PMAN, NDLEA In Alliance Against Drug Menace

FUNSHO AROGUNDADE

The Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) is joining forces with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to tackle the growing problem of drug abuse in the country.

The collaboration was officially announced recently at the PMAN Music House in Lekki, Lagos, where NDLEA Chairman, Mohammed Burba Marwa (retd) and his team were present.

Together, the two bodies aim to raise awareness and provide support to musicians, especially those under the auspices of PMAN.

According to data from the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime in Nigeria, a significant 14.4% (14.3 million) of individuals aged between 15 and 64 years grappled with drug abuse as of 2018.

Marwa outlined the ongoing interventions of the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) programme initiated in 2021 by the Agency.

He detailed the facets of drug abuse, elucidating how the programme delivers support through counselling, physiotherapy, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation centres.

He said there is a need for the PMAN to partner with the NDLEA in the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking, especially amongst her primary constituency, the musicians.

The NDLEA boss urged PMAN President, Mr. Pretty Okafor and other executives to mobilise their members to use their God-given talents for the good of the society rather than using their music to promote drug abuse especially among the youths.

He emphasised the close correlation between drug use and popular music, lauding the collaboration’s timeliness as an intervention.

He said the drug scourge in Nigeria has reached the proportion that is unacceptable to the government, hence he sought the partnership with PMAN to bring the desired change.

“One of the key joint members and stakeholders in this war must be PMAN because of the issue of music to our youths. You (PMAN) reach out to everyone through performance on radio and television. You have a long reach and influence on the youths. Most youths look up to you as role models, and role modelling has a lot to do with copying,” Marwa told PMAN members and other stakeholders at the meeting.

The retired General, who narrated how as a young officer he was associated with music as a band leader, said the leadership of the music association has done enough to earn this partnership with NDLEA in the fight against drug and substance abuse in the society.

“The NDLEA is willing to collaborate with you by supporting you with doctors, and we have treatment facilities in our commands. When people use drugs, we help. We support such persons,” he noted.

Leveraging PMAN’s extensive network across all 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria, the collaboration is set to roll out a series of seminars and workshops, reinforced by NDLEA support.

Both Okafor and Marwa expressed confidence that these combined efforts will significantly mitigate the challenge of drug abuse.

Elated Marwa, who was conducted round the Music House, however congratulated Okafor and the entire PMAN leadership for the great feat achieved by the music body including the PMAN State-of-the-art radio stations in Lagos and Abuja, and the proposed PMAN gigantic edifice in Abuja.

Okafor in his response expressed the preparedness of the music union to partner with the Agency while describing the initiative as a dedication to the music industry.

He gave details of PMAN efforts to organise advocacy campaigns against drug abuse across the country and plan to build rehabilitation centres as part of their ongoing projects in Abuja and Lagos.

According to him, its objective is to dispel prevailing myths surrounding drug abuse in elevating the creative output of musical artists, consequently shaping the perspectives of their followers.

“Our pioneering music genre, led by Junior and me, took the world by storm. Our lifestyle embraces flamboyance and luxury. As artists, our line of work naturally attracts drugs and alcohol, but I abstained,” Okafor remarked.

He noted that the partnership with NDLEA is like a “preparedness meeting with opportunity as PMAN has always been ready for this with our desire to change the narrative in the music industry from the end of PMAN. In the last three years, PMAN had been ready for this as we, in-house, had started putting pen to paper and here we are today partnering with an agency like NDLEA to end both drug abuse and its use. So, PMAN is ready for this and with NDLEA, we would completely disabuse the minds of young stars from the use of drugs.”