4th July, 2017
Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia has advised parents to guard against instances that could lure their children indulging drug abuse.
Ikpeazu gave the advice on Tuesday in Aba at the commemoration of 2017 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking in Aba.
Ikpeazu was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Elder Ifeanyi Agbai.
The governor expressed concern that some children had been in the habit of mixing tramadol, a drug, and soft drinks to create stimulant.
Ikpeazu said the result of such mixture was a hard drug which put such child in the way of abuse of substances and hard drug use.
He also called on parents to take time out to listen to their children in order to understand their challenges and help them out of their problems.
He said families would not benefit from their toiling if they were unable to raise healthy and safe children who would succeed them when they were gone.
“The children need your time and attention, not just your money, to grow into better and responsible human beings,” he said.
Akingbade told parents to listen to and watch over their children in order not to allow them become drug addicts, adding that hard was difficult to remedy due to high cost of rehabilitation.
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The governor also counselled the youth against making bad friends, stressing that such friends could cause them pain and even ruin their lives.
In his speech, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), State Commander, Mr Bamidele Akingbade, said that taking hard drugs off the streets of Abia was a big task.
He also said the agency was working tirelessly to discourage the consumption as well as the trafficking of hard drugs and pleaded with traffickers to stop their ‘’deadly activities.’’
Two youths, Anthony Success and Esther Manaseh from Sure Foundation Academy and Ogbor Hill, said they came to the occasion learn how to live a healthy life.
They promised that they would not meddle with hard drugs, no matter the pressure from peers and urged fellow peers to eschew taking to hard drugs in the interest of their future.
The programme had as theme, “Listen First: Listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe.”