Ibadan – The Management of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, has said it was set for a partnership with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in its fight against drug abuse.
LAUTECH made its plans known in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mr Lekan Fadeyi, on Thursday in Ibadan.
Fadeyi said that the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the institution, Prof. Michael Ologunde, made this commitment when he hosted the NDLEA Area Commander in Ogbomoso, Mr Yusuff Ahmed in his office.
Ologunde said that the country could no longer continue to fold its arms and watch the future of its youths destroyed by drugs.
He promised to support the agency and the Drug Free Club of the institution in the area of sensitisation so that students could be better educated on the negative effects of drugs on their future.
The VC said henceforth, the University would make it mandatory for intending leaders of the Students’ Union to undergo drug tests before they were certified to contest for any position.
Earlier, Ahmed had informed Ologunde of the prevalence of drug abuse in Ogbomoso and other parts of the state, noting that those mostly affected were students.
He said the NDLEA was seriously troubled about the ugly trend.
“Rather than expel culprits, we will appreciate if you use both our counselling and rehabilitation centres as a means of rehabilitating those saved from the path of peril,” the NDLEA commander said. (NAN)