United Breeds Foundation held a walk against drug abuse and harmful vices in Lagos recently.
Glamtush reports that the convener of the United Breeds Foundation, Anthony Abakporo, has called on Nigerians especially parents, political, religious and community leaders to join forces in the fight against drug abuse and other harmful vices which he said has infiltrated our community, thus, ruining the lives of many youths.
He made the call at the just concluded walk against hard drugs and harmful vices organized by his foundation – United Breeds Foundation in Festac community, Amuwo Odofin LGA, Lagos state on Friday, October 1.
According to Abakporo the aim is to sensitize parents and the public on the drug pandemic ravaging the youths across the country and the need to curb the menace of drug peddlers and their cohorts.
“This is something that is affecting many and that is why we have invited parents to come and lend their voice to this so that we can curb the menace. We have some people in different sectors that includes the chairman of Amuwo Odofin represented her by his chief of staff, Hon. Idris Abubakar, Mr Onyema Onyenakeya of the Justice Development and Peace (JDPC) arm of the Catholic church and some of our celebrities who share our passion and they have been lending their voices to the campaign. The sad part is that hard drugs are also linked to cultism.”
Lamenting, Abakporo said it may be difficult to totally eradicate drug abuse but the menace could be reduced to the barest minimum.
“It is unfortunate that drugs and cultism are looking legal to our youths and we are losing great minds to these vices. The walk against hard drugs and harmful vices in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area is part of our campaign and door–to–door sensitization exercise to discourage a reasonable number of youths from engaging in the use of hard drugs and harmful substances.
“A lot of people have died from drug addiction, which is why we encourage families to come out and seek help. The fight against hard drugs is not only for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies.”
He added: “It takes time and that is why we made sure that everyone in our leadership are people who have been through this experience. Our long-term goal is to have something like Silicon Valley, a commercial hub to allow them to make use of their talents.”
Chairperson of Amuwo-Odofin local council, Dr Valentine Oluwaseun Buraimoh, who was represented by his Chief of staff, Hon Olusegun Idris promised to support the foundation and advised that all hands must be on deck to curb the menace that has reached alarming rates.
Hon Olusegun Idris, added, “The only way to curb these vices is through engaging the youths in positive activities that will make them feel they are part of the government. Part of this engagement is through training workshops that will make them self-reliant and providing skill acquisition.”
Organisers and youths carried placards with different inscriptions like: “Bring back Festac to normal, yes we can, just walk no more drugs”, “Let’s stop drug abuse in Nigeria today”, “Hard drugs and substance intake kills your mind, body and soul,” “Stop selling alcohol to underage” and many others.
The highlights of the walk were the performance of musical artists like Rock Steady and others.
