On the 4th of April 2019, Nigerians woke up to the news of a Nigerian woman among two Pakistani’s killed for drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia. This comes after the news of five Nigerians killed by the Philippine government some years back for the same reason with a countless number of Nigerians on death row in many countries around the world.
This brings the rising urge among desperate Nigerians to peddle drugs to mind, and if not checkmated, this may become a social pandemic that the government may eventually not be able to control.
The air route has been identified as one of the major means through which drug peddlers in Nigeria carry drugs across our borders and also Nigeria has been identified as one of the countries through which drug cartels transit drugs to the Middle East as the borders in European countries have been made impenetrable.
Though the federal government has set up agencies to checkmate this issue but the questions asked are how effective have these agencies been? How functional are the intelligence and security operatives at the airport? Why are our borders so porous to these drug peddlers transiting Nigeria? One may even be tempted to link and hand full of gun violence around the country to several drug deals gone sour.
Many reasons can be associated with why people take risks peddling drugs from one nation to another;
- Financial problems; due to the huge profits that come from drug peddling, many Nigerians see it as a means to ease their financial burden.
- Quick money syndrome; most individuals with low moral background fall prey to the quick money made from peddling drugs.
- Ignorance; many persons are sincerely ignorant of the dangers associated with carrying drugs from one nation to another especially in countries were capital punishment are meted out to offenders.
What solutions can be proffered to the government?
- Effective training of our intelligence officers and security operatives at the airports and land borders.
- Employing honest hands to head the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and all associated agencies set up against drug trafficking.
- Monitoring of the cyberspace as most drug deals are completed over the internet.
- Reorientation of the young generations on the need to make money in an honest way.
- The government should set up more local agencies to help scuttle the plans of intending drug peddlers.
- The government should also improve the lot of Nigerians so we don’t fall prey to the quick money syndrome and resort to drug peddling.
The effects of drug trafficking are one that leaves a lasting mark not only on the individual but on the country as a whole. We must take adequate steps to combat this scourge.