By Chinedum Treasure
The Anambra State Ministry of Information and Value Reformation and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have agreed to strengthen collaboration against drug abuse and promote value reorientation among youths in the state.
The agreement was reached when the Principal Training Officer, Training/Media & Advocacy of NDLEA, Mrs Priscilla Onyema, paid a courtesy visit to the Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr Law Mefor, in Awka.
Mefor said Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s decision to add value reformation to the ministry’s mandate was aimed at addressing growing moral challenges, particularly drug abuse among youths.
He described the increasing use of crystal meth, popularly known as mkpuru mmiri, as a serious threat to communities across Anambra.
“The drug is synthetic, it is cheap, and it is evil. It destroys an individual completely, making rehabilitation extremely difficult. Virtually every community in Anambra is affected,” Mefor said.
He explained that the state’s value reformation agenda focuses on four areas: anti-drug abuse, anti-cultism, moral and behavioural reformation, and general value reorientation.
According to him, a technical committee is already developing a blueprint for a statewide campaign, while the ministry is ready to work with NDLEA through schools, communities and the media.
Mefor also proposed an inter-ministerial approach involving relevant government ministries, town unions and community leaders to strengthen the campaign.
Onyema said NDLEA combines enforcement with advocacy and had reached more than 170 schools across Anambra’s local government areas in the past three years.
She said the agency had also established an Alternative Development Directorate to support youths willing to quit drug trafficking and assist vulnerable persons at risk of recruitment by drug dealers.
“Most people go into drugs out of ignorance or peer pressure. If out of 100 people we speak to, even five per cent make the right decision, that is progress,” Onyema said.
Tags: Anambra, NDLEA, Drug Abuse, Value Reformation
