TheCable

Muhammad Sanusi II, emir of Kano, says all public officers and traditional rulers should be compelled by law to undergo drug test.

Speaking in Kano at the senate roundtable on drug abuse, on Monday, Sanusi said it was hypocritical of leaders to campaign against drug use but allow their “bodyguards and thugs” use it inconsequentially.

He said the call was necessary to ensure that anybody found wanting should not be allowed to hold political office and traditional leadership positions.

“I suggest that ministers, governors and traditional rulers should go for drug test because when youths understand that they cannot be governors, ministers or senators if they are drug addicts, they will be into their senses,” Sanusi said.

“I am ready to submit myself for the drug test.

“The country is facing a great danger because the fight against drug abuse has to be taken seriously if we are to succeed.

“We are deceiving ourselves if we don’t believe that we are part of the problem.

“Today, it is better to be a drug baron on the payroll of a political leader than to be a legally recognised security man, which means we must clean our acts before trying to achieve anything.”

The traditional ruler also called for the establishment of modern rehabilitation centres for victims of drug abuse in the six geo-political zones of the country.

He said when established, the centres should be equipped with necessary facilities and personnel to enable them take care of the teeming numbers of victims of the drug abuse.

He said the measure was necessary in order to ensure that those addicts were rehabilitated and trained in various skills to enable them be reintegrated into the society.

The monarch called for adequate funding of the centres to enable them operate effectively and serve the purpose for which they are established.