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Drug abuse fuelling Nigeria’s mental health crisis – PSN, NDLEA raise alarm


 As Nigeria battles a severe and escalating mental health crisis, key stakeholders in the health sector, policymakers, and human rights activists have raised the alarm that the country is facing a hidden epidemic of substance abuse, with one in seven Nigerians aged 15 to 64 involved in drug abuse.

In his submission during the 7th Public Lecture organised by the Board of Fellows, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (BOF-PSN) themed: “Mental Health: A Basic Human Right Crucial to Personal, Community and Socio-Economic Development,” the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), said there was a need for a comprehensive national strategy to address the nation’s mental health challenges.

Marwa, who was the Guest of Honour, said in the past year alone, the agency seized over 200 million pills of Tramadol, arrested 95 drug barons and 66,000 drug traffickers and peddlers, impounded over 11 million kilograms of hard drugs, and secured 12,000 convictions.

He linked the alarming rise in drug abuse to a surge in psychiatric disorders, particularly among the youth.
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July 4, 2025

Drug abuse fuelling Nigeria’s mental health crisis – PSN, NDLEA raise alarm

NDLEA
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… Call for urgent reforms

By Peace Ezenwamma


As Nigeria battles a severe and escalating mental health crisis, key stakeholders in the health sector, policymakers, and human rights activists have raised the alarm that the country is facing a hidden epidemic of substance abuse, with one in seven Nigerians aged 15 to 64 involved in drug abuse.



In his submission during the 7th Public Lecture organised by the Board of Fellows, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (BOF-PSN) themed: “Mental Health: A Basic Human Right Crucial to Personal, Community and Socio-Economic Development,” the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), said there was a need for a comprehensive national strategy to address the nation’s mental health challenges.

Marwa, who was the Guest of Honour, said in the past year alone, the agency seized over 200 million pills of Tramadol, arrested 95 drug barons and 66,000 drug traffickers and peddlers, impounded over 11 million kilograms of hard drugs, and secured 12,000 convictions.

He linked the alarming rise in drug abuse to a surge in psychiatric disorders, particularly among the youth.

“Mental health interventions cannot be effective without addressing drug use head-on,” Marwa stated.

He stressed that “every day, we see lives shattered due to trauma, depression, anxiety, and social isolation, which often drive people to drugs.”

He called for robust collaborative efforts involving schools, faith-based institutions, and the media in drug education and mental health awareness campaigns.

Recounting a personal anecdote from his time as Nigeria’s defence adviser to the United Nations, Marwa highlighted the dire consequences of unaddressed mental illness, citing a 1994 incident in Yugoslavia where a mentally disturbed Nigerian officer on a peacekeeping mission killed a colleague.


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