The Generation We Are Losing

By Lemmy Ughegbe, Ph.D

Nigeria is losing a generation. Not to war. Not to famine. Not to disease. But to something far quieter and perhaps even more devastating. DRUGS. ILLICIT DRUGS.

Across our cities, towns and villages, a silent epidemic is unfolding. Young people who should be building careers are battling addiction.

Teenagers who should be preparing for examinations are experimenting with dangerous substances.

University students who should be dreaming about the future are instead struggling to survive the present.

And far too many parents are watching helplessly as their children disappear before their eyes.

This is no longer a problem confined to street corners and criminal hideouts.

Drug abuse has entered our schools. It has entered our homes. It has entered our campuses. It has entered our workplaces. It has entered our communities. And if we are honest, it has entered our national life.

The tragedy is that many Nigerians still do not appreciate the scale of the crisis.
We see the young man wandering aimlessly. We see the student whose life suddenly unravels. We see the increasing number of mentally unstable persons on our streets. We see the growing culture of violence and hopelessness among some young people. But we often fail to connect the dots.

Drug abuse is no longer merely a health problem. It is becoming a social problem. An economic problem. A family problem. And increasingly, a security problem.

A disturbing number of crimes today are linked directly or indirectly to substance abuse.

Cultism. Armed robbery. Sexual violence.
Domestic violence. Kidnapping. Street violence. Even some cases of terrorism.

Behind many of these crimes lies a dangerous mixture of drugs, hopelessness and broken lives.

What makes the crisis particularly painful is that many victims are not hardened criminals.

They are children. They are students.
They are young people who simply made bad choices, succumbed to peer pressure or attempted to escape depression, unemployment, trauma and despair. Some started with curiosity. Others sought acceptance. Many merely wanted temporary relief from life’s frustrations.

But addiction rarely remains temporary.
It grows. It destroys. And eventually, it consumes.

Yet, society often responds with condemnation instead of compassion. We stigmatise the victims. We shame families. We mock addicts.
And in doing so, we drive many deeper into secrecy and despair.

But addiction is not merely a moral failure. It is also a public health challenge. People battling substance dependence need treatment. They need counselling. They need rehabilitation. They need support. And above all, they need hope.

This is why the war against drug abuse cannot be left to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency alone. Parents have responsibilities. Schools have responsibilities. Religious institutions have responsibilities. Communities have responsibilities. Government has responsibilities. The media also has responsibilities.

We cannot continue glorifying lifestyles that celebrate excess and self-destruction. Nor can we pretend that social media culture is not influencing vulnerable young minds.

More importantly, we must address the deeper issues driving many young people towards addiction. Unemployment. Hopelessness. Depression. Family breakdown. Poor mental health. Social isolation. These realities create fertile ground for substance abuse.

A society that abandons its young people should not be surprised when many seek refuge in dangerous escapes.
Ultimately, the fight against drugs is a fight for the future. Because the greatest wealth of any nation is neither oil nor minerals. It is its people. And particularly its young people.

A country can recover from economic recession. It can rebuild after conflict. It can overcome political instability. But a nation that loses its youth loses tomorrow itself.

That is why the growing menace of drug abuse should alarm us all. This is not somebody else’s problem. It is a national emergency. And history may judge us harshly if, while an entire generation was slipping away, we chose to look elsewhere.

Nations do not collapse only when buildings fall. Sometimes, nations collapse when hope disappears. And nothing destroys hope more quietly than addiction.

Dr Lemmy Ughegbe, FIMC, CMC
lemmyughegbeofficial@gmail.com
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