Support war against drug abuse, Marwa urges academic community

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Gen. Muhammad Buba Marwa (Rtd), has called on the stakeholders in all tertiary institutions, including senior citizens and retirees, to join hands with the agency and other relevant bodies in the ongoing war against drug abuse, especially among students.

Marwa, who was the chairman of the Send-Forth Ceremony for Retired Academic/Non-Academic Staff; Book Presentation of three Professors and Valedictory Lecture delivered by Professor Rasheed Aderinoye on behalf of the retired professors, organised by the Department of Adult Education, University of Ibadan, on Thursday, said it has become pertinent for all hands to be on the deck in the fight against drug abuse because of the new online means of drug purchase among university students.

The NDLEA chairman, who was represented at the event by Assistant Commander of Narcotics and State Commander NDLEA Oyo, Mrs. Josephine Ruth Obi urged the retirees to please include the campaign against drug abuse in whatever they will be doing as from now.

He noted that the trend of drug abuse has taken a seriously dangerous dimension now such that students now purchased drug online and sell among their peers on campuses. He said, “unlike before, we talk of cocaine, cannabis, heroine and other hard drugs, children now abuse all sorts of chemical like tramadol, codeine and worse still, unlike before when they sniffed some of these drugs, these children have also designed a new means of intake by infusing these drugs in foods, soft drinks whereby when they are taking them in your presence, their parents might not know.”

He lamented that innocent youth including ladies are now being introduced into hard drug intake unconsciously.

While he said the agency is doing its best to address the situation, “we also need the cooperation of senior citizens, retirees and other meaningful Nigerians to tame the drug menace.”

In his Valedictory Lecture entitled: “Adult Education Practice in Nigeria: Between Pedagogy and Andragogy”, Professor Aderinoye said it is high time Nigeria should reviewed its teaching and learning process and consider andragogy worthy of adoption in the education system.

He added that it is time for government to show strong political will by enforcing the provision on the Act 2004 of UBEC in session 9b, just as he canvased the combination of Pedagogy and Andragogy models should be adopted in facilitating work based among employers, employees and their representatives.

He said a national convention of adult education providers should be convened to coordinate the education sector’s responses to emerging issues of conflict, HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 pandemic, political crises and poverty reduction.

In their remarks, Chairman Planning Committee, Professor K.O Lester; Dean of Education, Professor F. Fakolade and Head of Department, Professor K.O Ojokheta commended the retirees for their contributions to the development of the institution and building of human lives through their dedicated services.

They acknowledge the fact the  institution will at every point in time make references to what each and every of the retirees impacted on the institutions just as their elderly advise would always count whenever necessary.

In his address, AG. Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Adeola Babatunde Ekanola emphasised the need for the country to focus more on human development through quality education. He noted that the quality of education a country is able to provide would determine the quality of human resources and development of such country.

While he congratulated the retirees for their dedicated services to the school and their fatherland Nigeria, he charged those behind to emulate the example laid by the retirees, saying, it wouldn’t have been possible for the institution to honour and appreciate their contributions if they did not pay the price in the first instance.

The three book launched are Human and Social Development; Education Re-engineering in the New Normal World; and Citizens Participation and Governance in Nigeria.   The retired teaching staff are late Professor Emmanuel Ejogu Osuji, Prof. Matthew Oladepo Akintayo and Aderinoye while the non-teaching staff are late Dr. Emmanuel Okuropo Olaitan, Mr Rasaki Adeyemo, Anthony Friday Aito and others.