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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged African youths battling drug and substance addiction not to hide their plight but to seek help to be free from the ills.
He also admonished the youths to stay away from drugs, warning that it can destroy not just their dreams but also their lives.
Obasanjo gave the advice at the 2nd edition of the 'Fly Above The High' sensitisation programme on drug abuse, organised by the Recovery Advocacy Network, in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, on Saturday, November 23, 2024.
The octogenarian, who stressed that substance abuse can be destructive, highlighted how the menace has continued to grow in sub-Saharan Africa over the years.
He noted that “drug consumption in Africa is an issue and it has grown worse in the last 10 years.”
The elder statesman called on youths hooked on drugs not to hide but to seek help to get off the catastrophic effects of addiction, which include untimely death.
While serving as the Chairman of the West African Drug Commission under the auspices of the Kofi Anan Foundation, we were nine on the commission;
We went around West Africa with the belief that we were free from drugs, which come mainly from Latin America and go to North America and Europe.
But to our dismay, displeasure and pain, at the end of the exercise, we found out that West Africa has equally been a centre for drug consumption in a very bad way.
“That was more than 10 years ago, so the situation has since gone worse. And whatever applies to West Africa, applies to all other parts of Africa,” he said.
Obasanjo begs youths to leave drugs
The former President lamented the devastating effect of drug abuse on the lives of the youths, appealing to them never to succumb to the temptation of getting into it for any reason.
Obasanjo said he always talked about drugs with all soberness because there was a time when one of his cousins, a carpenter who got hooked on drugs, died of substance abuse despite his (Obasanjo) best efforts to rehabilitate him and make him live a normal life.
He counselled that, "I have been living with diabetes for over 40 years and I am still here by the grace of God.
I know of about six or seven friends who were equally diabetic but they have died. I watch what I eat, I stick to my doctor’s advice.
So, people with addiction should not hide it, they should seek help before it is too late.
He rallied public support for those who have gone into drugs and are willing to come out of it, adding that saying a word of prayer for them could prove to be the turning point.