Lagos State First Lady Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu has extended her drug abuse prevention campaign to Caleb University in Imota, making it the third tertiary institution and the first private university to host the initiative, leading a walk against substance abuse that involved the university’s principal officers, academic staff, students, and residents of the surrounding Imota community.
Sanwo-Olu said the 2026 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking theme of persisting issues, new challenges, and innovative responses accurately described the problem’s current dimensions, with traditional patterns of substance abuse now compounded by emerging synthetic substances and changing distribution networks that required more collaborative, evidence-based, and innovative responses from government, educational institutions, and communities.
She said drug abuse destroyed dreams, health, education, careers, and lives, and that the temporary excitement it offered came at a catastrophic long-term cost that no student should be willing to pay. She called on students to become ambassadors of the drug-free campus movement, encourage peers who were struggling to seek help rather than face stigma alone, and join the Caleb University WADA Club as an organizational commitment to the values the campaign represented.
She outlined the program’s multi-agency architecture, which linked her office with the NDLEA, the Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, and Youth and Social Development, non-governmental organizations, community leaders, market associations, and local governments. She said the 2025 campaign at Lagos State University had attracted over 3,000 participants and culminated in the installation of a permanent anti-drug signpost and mural, representing an approach designed to leave lasting physical reminders of the campaign’s message after the walk itself concluded.
Caleb University Vice Chancellor Professor Olalekan Asikhia described drug abuse as a growing social challenge requiring urgent innovation in response, and said universities had an obligation to go beyond academic instruction to serve as centers for character development, mental wellness, and social responsibility.
