By Bashir Mohammed
Kano
Kano state government has approved over N60 million as operational funds and allowances for the state Task Force on Fake, Counterfeit, Adulterated, Illicit Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods, for three months.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje disclosed this yesterday during a meeting with the committee, explaining that N5 million would be released “immediately,” while the balance would be paid in before long.
He assured that the government would not relent in giving the desired support to the task force on Fake and Adulterated Drugs and the Consumer Protection Council to enable them function efficiently.
“We are impressed with the work you are doing and we intend to reinvigorate the committee to make it work in earnest. Drug peddling and consumption is a big challenge and we must remain determined to confront it,” he said.
Noting that the issue of drugs was an international dilemma, especially for emerging mega cities like Kano, the governor assured that his administration would face the issue squarely to secure the future of its teeming youths.
“I have, therefore, directed the state Commissioner of Police to mount check points at suspected drug flashpoints to ensure that culprits who engage in the illicit drug business are apprehended.”
Dr. Ganduje revealed plans by the state government to renovate the Kiru Reformatory and to construct therein, a female hostel, in view of the rising cases of drug abuse among females in the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kabiru I. Getso, earlier explained that the meeting was convened to fine-tune strategies for combating drug/substance sale and abuse, among others.
He disclosed that the government had produced and would distribute 30, 000 copies of a booklet on the evils of drug abuse.
In his remarks, the chairman of the task force, Pharm. Abdu Umar Madaki, told the governor that in the last since its inception, the task force had seized banned drugs worth over N4 billion.
He added that “at the moment, it has such drugs worth nearly N100 million, awaiting destruction by the appropriate authorities.”