Addicted & Abandoned: Nigeria’s Failing War On Drugs

An Epidemic Hiding in Plain Sight

NIGERIA’S drug abuse crisis has reached alarming proportions, yet its response remains dangerously inadequate. With nearly 14.3 million drug users and fewer than 200 treatment centres—most ill-equipped for addiction care—the country faces a public health challenge of staggering scale.

Despite intensified enforcement, drugs remain cheap, accessible and socially embedded, particularly among youths battling unemployment and despair.

When Survival Leads to Dependency

Stories like those of Hajara Musa and Oluchi Chinedu expose how addiction often emerges as a survival strategy rather than indulgence. Domestic violence, orphanhood, poverty and social abandonment push vulnerable youths into drug-using communities where dependency takes root.

These lived experiences contradict the stereotype of drug users as reckless or immoral. Instead, they reveal addiction as a response to unresolved trauma and systemic neglect.

Enforcement Without Recovery

The NDLEA’s achievements in arrests and seizures are significant, yet insufficient. Without rehabilitation, addicts return to the streets, fueling demand and sustaining supply networks.

Emerging trends—drug-themed parties, courier-based trafficking and synthetic opioids—underscore the adaptability of drug markets in the absence of comprehensive prevention and treatment strategies.

Women, Poverty and Double Stigma

Women face unique vulnerabilities in Nigeria’s drug crisis. Domestic abuse, financial instability and emotional isolation increase risk, while stigma discourages treatment.

UNODC data reveals a stark disparity: women make up a significant portion of drug users but remain grossly underrepresented in rehabilitation programmes.

The Cost Barrier

Treatment costs remain the single greatest obstacle to recovery. Even public facilities impose fees beyond the reach of low-income Nigerians, while private centres cater largely to the affluent.

Experts warn that without subsidised treatment, Nigeria’s addiction crisis will continue to erode its workforce and social fabric.

A Call for Structural Reform

Addressing addiction requires more than arrests. It demands political will, funding, mental health integration and community-based interventions.

Without urgent reform, Nigeria risks an addiction epidemic that will overwhelm its health system and undermine national development.