Sanusi Advocates Drug Test for Political Office Seekers

CBN Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has advocated for a drug test for all those seeking elective political office in the country.

“Anyone who wants to contest for political office or seeking political appointment should be asked to go for drug test, because if you are into drugs, you will not have the opportunity to be appointed to  any position of authority in this country,” he said.

Speaking in Kano Saturday at the State Government House during the inauguration of a three-day anti-substance abuse awareness campaign and Train-the-Trainers workshop, the CBN governor also blamed the elites for the prevailing moral decadence in the society.

Lamido added that there was an urgent need to examine the entire value system in our society.

“Today we have created class even among our children and we give our children more money than they need and buy them the expensive cars and we see young boys and girls moving from one office to another looking for contract, and when they get the money, they organise parties and spend the money any how,” he said, adding “Nobody is safe because even if your children are not drug addicts,  they go out and meet other children outside.’’

Lamido called on governments at all levels to concentrate on job creation with a view to tackling  the youth unemployment challenges facing the country.

He said governments must continue to create employment opportunities in order to check the menace of drug abuse and other social vices in the society.

In her address while launching the programme, wife of the vice president, Hajiya Amina Namadi Sambo, called on parents to monitor the activities of their children and the kind of company they move with.

“It is only by so doing that we can nip in the bud the early warning signs of drug abuse among our children,” she said.

Hajiya Amina Sambo said the available statistics from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) showed that local production and   consumption of Indian hemp was on the increase and there were rampant cases of abuse of substances.

She said “unfortunately, Kano state is said to constitute majority of the 37.5 per cent of the total drug victims in the North-West zone which ranks highest country and our worried is the fact that married women are said to be actively involved in the abuse of these substances with a high percentage of them discovered to be addicted to them.”

Speaking also, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano state revealed that the state government would continue to partner with all relevant organisations in order to check the menace in the society.

He appealed to the people of the state join hand with the government it its effort to sanitise the drug sales and distribution in the state.

Kwankwaso said “saturday I was opportune to participate in the destruction of some drugs worth over N100 million.’’

THISDAY correspondent in Kano learnt that about 150 trainers made up of women, youth, NGOs and community based organisations as well as community and religious leaders attended the training.