COURTESY VISIT TO NDLEA KOGI STATE COMMAND

 Attendance

1. Samuel Unekwu Elias
2. Adeika Ayo Abraham
3. Victor Uchechukwu Akabueze
4. Idoko David Attai

The spokesperson/Location Partner of the group Samuel Unekwu Elias introduced the members of the group and SI4DEV and also extensively explained the purpose and importance of the visit after Mrs. Grace of NDLEA introduce the State Commander and 5 other principal officers who were available.

The State Commander Alhaji Mohammed Bello Idris welcomed the SI4DEV team and also expressed joy for us respecting his office and also seeing his office as the number one stakeholder when it comes to drugs and encouraged that we keep the advocacy going.

The Location Coordinator Samuel Unekwu Elias unveiled the SI4DEV plans for drug abuse advocacy and sensitization to the public, and how NDLEA can be a great partner to our organization (SI4DEV). In response to the request made by the Location coordinator the State Commander throw the floor open by asking some questions about drug abuses and said that for us to have a good outing when it come to drug abuse advocacy we need to be trained because what we think we are doing presently is good but could be enhanced with more training. He also said that if we are ready his office is also ready to train us. Other principal officers who responded was also happy that an NGO who care for drug abusers have come on board encourage us to keep it up that as at today only one active NGO is doing the advocacy in the state. After much deliberation the floor was open for interaction between SI4DEV members and the organization.

The Location coordinators give the vote of thanks and also appreciated the State Commander for his time and wealth of experience that he shared with us. In regard to the training, a letter will be written to the organization for training of the location members.

Recommendation

1. We recommend that our location members be trained as soon as possible for us to continue with the advocacy   
2. Also we recommend that the National Coordinator give us immediate approval to enable us write to NDLEA for training of our member.

Conclusion

It was discovered during interaction with the State Commander that Kogi Lokoja location group members had high interest to be trained and use that to the benefit of SI4DEV. Such training can also be of a great help to other Location Groups who are also engaging in drug abuse advocacy as Kogi members can become a facilitator or be a trainer to them.