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Substance
use and abuse is a prevalent part of our society and there is a growing number
of youth becoming involved in this aspect of our culture, potentially leading
to addiction (Bonomo & Bowes 2001: 32). Substance addiction is often seen
as a complex disease of the brain that can create uncontrollable, irrational,
compulsive cravings, potentially causing an individual to seek out and use
drugs, even when this behaviour causes extremely negative consequences
(National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens, n.d.). Numerous treatment programs
and centres have been established to provide assistance to individuals
requiring/requesting support. However, not all of these programs have been
successful and our society is constantly battling youth substance use and
abuse, while attempting to discover what will eventually be a positive,
successful approach to this ever-growing challenge (Gittman & Cassata 1994:
46).
Drugs
are commonly used by everybody whether young or old. Drugs are not only useful
for human beings; they are also useful for animals for good health. Human
beings give drugs to their animals when they discovered that they are not
healthy. Drug is an effective substance in the life of any living thing to cure
sickness and to make life healthy. It is true that drugs are used for
beneficent therapeutic purposes, effective substance for good health, but they
are being abused by people especially youths. They use it illegally and
unlawfully, thus it becomes harmful to the body. The impact of drug abuse among
youths in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State in Nigeria has been
considered a moral decadent. Drug abuse has made the face of the youths in Gokana
Local Government Area rough and brought shame to our society. The youths of Gokana
Local Government Area are deliberately using drugs illegally, unlawfully and
intentionally. Many of our youths ignorantly or knowingly depend on one drug or
the other for their daily activities. According to the statistics provided by
World Health Organization (WHO), drug including alcohol and tobacco, have
caused a lot of road accidents and have claimed more lives than other
sicknesses suffered by mankind. As International Drug Trafficking is gaining
strength, the international cooperation against drug trafficking is steadily losing
strength and lacking organization.
The
report from world narcotics has shown that confiscation level has fallen below
10 percent of the global circulation level of drug international mortality
figures for drug abuse have tripled since 1988. In the United States, medical
emergencies coming from cocaine taken rose by 1000 percent between 1976-1993,
in the case of the heroine by 6 percent from 1988-1993 and by 155 percent in
the case of cannabis. Cocaine addicts between the age of 12 and 17 increased by
166 percent from 1994-1995 in various countries. Drugs are being abused every
day. In Gokana Local Government Area, this issue of drug abuse has been a
serious concern for the society. Youths have taken to drug abuse. In recent
times, the rate at which youths abuse drugs have been so alarming and worrisome
that much effort have been made to eradicate it. As the youths are abusing
drugs, the effort being made to eradicate it is losing strength. Drug abuse and
addiction have a destructive or devastating consequences but our youths are
still into drugs. “Not only that it destroys the affected individual but it has
a pervasive effect on all those who know or work with the individual (Barber
1967:85). Drug addiction is a tragedy in our Nigerian society.
Brief
History of Gokana People
Gokana is one of the six kingdoms of the Ogoni people in Ogoni (also Ogoniland) in the Niger Delta region of Rivers State in Nigeria. Gokana kingdom has geographic, historic and ethno-linguistic elements with some 130,000 Gokana language speakers located in the Gokana Local Government Area in Rivers State. Its headquarters are in the town of Kpor. Gokana contains a number of villages, including Lewe, B. Dere, K. Dere, Kpor, Mogho, Bomu, Bodo, Gio-koo, Nwe-ol, Alli D. Bera, Biara, Deeyor, Boghor, Barako and Yeghe. It has an area of 126 km2 and a population of 228,828 at the 2006 census. The local language is the Gokana language. Gokana is divided into seventeen towns, each headed by a king. The seventeen towns are further subdivided into villages. All seventeen towns have one common ancestry. The native Gokana week is made up of five days, Maa, Bon, Zua, SJon, Koo (pronounced cur). Koo is the official sabbath or rest day when our indigenes were to stay at home and not go to the farm. The Gokana people have a rich cultural heritage. The main religions are Christianity and African traditional religions; although most of its customs, traditions and festivals have become extinct due to urbanization and rural-urban migration, some have survived. Amongst these is the "Naa Bira Dae" festival, celebrated around late March to early April in honour of the goddess of the night. It lasts for 15 days or three local weeks and during this period, no woman, child or uninitiated adult male is allowed to go out, except emergency services such as the police. The Gokana language, of the Ogonoid group of the Cross-River branch of the large Niger-Congo language family, is the main spoken language. Weddings, burials (of people who died in old age) and the naming of a child are important ceremonies among the people of Gokana and they are celebrated in style. Gokana kingdom is headed by a king called the "Gbere Mene" of Gokana Kingdom.
Prevalence of Drug Abuse in Gokana Local
Government Area
Of
the 23 epidemiological studies, only seven reported an overall prevalence of
drug abuse among the study sample. Given the heterogenic nature of the studies,
determination of the pool prevalence of drug abuse in Gokana Local Government
Area may not be possible. Four of the studies were conducted among secondary
school students and reported a prevalence between 20 and 40%. A prevalence of
14.4% was reported among members of the general public (all ages), 20.9% among
youths in the community, and 81.1% among commercial bus drivers (Wisdom 1993:66).
Commonly Abused Drugs in Gokana Local
Government Area
The
most frequently implicated drugs, consistently reported by the majority of the
studies were; cannabis, codeine, amphetamine/dexamphetamine, heroin, cocaine,
diazepam, and cough syrup, Reactivan (fencamfamine), Mandrax, and tramadol. Some
drugs were frequently reported by studies published in the early 80s. Proplus
(caffeine 50 mg) was reported by three papers published in 1982, and
Madrax (Methadone and diphenhydramine) in studies published between 1981 and
2011. The absence of these drugs in recent studies may be related to the
decline in their availability in Gokana Local Government Area.
Cannabis
was the most abused drug reported across the different study populations. The
prevalence of cannabis abuse among members of the general public was 10.8% and
22.7% among adolescents of 25 years and younger. The frequency of abuse
among secondary school students was between 0.6 and 34%, with a pooled
prevalence of 12.5%. The abuse of cannabis among undergraduate students was
also common, with a prevalence of 8–11%. The frequency of cocaine abuse ranges
from 1.6 to 4.8% among secondary school students, 0.6–10% among undergraduate
students and 0.1–0.6% among members of the general public. The widespread use
of cocaine in Nigeria may be related to easy access due to increased
trafficking of drugs despite the existing legal control measures (Wisdom 1993:63).
Codeine
was the third most frequently reported drug of abuse from the included studies.
The prevalence of abuse in the general public (all ages) was 2.4%, and 22.7%
among adolescent. A prevalence of 3–8.2%, and between 5.3 and 28% was recorded
among undergraduate students and secondary school students respectively. The
high rates of drug abuse among the younger persons could reflect the easy accessibility
of these drugs, peer group influence and possibly lack of effective counseling
programs in secondary schools and universities.
Sources Where Drug Abusers Obtained
Drugs
Identifying
the sources where drug abusers obtained drugs is essential in preventing drug
abuse in Gokana L.G.A. Interventions to block the supply of these drugs from
identified sources could reduce the increasing prevalence of drug abuse. Only
five studies reported the sources of the drugs being abused. The common sources
included: pharmacies/patent medicine shops (23–33%), open markets (17%), drug
hawkers, hawkers of traditional herbal preparations, fellow drug abusers (8%),
underground agents (57%), family members (1.6–33%), friends (up to 61%),
teachers (3%), physician (8.3%), other health practitioners (3.0%) (Joseph 2003:72).
Reasons for Drug Abuse in Gokana Local
Government Area
Determination
of the reasons why people indulged in drug abuse may guide the development and
implementation of targeted interventions for reducing the burden of drug abuse
in Gokana Local Government Area. The eleven studies that reported the reasons
for drug abuse gave several reasons. The commonly reported reasons included the
following: to increase physical performance, to drive pleasure, desire to
relax/sleep, experiment/curiosity, to keep awake, to relieve stress, to relieve
anxiety, unemployment, frustration, and easy access (Justin 2005:57).
Exterior
or curiosity motives, often in the form of extreme explorative curiosity to
experience ‘the unknown’ about drugs, motivate individuals into drug use and
subsequent drug misuse and abuse. The first experience in drug abuse produces a
state of arousal in the form of extreme happiness and pleasure, which in turn
motivates users to continue. With the high poverty rate of about 50% of people
living in extreme poverty in Gokana Local Government Area, and the rising rate
of unemployment (23.1%), indicate how challenging the socioeconomic condition
could be for many Nigerians. These conditions could predispose people to engage
in drug abuse to work harder to earn a living or to ward off the stress and
frustration of daily living in hardship (Kaiser Foundation 2002:37).
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