Chief Executive Officer, Blessed to Be A Blessing Foundation, Mrs. Funmilayo Olowoyo, has expressed concern over the increase in drug use among pupils in public schools in Ibadan and called for greater community engagement with pertinent entities.

Mrs Olowoyo, who spoke at the 10th anniversary of the foundation working on bringing hope to orphans, the underprivileged, and rural settings, said the incidence of drug use, masturbation, and other social vices is on the rise in these schools.

According to her, while the girls in these schools face sexual abuse, the boys are introduced to drug use by older people who had asked them to help buy the hard drugs from its dealers around the school premises.

“It is assumed that primary school children are now involved in social vices. They know so many things. They are into drugs, and some are into masturbation and other social vices.

“At the adolescent and youth wing of the Lambo ward at the University College Hospital, you see children that are nine years old admitted for drug use.

“I went to a public primary school to talk to the pupils about ringworm. Some of the pupils, when I mentioned drugs, said some had started using them, and they even know the woman who sells drugs around the school area.

“If you go to urban slums like Inalende and Idikan areas in Ibadan, these are places where, even at 10 a.m., you will see so many children that have been given drugs that they should take by older boys. These are communities with increasing number of drug dealers.”

She stated that the foundation, in its 10 years of existence, had supported 445 orphans, including those with mental challenges like epilepsy, expressed hope and urged Nigerians to rally around vulnerable children in their communities.

Earlier, the chief medical director of Care Forth Medical Centre, Dr Opeyemi Ajibola, stated that more children are becoming vulnerable because they are left to the care of elderly grandparents, and their situations are very pathetic.

“The sight we see is pathetic. These children were without shoes and clothes. These children were without food. It was a sight to behold,” she added. (Nigerian Tribune)

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