Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on West African governments to decriminalise drugs.
He made this call as the West Africa Commission on Drugs released a report entitled, ‘Not just in transit: Drugs, the state and society in West Africa’ this month.
“We call on West African governments to reform drug laws and policies and decriminalise low-level and non-violent drug offences,” Obasanjo, who is the chairman of the commission, said.
In a statement released on Thursday, the drugs commission said drug trafficking, consumption and production in West Africa undermined institutions, threatened public health and damaged development efforts.
The statement said the scale of the cocaine trade “alone through West Africa (estimated at $1.25bn) dwarfs” the combined state budgets of several countries in the region.
Speaking further, the former president of Nigeria said, “West Africa is no longer just a transit zone for drugs arriving from South America and ending up in Europe, but has become a significant zone of consumption and production.
“The glaring absence of treatment facilities for drug users fuels the spread of disease and exposes an entire generation, users and non-users alike, to growing public health risks.”
Also, former Secretary-General to the United Nations, Kofi Annan, emphasised the need to decriminalise drugs in Nigeria and other West African countries. According to him, making drug use a serious crime not only stresses the judicial system, but also worsens health and social problems.
“Most governments’ reaction to simply criminalise drug use without thinking about prevention or access to treatment has not just led to overcrowded jails, but also worsened health and social problems,” Annan said.
Urging the governments to consider the report’s recommendation, the President of the WACD, Pedro Pires, said, “We need to gather the required political will to go after the organised traffickers while reforming outdated laws and policies that no longer fit reality.
“We call on West African states to collaborate and make common cause against a trade that knows no borders.”
The WACD also asked for the support and involvement of the civil society and the international community.
A member of the commission, Edem Kodjo, explained that most of the drugs smuggled into West Africa came from South America.
He, therefore, called on South America and Europe (the main consumer market) to “take the lead to deal with both production and consumption at home. We cannot solve this problem alone; governments and civil society have to come together in West Africa to help prevent the drug problem from getting completely out of hand.”
The report is the result of one and a half years of engagement by the Commission with national, regional and international parties, including the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
