Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa has endorsed compulsory and random drug integrity tests for students in tertiary institutions following a meeting with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency( NDLEA )Chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa in Abuja.
The initiative aims to curb substance abuse among students, with Marwa proposing a three-pronged approach: revising drug education in school curricula, implementing stand-alone drug abuse prevention programs in secondary schools, and enforcing drug testing in tertiary institutions. Alausa approved a review of the secondary school curriculum to include updated drug education and established a Substance Use Prevention Unit within the Ministry.
Meanwhile An inter-ministerial working group with NDLEA was also proposed as Marwa highlighted the link between drug abuse and criminal activities like terrorism, noting over 40,000 arrests and 5,500 metric tons of drugs seized in two years. Alausa also emphasized that drug abuse impairs critical thinking, employability, and leads to a vicious cycle of dysfunction, committing to integrate drug prevention into primary and secondary education and support NDLEA’s Academy in Jos through Universal Basic Education Commission. (UBEC) and Tertiary Education Trust Fund. (TETFUND).
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