Olawande Spearheads NYSC, UNODC Cooperation To Tackle Drug Abuse Among Youths

The Minister of State for Youth Development, Mr. Ayodele Olawande has initiated a partnership between the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) and  National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) towards checkmating the problem of drug abuse among youth.

The meeting, which was held at the NYSC headquarters in Maitama, Abuja, was a follow-up to an earlier discussion between the Minister and the Country Representative of UNODC, Mr. Oliver Stolp.

The Minister, who introduced the UNODC Country Representative to the NYSC management team led by the Director General, Brigadier General YD Ahmed; said he was hopeful that the proposed partnership would explore the prospect of deploring corps members as ready volunteers in the battle to rid Nigerian youth of drug and substance abuse.

While the UNODC Country Representative, Mr. Stolp, took time to present some of the ongoing projects of his office aimed at reducing the prevalence of drug abuse in Nigeria, calling on the NYSC management to accede to the request for partnership; the Director General of NYSC, Brig. General Ahmed assured that the NYSC, which has an existing partnership with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), would be willing to explore every partnership option to ensure the menace of drug abuse among youth is curbed.

The two bodies thereafter agreed to set up a joint team to work out the details of the partnership.