The Economic Community of West African States Food and Cultural Festival has called on the leaders of ECOWAS countries to intensify efforts to reduce drug abuse and illicit trafficking in the continent.

The group’s Country Representative and Director-General, Felix Ihonre, made the call at the National Stakeholders Preparatory Lunch, in Observance of the 2024 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Abuja.

The day with the theme, “Evidence is clear: Invest in prevention” is globally observed on every June 26.

Mr Ihonre said that ECOWAS leaders should see the issue of drug abuse and illicit trafficking as a thing promoting violence, insurgency and banditry, saying that once they addressed it, there would be peace around ECOWAS.

“We call on our leaders, heads of states and governments of the ECOWAS countries to intensify efforts with high level commitment to reducing drug abuse and illicit trafficking. Once drug abuse and illicit trafficking are reduced, violence will also be reduced because most of the things that stimulate violence are drugs and it is difficult for you to have a violent agitator that does not take drugs. So, we want a situation where the Federal Government of Nigeria and her fellow 14 member countries of ECOWAS as well as their development partners around the world see the issue of drug abuse and illicit trafficking as a thing that is promoting violence, insurgency and banditry. Once all these things are addressed, I think there will be peace around ECOWAS,” Mr Ihonre said.

According to him, to make sure that there is high level productivity of food in a country, there is a need to provide peace among farm settlements.

On the issue of drug traffickers, he said people trafficked in drugs because they were not engaged or seeking quick money.

He urged the government to see the issue of food and crop production as an alternative to drug and crime prevention.

Mr Ihonre said that the theme of the 2024 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking titled “Evidence is clear: Invest in prevention” was apt.

He said, “This year becomes very important to the ECOWAS Food and Cultural Festival, in the sense that it is talking of “Evidence is clear: Invest in prevention.” What are we preventing? If we must prevent drug abuse, illicit trafficking and any kind of abuse, the first thing we must put on the table first is food. People have to feed. Hunger prevention is a way of alleviating poverty. Hunger prevention is a way of keeping people busy to fight the issue of drugs. Second, drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and others are things that are being produced by some farmers.”

The director-general urged government and people in the agric sector to concentrate more on food production by encouraging farmers to plant plantation crop production and produce more food.

This, he said, would prevent people from producing drugs or engaging in drug trafficking.  

(NAN)