DRUG ABUSE AMONG THE IGBO YOUTHS IN SOUTHEAST, NIGERIA: A SEARCH FOR CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS SOLUTIONS

Abstract

The increasing menace of hard drug trafficking, abuse and the attendant addiction to them among the Igbo Youths in SouthEast, Nigeria is a point of great concern to all and sundry. While it is gratifying that relevant government authorities in Nigeria are doing their best to combat this menace, it is however still on the rife. This study attempts to source for Christian religious solutions to end this menace. Both the primary and secondary means of data collections wereemployed in this study. The necessary generalizations and conclusions were drawn purely on the qualitative analysis and synthesis of the gathered data made through culture centered and phenomenological approaches: Adopting the Social Learning Theory on drug abuse and addictions, it was discovered that apart from cocaine, marijuana, and cannabis; Mkpulummiri which is the Igbo slang for methamphetamine or Crystal Meth is the dangerous illicit drug that the Igbo youths persistently abuse and eventually gets addicted to. Drug abuse and its attendant addiction equally persists among the Igbo Youths in South East, Nigeria because of ignorance, unemployment, lack of proper parental control and training, peer pressure, false assumption, deception and manipulation of the transfers of Service location of the determinate top officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the South East regions of Nigeria by some political top shots, amongst others. This study submits that with the concerted efforts of parents, local authorities, government authorities and the church; as well as laying emphasis on core Christian virtues of discipline, abstinence, sobriety amongst others, the menace of drug abuse and its corollary addiction among the Igbo Youths of South East, Nigeria will be addressed.