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MOST Nigerians breathed a sigh of relief when the country was certified by the United States of America as cooperating in the anti-narcotic crusade for the eighth successive time in 2008. The thinking was that Nigeria was winning the war against drug trafficking. Then George Bush, the former president of United States of America, said that Nigeria had made significant progress in counter narcotics war and had effectively co-operated with the United States on drug-related and money laundering cases. At that time, 100 people were convicted for drug offences from January to May 2008, and 358 people were arrested for drug offences during that period in  Katsina State alone. The situation has not changed much since then.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, charged with the task of eliminating the growing, processing, manufacturing, selling, exporting, and trafficking of hard drugs, has been on its toes working hard to curb drug trafficking amidst dire challenges bothering it especially inadequate funding and poor equipment. But unknown to them, the country was tendentiously gravitating from being a drug courier nation to one where hard drugs are being manufactured. This alarming development dawned on the NDLEA when recently, it uncovered and raided factories where drugs were being manufactured in the country. The worse thing about this ugly development is that hard drug manufacturing is taking place under our very noses, in residential areas where they are prone to do damage not only to the  environment but to the people living in that vicinity.  The unexpected turn of event showed that foreigners are at the heart of the drug manufacturing companies in collusion with some misguided Nigerians. Needless to say all hands needed to be on deck to thwart this emerging trend from gaining ground. As the watchdog of the society, Realnews editorial team decided to alert the nation on what is going on so they can be well informed to take the necessary action to stop illicit hard drug manufacturers from thriving in the country. The story was anchored by Vincent Nzemeke, our up and coming star special correspondent who has shown enormous interest and determination to succeed in the journalism profession. And there is no stopping Nzemeke, a Mass communication graduate of Delta State University, Abraka, who emerged as the best student in his class in 2012. It appears the sky is his limit as he wades into investigative journalism with his first cover story entitled: Danger: Nigeria Now a Hard Drug Producing Nation. The story is compelling and a must read. Enjoy it.

Maureen Chigbo
Editor

+234 8052528603

mechigbo@yahoo.com

— May 27, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT