Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu says his government is currently building the biggest mental rehabilitation home in Nigeria.
“For us as a government, we are building the biggest mental rehabilitation home in the country as we speak so that we can deal with this problem with all it takes and people that require help can be supported,”
Mr Sanwo-Olu disclosed this while receiving members of the Southern Governors Wives’ Forum (SGWF) on a courtesy visit at Lagos House, Ikeja.
On Tuesday, Nigeria’s first lady, Aisha, revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari suffered long-term PTSD following his ordeal as a military combatant, months-long detention and several failures at the polls.
The Lagos governor explained that the mental health rehabilitation home would comprehensively address the menace of drug abuse and provide the necessary care for victims.
According to him, illicit dealing in drugs and substance abuse require serious effort and commitment of all stakeholders to tackle it in the best interest of society.
He commended the governors’ wives for their resilience and support in fighting sexual and gender-based violence and drug abuse in their states.
“I want to thank you all for your efforts, particularly your pet projects to address Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). It is something that permeates everywhere, and for us in Lagos, we have faced it with all it takes,” noted Mr Sanwo-Olu. “We have a law, and we have also gone further to establish a full-fledged agency so that they can respond faster and they have all it takes to run faster and not subsumed or delayed.”
The Lagos governor added, “We are giving it the importance that it deserves. The agency is doing a good job, and we acknowledge that there is room for improvement.”
He said it was encouraging that the SGWF was focusing on drug abuse with advocacy and other initiatives to ensure that it remained on the front burner.
“We can see in the papers today where drugs were recovered from a big mansion. A couple of weeks ago, we saw how horrible drugs were uncovered. So, it is something we need to talk about, and we should not shy away from it,” stressed Mr Sanwo-Olu. “It cuts across-drug issues; mental health issues are things we should speak about and deal with.”
