Oyo partners African Students Union to fight drug abuse

The Oyo State government says it will collaborate with the African Students Union Parliament (ASUP) in the fight against drug abuse across the state.

The executive chairman of the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Nureni Adeniran, disclosed this in Ibadan on Thursday when the executives of the students’ body visit him in his office.

Speaker of the parliament, Rt.-Hon. Kewul Abel, from the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana, had solicited the state government’s support in the union’s ongoing sensitization programme against drug abuse across the African continent, urging the state government to include Fight against Drugs in its school curriculum.

Abel said the collaboration had become necessary due to the rising cases of illegal consumption of prohibited substances, especially among youths.

The union also conferred the SUBEB chairman with the Icon of Nation Building award.

While presenting the award, Rt.-Hon Abel said that Dr Adeniran’s rise through his chosen endeavours as an educationist, lawyer and politician had inspired many.

He recounted Adeniran’s exploits in the public service, saying his achievements are a morale booster for the youths.

In his remark, the deputy speaker, Hon. Joseph Konan from the Univerisite Felix Houpouet Boigny, Cote-d’Ivoire, praised the efforts of Dr. Adeniran in promoting basic education in the state.

He urged him not to relent in his quest to create an enabling environment for the younger generation, where the underprivileged can have access to basic education.

In his response, Dr. Adeniran expressed the board’s readiness to work with the parliament in tackling drug abuse, adding that the board had put in some necessary measures to curb all forms of vices, including drug abuse, across the state.

He thanked the union for honouring him, and dedicated the award to Governor Seyi Makinde, who he said gave him the enabling environment to operate.

Adeniran also expressed his profound gratitude to the board, management and staff members of Oyo SUBEB for their unrelenting support and sacrifices at ensuring that the vision of the board is kept alive.

As an Icon of Nation Building, Dr. Adeniran was also given an ASUP Five-Star General Badge, as well as a matching certificate.

The West African Students Union (WASU), now African Students Union Parliament (ASUP), was formed in London in 1925 by Sir Kwame Nkrumah and presently has an estimated 50 million African students under its umbrella.