NUT disagrees with NDLEA over drug abuse.

The Nigerian Union of Teachers has taken an exception to a statement credited to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency that drug abuse is on the increase among pupils in Anambra State.

The NDLEA Commander in the state, Mr. Sule Momodu, at a recent award ceremony in Awka had reportedly asked stakeholders in education to join hands and arrest the trend.

However, speaking to our correspondent on Wednesday, the state NUT Chairman, Mr. Ifeanyi Ofodile, decried the assertion, saying the malaise is not peculiar to the state.

Rather, he said, the challenge in the basic education system in the state remained the preference for business by pupils.

“I will like to take strong exception to that view. Drug abuse as a social malaise is not peculiar to Anambra pupils. However, I am concerned that young Nigerians are taking to addiction and you know that it cuts across age and gender. I was in my father’s house recently and I saw a young lady in an uncompleted building smoking hemp. I later learnt she just finished her National Youth Service Corps programme.

“That is a very destructive habit, but it is not peculiar to Anambra schools. Rather, Anambra’s challenge has to do with young boys who dessert school for business. Let us come together and save this vulnerable members of the society,’’ he said.

The NUT National President, Mr. Michael Alogba-Olukoya, also challenged the NDLEA to provide evidence of its claims.

“We leaders in the society should base our statements on verifiable facts. Although Nigeria is having many challenges, including drug abuse, the orientation among pupils in Anambra is more about economic gain and that cannot be divorced from their background. The NDLEA should come out with empirical evidence and the outcome will form the basis of moving Nigeria forward,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the NUT Lagos State Chairman, Mr. Segun Raheem, has called on parents to be committed to their responsibilities.

“The way forward is for parents not to abdicate their responsibilities. There will be no gap between the home and school if parents focus on their primary assignment. It is the economic condition occasioned by the necessity to survive that is making many to abandon their primary assignments. From the school perspective, the government has introduced Moral Instruction and Civic Education as subjects to impact on our pupils,’’ he said.