The founder of the Eze Igbo Ghana Foundation, Dr.Chukwudi J. Ihenetu, has revealed the intentions of his foundation to build an ultramodern Rehabilitation Centers in Ghana and Nigeria to support victims of drug abuse.
The Philanthropist and human rights activist, who is also the King of the Igbo community in Ghana, added that the rehabilitation center will serve as a place that will create an opportunity for inmates to learn technical, creative and interpersonal skills, which will include farming, cosmetology and driving, among others.
Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle on Monday, August 31, 2023 Dr. Ihenetu said the foundation will give inmates who successfully complete their program at the center start-up capital to build on their skills, once they are out.
This, he said, will help equip and sustain them as they return to their various societies. He mentioned stigmatisation and discrimination as two of the major factors that hinder addicts from seeking the needed help, especially those who have been cleaned.
The Chief added that stigmatising a person who has stopped abusing drugs could trap them in the act again.
“This is part of the reasons why I speak against stigmatisation and for our societies to recognise the crucial role they have to play in the fight against the canker of drug abuse and drug trafficking,” he added.
He urged drug peddlers to channel their resources into genuine business areas instead of selling substances and drugs that end up destroying precious lives in the process.
“Their focus should not be on the profits they gain but rather the negative impacts their illegal activities are having on people and society at large.”
Speaking about why his foundation chose to embark on the campaign against drug abuse, Dr. Ihenetu explained that seeing young people in almost every community abusing all kinds of drugs made him decide to come up with the initiative to wage war against the menace.
He revealed that the foundation has over the past years organised youth empowerment programs in both Ghana and Nigeria, including the just-ended walk against drug trafficking and drug abuse held in Accra.
He called on the clergy, Imams, teachers, parents, traditional rulers, opinion leaders and the media to join the fight against substance abuse and drug trafficking, calling the fight a shared responsibility.
“Drug abuse is even more dangerous among the youth because they are the future leaders,” he said.
According to the King, education on the dangers of drug abuse will be factored into the celebration of the Igbo New Yam Festival, which will come off on September 17, 2023 in Accra.
