The Executive Director of Savannah Centre for Diplomacy , Democracy and Development Ambassador Sani Saulawa Bala has described the passage of the Kano state Drugs And substance Abuse Management Bill 2019 as a catalyst for curbing the menace of drug abuse in the state.
Saulawa stated this during the Advocacy and Stakeholders Influencing Meeting with selected stakeholders in Kano state in order to raise further awareness on “Kano State Drugs and Substance Abuse Management Bill (2019)” amongst the state and non-state actors, held in Kao.
He said the objectives of the meeting was to fine-tune modalities on how to ensure the passage of the bill which is before the house , geared toward addressing the challenge of drug abuse among youths, married women, adults among others .
The Executive Director maintained that
the center was focusing on the control of drug abuse in Nigeria, stressing that the centre would accord all the necessary supports especially in the aspect of enhancing the capacity of influencers and stakeholders with the aim of achieving the set objectives.
“We focus on Kano because according to statistics kano has the highest number of Drug abuse in Nigeria , and the majority of those engaged in this act are the youths ,high rate of divorce is in kano, so we have to be involved in the fight against drug abuse so that we will have a better society”
Ambassador Sani Saulawa Bala appealed to the lawmakers to expedite action in ensuring that the bill was passed into law so that the implementing agencies would a law to back their actions
In a remark , Chairman House Committee on Health Alhaji Nuhu Abdullahi Achika rassured the commitment of house in ensuring that the bill received prompt attention.
He said the bill has scaled first and second reading, and will soon be passed by the house.
The workshop slated for two days attracted participants from the civil societies, media and other stakeholders
Abdullahi Jalaluddeen
