The grand finale of the 2025 MTN Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) National Quiz Competition was more than a celebration of youthful intellect; it was a stark reminder of a pervasive national emergency that threatens Nigeria’s social fabric, economic productivity, and future generations.
How MTN, NDLEA and UNODC
By engaging secondary school students from nine regions in a rigorous examination of drug risks, from cannabis, tramadol, cocaine, methamphetamine, etc., the event showcased that substance abuse is not a localised malaise but a systemic threat demanding federal-level intervention.
With prevalence rates tripling global averages and youth at the epicenter, this crisis is profoundly relevant to every Nigerian, amplifying the imperative for evidence-based prevention like the MTN ASAP initiative.
What elevates substance abuse to a national issue is its scale, ubiquity, and cascading impacts, as evidenced by data from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to the NDLEA’s 2018 National Drug Use Survey, conducted in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), approximately 14.3 million Nigerians aged 15 to 64, or 14.4% of that demographic, engaged in drug use within the past year. This figure dwarfs the global average of 5.6%, positioning Nigeria among the world’s hotspots for psychoactive substance consumption.
Cannabis remains the most abused illicit drug, with over 11 million users nationwide, but emerging trends reveal a shift toward synthetic opioids like tramadol and codeine-containing syrups, often peddled in schools and communities.
The NDLEA’s enforcement data further illustrates the crisis: between 2010 and 2019, the agency seized over 56,000 kilograms of drugs, arrested more than 85,000 individuals for related offenses, and secured over 16,000 convictions, yet these interventions barely dent the proliferation, with only a 20% prosecution success rate in recent years.
This national scope renders initiatives like the MTN ASAP Quiz profoundly relevant, aligning seamlessly with Federal Government strategies to prioritise prevention over punishment. The FG’s cornerstone framework, the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP) 2021-2025, emphasises evidence-based education, community sensitisation, and youth empowerment to invest in prevention and break the cycle of organised crime, a theme echoed verbatim in the 2025 quiz.
In this context, the quiz’s triumph crowning Government Day Secondary School, Borno, as champions amid applause from NDLEA’s Assistant Commander General of Narcotics Mr. Bashir Muhammad and UNODC’s Project Lead Dr. Akanidomo Ibanga transcends competition. It embodies the FG’s vision of arming youth with “knowledge that no drug peddler can defeat,” as Muhammad aptly stated. As Honourable Chief Ezechukwu Obonna, Imo State’s Special Adviser on Narcotics, reinforced from an active operation: “Prevention is far more effective than reaction.
“Today, you students have shown that investing in your knowledge yields immediate and lasting dividends.” In Dr. Ibanga’s closing charge to finalists, he said, “Return to your schools and communities as ambassadors,” this mirrors WHO recommendations for peer education to curb the 20-40% youth prevalence.
Ultimately, substance abuse’s national footprint, evident in NDLEA’s seizure metrics, WHO’s youth vulnerability data, and FG’s NDCMP blueprint, affirms the quiz’s relevance as a scalable model. As the event concluded with prizes in hand and resolve in hearts, the message rang clear: prevention isn’t optional, it’s the frontline defense in a war we cannot afford to lose.
