Hajia Fatima Abiola-Popoola, the Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Kwara State, has advocated for a mandatory drug test for applicants seeking admission into Nigerian universities.

She urged university managements to mandate drug testing of all newly accepted students. Abiola-Popoola spoke during an interactive session with journalists in Ilorin, the state capital.

She decried the increase in the number of illicit drug users in the country, especially females, noting that, “this portends great danger for the home and society.”

“According to a 2018 survey, 14.3 million people were using drugs in Nigeria, one out of 7 persons in Nigeria is a drug user, and it also revealed that one out of 4 drug users is a woman, and this shows that the society is in trouble. This is because a woman is the administrator of the home and now that women have started abusing drug, then the society is in trouble,” she said.

Abiola-Popoola highlighted the vital role of traditional rulers in the crusade against drug trafficking and abuse, adding that “success in the fight against drug abuse depends on the support of the stakeholders at the behest of the traditional institution".

“The traditional rulers have some control over their people and they are the closest to the communities, and whenever they say a word, it almost becomes a law amongst their people who hold them in high esteem. They have a stronghold of their communities, and that is why they are very important in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.