Mr. Tosin Olaoluwa, a former drug addict, has vehemently condemned drug addiction, describing it as killer of visions and dreams.
Olaoluwa said that drug abuse has killed and destroyed the lives of many youths globally. He said that he learnt how to take hard drugs from a movie he watched. He also met some group of boys taking it in his secondary school and joined them.
He said: “I watched the way actors were smoking hard drug in movie and that kind of gave me the edge to know what to do. When I started taking the drug in secondary school, my friends made me to believe that whoever takes drugs would automatically become ‘a big boy’ and will have access to girls.
“Immediately I became an addict, I started retrogressing in my studies. I was no longer paying attention to class works and assignments. I was able to manage to graduate from secondary school and secure admission to university. The drug addiction followed me to higher institution where I joined a cult group in my first year at the university.
“When my friends were graduating, I was dropping out. This was not because I was an unintelligent student, but because I was mentally unstable. My life was disintegrating. When I got to the university, I thought I would change and stop my rough life, but to my surprise, I got into wrong relationships. I started living extravagant lifestyle, spending my mother’s hard earned money carelessly. By the time I realised that I needed help, there was no one. I began to call on God. It has not been easy as there had been relapses along the line. After my friends had graduated, I couldn’t go home. I knew how my parents would feel. I was still contemplating what to do when a nongovernmental organisation came to our university to enlighten students on the use of hard drugs and its effect. That was how I joined them.
“It was after I joined the group that God changed my life. All that I lost during my sojourn in drug world couldn’t be recovered. This is why I always tell people that drug is a killer of dreams and vision.”
Olaoluwa further said: “After joining the group, I volunteered to become an advocate against drug abuse. I also started helping in the rehabilitation of youths. Let me use this opportunity to urge parents to be vigilante and know the friends their children keep. Government has a role to play in the control of drug; government should regulate the movement of drug through land borders and airport.”
First Published 2018
