I could have been a drug addict – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has appealed to Nigerian youths and students to avoid the use and abuse of psychoactive drugs, emphasizing that such substances offer no value to life but instead cause immense destruction.

Obasanjo made this call during the second edition of the Fly Above The High anti-drug campaign conference in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Highlighting the growing problem of drug abuse in Nigeria and West Africa, Obasanjo called for restraint among young people. Reflecting on his tenure as Chairman of the West African Drug Commission under the Kofi Annan Foundation, he expressed alarm at the region’s transformation from a transit hub for drugs to a center of consumption.

“But to our dismay, displeasure, and pain, at the end of the exercise, we found out that West Africa has equally been a centre for drug consumption in a very bad way. That was more than 10 years ago, so the situation has since gone worse. And whatever applies to West Africa applies to all other parts of Africa,” he said.

The former president also shared a personal anecdote about an early attempt to take up smoking, which led to severe coughing and deterred him from continuing.

“If I had persisted, I could have become addicted. Once you get involved, it is difficult to get out,” he said, warning the gathering of youths, students, mental health specialists, and policymakers.

“There’s nothing drug can do for you except destruction,” Obasanjo declared, urging those already addicted to seek help while cautioning society against stigmatizing them.