Gen. Buba Marwa, chairman National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has taken a swipe at Adekunle Gold, Burna Boy and other Nigerian artistes, over what he termed as the glorification of abuse of drugs and substances in their songs.
Marwa who made this known at the 2nd edition of the Vanguard Mental Health Summit held in Lagos, bemoaned the influence drug-promoting lyrics from songs have among youths.
The NDLEA boss lamented that the youths through the songs have come to see drug abuse as a 'grand idea of leisure'.
Marwa stated that drug abuse is a 'serious' pandemic in the country, averring that 10.6 million Nigerians abuse cannabis.
He further promised that the NDLEA will continue to put measures in place to curb the abuse of drug and substances in the country.
“The “high syndrome” is so entrenched among young people it has become a sort of self-prescription therapy for dealing with some of life’s issues. For some, it is the grand idea of leisure. It is a buzzword in their everyday life and a motif in popular music. Offhand, I can give you three quick examples of hit songs that glorify the abuse of psychoactive substances in the name of “getting high”.
” ‘I just want to be high’, ‘I need Igbo and Shayo’, ‘Sometimes food no dey give man joy, but Canadian loud, the feeling is different.’ These street anthems motivate young people to abuse alcohol, cannabis and other illicit substances. It is now commonplace for young people to organise cannabis parties.
The NDLEA chief executive praised Vanguard Newspapers for putting together the summit, emphasizing how silence, passivity and complacency have contributed to the rise in the level of drug abuse in the country.
“Our silence, passivity and complacency in the past is what led us to where we are today. That is why every effort to now salvage the situation, including this summit, is welcome and laudable and most importantly, must be decisive and sustained.
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