MTN Nigeria, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has commenced a training programme aimed at equipping teachers and students with knowledge to prevent drug abuse in schools.
The initiative, unveiled at a stakeholders’ workshop in Ilorin, Kwara State, targets 1,440 teachers and 86,400 public secondary school students across 12 states.
Chinyere Ikechi, MTN’s Manager of Sales and Trade Development for Kwara, said the project was designed to use the classroom as a platform for prevention. She explained that trained teachers would educate, monitor, and mentor their students, helping them become peer advocates against substance abuse.
“The idea is to invest in prevention rather than cure,” Ikechi said, adding that MTN Foundation has supported the effort with quiz competitions, workshops, and outreach programmes in collaboration with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The workshop, themed “Unplugged Teachers Training on Drug Prevention in Kwara and Kaduna States”, also explored creating a digital framework to expand the programme’s reach.
UNODC’s representative, Maria Ilugbuhi, stressed the urgency of education in combating the trend, citing surveys showing one in seven Nigerians uses drugs. “If no action is taken, drug abuse could increase by 40 per cent by 2030,” she warned.
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