Helping Drug Users Live a Healthy and Responsible Life Through YOLDA Project
Apart from youth restiveness which include cultism, serving as thugs for politicians and other social vices, the use of Drug has been identified as one of the major causes of crises encountered by our youth. In response to this, COFP have come up with a program tagged, “Youths Living Above Drug and Substance Abuse/Addiction” (YOLDA). The aim is to assist youth engaged in illicit use of drugs to come out of such practices by supporting, helping and assisting them. Those whose lives have been affected negatively via drug/substance abuse and addictionare helped by conducting a Drug Prevention, Treatment and Care (DPTC) program. The program was organized in Phases of counselling, medical testing and treatment, vocational skills acquisition and empowerment. The 2019 set of about Thirty-six (36) Youth benefited from this program which lasted for one year, May 2019-June 2020. The36 YOLDA beneficiaries graduated in a ceremony held on the 14th Day of August as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the event from taking place in June. The beneficiaries show cased what they have learnt during the exhibition which formed a part of the program of event and were given small grants to enable them set up a business of their own which would engage them meaningfully so as to avoid relapse. Plans are now on ground to commence 2020 YOLDA program which targets youths in the suburbs of Abuja and Nasarawa, who are being used as tools for violence by the rich and elites, especially, the politicians. Most of the time, these youths engage in criminal acts like robbery, kidnapping, insurgency and so on, under the influence of drugs. Our YOLDA program supports this class of youth by providing a platform that educates and works with them on how to quit drug addiction/abuse. It is important to mention that many success stories have been recorded from the previous beneficiaries of YOLDA program, because it is through their willingness to quit that the feat was achieved.
