NAFDAC DG tasks mothers on proper upbringing of children

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has urged mothers to ensure proper upbringing of children.

The admonition is contained in a statement signed by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Mr Olusayo Akintola, issued on Monday in Abuja to commemorate the 2021 International Women’s Day (IWD).

Akintola quoted Adeyeye as saying “proper upbringing of children would help to reduce cases of drug abuse, prominent among youths in the society.”

Adeyeye also said that the war against the use of narcotics and other dangerous drugs among youths by the Federal Government may be difficult to win if parents did not help.

According to her, there is need for mothers to rediscover their pivotal role in nation-building by maintaining a God-fearing home.

She urged mothers to be vigilant by paying more than passing attention to their children’s wellbeing to the kind of friends they keep both in and out of school.

Adeyeye further stated that many children from God-fearing homes could join bad gangs through the bad company they keep in school, noting that “the role of mothers in the home is crucial in this regard.”

She pointed out that mothers had always been closest to the children, hence her attention was crucial to the development of the home.

She explained that the Narcotics and Other Allied Drugs Directorate of NAFDAC had been strengthened and empowered to enforce extant laws against the use of narcotics and other dangerous drugs by youths.

She noted that “the preponderance of secret cults in the nation’s tertiary institutions is another thing, many of our undergraduates are introduced to dangerous drugs and bad behaviours as members of cult groups.”

Adeyeye, however, blamed the uncontrolled influx of narcotics and other dangerous drugs which negatively impacted on the society in terms of public health and safety, security, and terrorism on the absence of NAFDAC at the nation’s ports.

She added that the challenge of internal security within the country was traced to uncontrolled influx and use of psychotropic medicines such as tramadol and chemicals that could be diverted for terrorist activities.

According to her, NAFDAC’s absence at the ports has been highlighted as one of the factors aiding the influx of narcotics and this necessitated the need to return the agency back to the ports in 2018.

The NAFDAC boss urged mothers to lay less emphasis on acquisition of worldly things at the expense of the future of their children.

According to her, many mothers will leave home as early as 5 a.m and will not return home until 9 p.m under the guise of looking for money.

She added that such attitude had exposed some children to the whims and caprices of youths of different shades and colours in the neighbourhood.
She, however, commended Nigerian women for being resilient, industrious, and caring.