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Drug Abuse, Cultism and Youth Challenges

Civic Education · WAEC · SS2 and SS3

This is the most heavily examined topic in Civic Education because it is the one the syllabus exists to address. Questions go beyond listing: you are usually asked for causes, effects and solutions, and the solutions must be practical.

What you need to know

  • Drug abuse is the use of a drug for a purpose other than the one it was meant for, in the wrong dose, or without a doctor's prescription, to the point that it harms the user. Drug misuse covers wrong use by accident or ignorance, while drug addiction is the stage at which the user can no longer stop without severe distress.
  • The classes to know are stimulants, which speed up the nervous system, such as cocaine, amphetamines, nicotine and caffeine; depressants, which slow it down, such as alcohol, barbiturates and valium; narcotics and opioids such as heroin, morphine, codeine and tramadol; hallucinogens such as LSD and Indian hemp, which distort perception; and inhalants such as glue, petrol and solution.
  • Substances abused most visibly among Nigerian youths are Indian hemp, codeine-based cough syrups, tramadol, crystal methamphetamine known locally as mkpuru mmiri, rohypnol, solution and inhaled glue, and locally mixed drinks such as monkey tail. The Federal Government banned the issuance of new permits for codeine cough syrup production and tightened control of tramadol after national outcry.
  • Causes of drug abuse: peer group pressure, curiosity and experimentation, ignorance of the consequences, parental neglect or broken homes, easy availability from unlicensed patent medicine sellers, the desire for energy to do hard physical or long night work, examination and financial stress, unemployment and idleness, imitation of musicians and film characters, and escape from frustration.
  • Effects: physical damage to the brain, liver, lungs, heart and kidney; mental illness and hallucination; addiction and dependence; poor concentration leading to school dropout and failure; crime committed to fund the habit; road accidents; risky behaviour and the spread of infection through shared needles; loss of employment; broken families; and death.
  • Control measures: effective enforcement by the NDLEA, NAFDAC regulation of the sale of prescription drugs, prosecution of traffickers, drug education in schools and places of worship, guidance and counselling units in schools, rehabilitation centres for those already addicted, strong parental supervision, sport and skill programmes that occupy young people, and media campaigns.
  • A secret cult is an association whose membership, activities, oaths and meetings are concealed, which initiates members through rituals and binds them by an oath of secrecy, and whose activities are usually violent and criminal.
  • The Pyrates Confraternity, formed in 1952 at University College Ibadan by Wole Soyinka and six others, began as a non-violent reformist group. Splinter groups that came later, among them the Buccaneers, Black Axe, Eiye, Vikings and Mafia, turned to violence, and female groups such as Daughters of Jezebel and Black Bra followed. Cultism later spread from universities down to secondary schools and into communities.
  • Causes of cultism: the search for protection and a sense of belonging, peer pressure, the quest for power, recognition and fear from others, family background and absent parenting, the influence of cult-member relatives and seniors, poverty and the lure of money, the society's worship of wealth however gotten, frustration and lecturer or politician sponsorship of cult groups.
  • Effects of cultism: killings and reprisal killings, rape and assault, destruction of property, disruption of academic calendars, expulsion and rustication, criminal record and imprisonment, lifelong fear and inability to leave the group, wasted talent and death before thirty, and the stigma that follows a family.
  • Control of cultism: anti-cult laws in the states prescribing heavy prison terms, compulsory anti-cult declarations by students, expulsion policies strictly applied, campus security and intelligence, guidance and counselling, parental monitoring of a child's friends, moral and religious instruction, sporting and social alternatives on campus, and amnesty and rehabilitation for those willing to renounce.
  • Examination malpractice is the other great youth challenge. Nigeria has a federal Act of 1999 criminalising it, and it covers impersonation, bringing in prepared notes or phones, leakage and sale of question papers, collusion with supervisors, and the mass cheating of a centre. WAEC penalties range from cancellation of a subject to cancellation of the entire result and a ban for a number of years.
  • Internet fraud, locally called yahoo-yahoo, is prosecuted by the EFCC under the Cybercrimes Act. It is not a smart business: convictions carry imprisonment and forfeiture of assets, and a conviction closes the door on visas, banking and most careers for life.
  • Other youth challenges WAEC expects you to name are unemployment and underemployment, human trafficking handled by NAPTIP under the 2015 trafficking law, teenage pregnancy, gambling and sports betting, political thuggery during elections, rape and sexual violence, and the mass emigration of skilled young people.

Key terms

Drug abuse
The use of a drug in a way, quantity or for a purpose other than medically intended, especially without prescription, to the harm of the user.
Drug addiction
A state of physical and psychological dependence in which the user cannot function or stop without distress and continues despite clear harm.
Hard drug
A drug with a strong tendency to cause dependence and severe harm, such as cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine.
Secret cult
An association with concealed membership and activities, entered by initiation and an oath of secrecy, usually involved in violence and other crime.
Initiation
The ritual by which a new member is formally admitted into a cult, often involving an oath, beating or bloodletting intended to bind the member permanently.
Examination malpractice
Any irregular or dishonest act before, during or after an examination that gives a candidate an unfair advantage.
Rehabilitation
The medical, psychological and social treatment that helps an addict or ex-offender stop the habit and return to normal life in the community.

Worked examples

Identify four causes of drug abuse among Nigerian youths and suggest four ways of curbing it. (16 marks)

  1. Split the page under two headings, Causes and Remedies, because the marks are evenly divided.
  2. Pick causes from different sources: the peer group, the home, the society and the individual, so the four do not repeat one another.
  3. Make each remedy answer a cause you listed. A remedy that matches a cause reads as reasoning rather than as a memorised list.
  4. Give at least one Nigerian specific, such as the role of the NDLEA or the control of codeine syrup, to show current knowledge.

Explain five effects of cultism on a secondary school. (10 marks)

  1. Think across the whole school, not only the cult member: students, staff, academic work, reputation, and the community.
  2. Write each effect as a consequence, with a short explanation of how it follows.
  3. Avoid repeating violence five times in different words.

The mistake to avoid

Candidates answer the causes-and-remedies question with a moral sermon rather than with points, writing that young people should be good and avoid bad friends. That earns almost nothing. Every point must be a named cause or a named action by a named party. The other trap is listing alcohol and tobacco as harmless because they are legal: both are drugs of abuse and WAEC treats them as such.

In the exam

This topic nearly always carries the longest essay question on the paper, worth sixteen to twenty marks, and it is marked point by point with a short explanation required for each. Plan with two or three headings, give the number of points asked for and no fewer, and explain each in one or two sentences. Naming real bodies such as NDLEA, NAFDAC, NAPTIP and EFCC and real substances such as tramadol and codeine distinguishes a top answer.