressed that alcohol may have more immediate and severe effects on young people because their muscle mass is smaller than that of adults, extensive use of caffeine has been associated with brain fatigue syndrome, a culture-bound syndrome among West African students. It was noted that brain fatigue syndrome usually presents poor study assimilation, functional somatic complaints involving the head and neck region, and visual disturbances.
The trend of more adolescents using drugs (with the age of drug users getting younger) has been reported earlier. Early drug abuse has been associated with more severe addiction, delinquency, criminality, political thuggery, biased perception ,impaired judgement,hooliganism and psychological and behavioural problems such as suicide and para-suicide.
The rates of psychiatric disorders are much higher among adolescents with current substance abuse and have been replicated in many studies. It was concluded that substance-abusing adolescents seem to have a high prevalence of mental health symptoms compared to their peers who do not use substances.
Moreover, use of alcohol contributes 25% to the total explanatory power of sexual-risky behaviours among adolescents which exposes them to a higher risk of HIV/AIDS and other STD infections. Excessive chewing of kola, consumption of bland coffee and other substances to stay awake, could lead to addiction and substance abuse. Vandalism, drug abuse, weapon carrying, alcohol abuse, rape, examination malpractices, school violence, bullying, cultism, truancy, and school drop-outs as anti-social behaviours often associated with juvenile delinquents.
In conclusion, drug abuse has become a threat to the lives and success of the youth. This is evidently a source of sorrow to the parents, guardians and relatives. Which is alien to our culture in Bunu, and we want it stemmed down .It is also a big challenge to the whole nation.
Way Out
Stakeholders and members of the public, generally, should devote urgent and adequate attention to the alarming rate of drug abuse, especially among the youth who will be our future leaders.
Parents should try to give their children moral, spiritual, social, psychological, and financial support so as to guide them against peer and societal influences.
Children should obey their parents and be satisfied with the little support given to them and they should also keep away from bad company.
Teachers should familiarize themselves with their students so they are able to discover any anti-social behaviour and provide immediate solutions to it. Guidance counselors should give necessary counseling to the drug abusers, as well as to their parents or guardians.
Government should provide all necessary materials and equipment to make teaching and learning interesting so as to reduce anti-social behaviours in school.
On Cultism
The beginning of cultism in our tertiary institutions has been traced to the activities of some young undergraduates of the then University College, Ibadan. This group of people, all of whom in later years became prominent citizens, included Wole Soyinka, now a retired Professor and Nobel Prize winner, Pius Oleghe, Ralph Opara, Aig Imoukhuede, Nat Oyelola and Prof Olumuyiwa Awe. These people founded an association called the Pirates Confraternity. Their mission, they stated, was to abolish convention, revive the soul of the university and end tribalism and elitism.
However, with time, their noble objectives were hijacked by our society’s delinquent young adults. Secret cultism now has become a way of unleashing terror on student groups and the society at large. The cultists kill, maim and instill fear on several campus communities.
In the book titled, “This Present Darkness: A history of Nigerian Organised Crime” Professor Stephen Ellis stated as follows about the evolution of these cults:
“…The first rival to the Pirates was the Eiye group, founded in 1965, which in 1969 instituted the Supreme Eiye Confraternity (National Association of Air lords). During the 1970s, there was a multiplication of student confraternities that had a direct genealogical connection to the Pyrates. In 1971 or 1972 an internal disagreement led to a dissident group leaving or being expelled from the Pyrates and founding a new confraternity at the University of Ibadan, known as the Buccaneers or the National Association of Sea Lords. The Buccaneers claimed to have ideological differences with the Pyrates, whom they accused of elitism. With student numbers increasing rapidly, there were further splits. Among new cults were the Vikings, Red Beret, Mafia, and dozens of others. Colleges in the Niger Delta region seem to have been particularly fertile ground for new campus groups, such as the Klansmen Confraternity, instituted at the University of Calabar, and the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, Formed in 1984- at the University of Port Harcourt…
“…Holding their meetings at night and in secret, some of the new groups became associated with violent attacks on university campuses. Their behaviour moved far beyond the rather light-hearted mock-sinister that had been the original style of the Pyrates. One ex-member of a student group recalled initiation as consisting of three Weeks of what he called “rigorous and heartbreaking activities”, Whose purpose was “to toughen the heart of the otherwise innocent looking boy”, similar to military basic training or initiation into one of the traditional secret societies that were so important in many parts of Nigeria since precolonial times. Many of the new confraternities made use during their induction ceremonies of religious objects, universally referred to in Nigeria as juju, which further strengthened the resemblance with initiation into a traditional power society. So worrying did campus violence become that the leadership of the Pyrates announced its intention to withdraw from university campuses entirely, and to relaunch the group as an adult society called the National Association of Seadogs. Nevertheless, student Pyrates continued to operate on Nigerian campuses in disregard of the national leadership.”
Many reasons have been adduced for the high prevalence of drug abuse and cultism among the youth. A major factor is that many Parents have abandoned the moral development of their children to the schools. Many parents are too busy attending to economic matters to attend to issues bothering on the welfare and development of their children. They believe that their responsibility starts and ends with the payment of tuition and the provision of such amenities like uniforms and books.
Many children therefore grow up without receiving any form of moral education from their parents who as decreed by God are their first contacts with humanity. These children grow up and consider their parents to be virtual strangers. Such circumstances make them susceptible to peer pressure. This way they pick up anti-social habits. By the time the Parents realise their error it is often too late.
Way Out
As Societal values are important for the survival of any society, the approach to solving the problem must be multi-faceted. It must involve all stakeholders. As Njoroge wrote again:
“…discipline involves all stakeholders, programmes as well as personality and school climate…if the family background is not good, different social classes are present in the school, school is located in a socially disadvantaged area and there is bad influence of peer groups it will have a negative effect on discipline…”
Thus Government must reappraise its attitude and policy to issues bothering on education. There should be increased funding of the educational sector as with better pay teachers and other stakeholders in the sector will be motivated to carry out their jobs effectively and with zeal rather than in a perfunctory manner. Such increased funding will also ensure that schools are better equipped to impart learning. As overcrowded classrooms have been identified as one of the factors causing teachers to lose control of the classrooms, better funding will ensure that there are more classrooms to accommodate students. A situation in which 50 or more students will be assigned to a classroom will be avoided. There must also be an improvement in the teacher student ratio. Assigning few teachers to a huge student population only contributes to the problem.
Government must also continue to pay attention to the urgent need to tackle poverty. As studies have shown, the environment in which children grow up or in which their schools are located play some part in their moral development and whatever disciplinary issues they may pose later in life.
Tackling poverty will also ensure that more children are not forced to grow up before their time. Their parents will also not be forced by economic stress to relegate to the background, issues pertaining to the upbringing of their children.
Parents on their part must bring about a change in their attitude to the moral training of their children. The home must be made conducive for such training. A child who is raised in dysfunctional home can hardly be expected to receive the best of moral training. Nothing will be achieved where emphasis is placed on academic training alone without commensurate attention to moral upbringing.
Thank you for the opportunity accorded to me for this interaction even though boring but worth listening and to be reflected upon.
I congratulate you on the success of the program, keep Bunu flag flying, preserve our heritage the Bunu culture. As we go into electioneering period in the state we are all enjoined to be modest and courteous in exercising your voting rights, no fight no violence as Bunu Ambassadors, decide on your choice carefully and shun been used as a political thug by our politicians,who more often than not are riddled with their personal interests.
Note that this body is apolitical and hence shouldn’t be identified with any political party. Irrespective of the compromised norms in other student unions, we should be unique in our dealings amidst our contemporaries.
– Dr David Olorunfemi Nelson
Being a paper presented at Bunu Students Union, Kogi State University chapter’s Annual Cultural Day and Book Launch on 12th of October 2019.
