by Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
An Kaduna-based NGO on Thursday organized training of trainers on tobacco use and substance abuse disorder in the State. The program, titled: ‘Training on Recovery Allies,’ was organized by The Eye Opener Women and Youth Foundation – 2021 WHO WNTD, the award winner.
Organizer and founder of the NGO, Mrs Margret Julius, said they were training the people to make them become “Recovery Allies” so they could save lives.
“We know that drug abuse is pandemic, claiming the lives of many people more than COVID-19. So, we come out to organize this with our resources so that people and families and even teenagers – you saw them doing presentation – to go out and help save lives. That’s Just the summary of the training,” she said.
She further explained that, “After the 2021 award winner, the WHO gave us award of the World Day Tobacco. So, after the award, we started implementing the ‘abstinence club’ in schools and communities.
“The purpose of the club is to allow people coming in the community to be trained about all these substances; just to keep people busy to have the knowledge to save lives.
“Most of the people into this substance abuse don’t have the knowledge. So, we are implementing the tobacco and substance abstinence club in schools and communities.
“We have started and we’ll continue to do it. Even this place that we’ve just finished the programme, we are going to implement Abstinence Club here next year. We already have students at Federal Cooperative College, knowledgeable, and are already working. We need community leaders to work with, as you can see them here.
“We carry them along. Anywhere we are entered into, the first people to see is community leaders. So, after establishing it in a community, we leave it for them and only come back when they need resource person(s) in the place.
“We want to keep every community busy in this drug abuse pandemic. All hands must be on deck to fight this menace. We are using personal resources, especially from my husband who is key supporter, just to help humanity,” she said.
Also speaking, a resource person, Haj. Fatima, also said the training was to make “people awareness” so that they will become therapist, taking care of people, who use drugs (abuse) in future.
“They need to be aware and need to have education to know what to do when the situation arises; to be able to take care of people using drugs.
Other persons in attendance at the programme, namely: Gambo Ibrahim Sariki (Tudun Wada) and Istfanus Dauda Z., a clergyman, also bared their minds, thus:
“The training is important and is supposed to be for all, just like the resource person and pioneer of Eye Opener said.”
“Honestly, the level of drug abuse is increasing. That is why this training programme is important. Every community, state level, LGs and ward level need to create awareness on the havoc drug abuse is doing,” they stated.
Other participants, Ene Edache, Mohammed Aliyu, the Vice President of Teenagers Tobacco/Substance Abstinence Club (TA Club), among other girls, who made presentation on tobacco, said they did so to save lives because of the study that a smoker’s live is reduced by ten years, to save somebody from smoking.
