Sadly, it appears to me that drug abuse is on the rise in
Nigeria. As I live in Lagos, I ordinarily had assumed that this problem was
probably most prevalent here given the fact that it is a commercial hub. I have
however recently had cause to rethink that notion.
I spent the last three weeks in Abuja and as lovely, calm
and sane as the place is, I happened to notice a seemingly high level of drug
abuse. I can’t help but wonder if there is a direct link between the hardship
and injustice prevalent in the country and this apparently high drug use.
My friend had told me previously how people in Abuja use cough
mixtures containing codeine as a means of getting “high” and how the drug is touted outside pharmacy stores but I thought
she was exaggerating. Lo and behold, one evening we had gone to a big pharmacy
just round the corner from where I was staying and as we were still trying to
park the car, a young boy had come to the side of the car asking if we wanted
cough syrup. Surprised, I thought to myself “well
I am right in front of a pharmacy, if I do in fact need cough syrup, surely I could
just walk in and get it.” So I went in and got what I was there for. Just before
I walked out of the door, the curiosity got the best of me and I decided to
find out what the little episode outside was really about. To my utmost
amazement, when I did ask for a cough syrup containing codeine, I was told that
it was out of stock! That left me with only one explanation (at the risk of
stating the obvious). It is so high in demand that it has become a scarce
commodity. Now is cough syrup so high in demand because there is an outbreak in
Abuja?
In Lagos on the other hand, marijuana sales and use seems to
be the main activity on most of the beaches where you would typically find
people cutting across all social classes smoke it without much ado. I happen to
have seen first-hand how drug abuse can affect an individual and so this
seemingly sudden scourge causes me to worry for the next generation and the
future of our country.
