Tag: SOCIAL REFORMATION

By Rose Oranye :

Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, has called on the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB) to collaborate on the campaign on social reformation to catch Anambra children young and stem the tide of moral degeneration, drug abuse, and get-rich syndrome now ravaging the youth population.

Speaking during his visit to the ASUBEB Chairman, Dr Vera Nkiru Nwadinobi, at her office in Awka, Mefor said he was seeking collaboration to help the newly created Anambra Civic and Social Reformation Office (ANCISRO) to take off and reorient the youths who have gone astray in terms of morals.

“We want your collaboration. We need to do something. Governor Chukwuma Soludo created the agency weeks before I came, which shows he is interested in getting Ndị Anambra, particularly the youths, to imbibe the core values for which Anambra and Ndi Igbo are known. Values like hard work, honesty, resilience, patience, integrity, and so on are vanishing. Strange things have taken over. We now hear things like Ibute ike, Oke ite, which is about ritual murders, or Yahoo Plus. Cultism has reached primary schools and is making its way into the general society.

“The Ministry of Information is keen on taking up the social reform agenda of Governor Soludo and  committed to activating the Civic and Social Reformation Agency – ANCISRO. We need to get people who are concerned to join the mentoring team. We need to develop messages and form Anti Drug and Anti Cultism Clubs in orimary and secondary schools. We want to focus on schools, particularly primary and secondary schools so that we can catch them young deploying very vigorous enlightenment campaigns ,” he said.

In her remarks, Dr. Nwadinobi assured the commissioner of ASUBEB’s support and decried the level of moral decadence in the society, blaming parents, churches, and others for not living up to expectations.

Dr Vera Nwadinobi made a presentation of a handbook on counselling against the burden of drug abuse and other social vices, which she co-authored with the first lady, Dr. Mrs. Nonye Soludo, and Commissioner of Women Affairs, Hon. Ify Obinabo.

* Oranye is of the Ministry of Information, Anambra State.

By Rose Oranye  :

Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, on Friday, October 11, 2024, visited the newly created Anambra Civic and Social Reformation Office (ANCISRO).

Addressing the ANCISRO MD, Sir Chuka Nnabuife, Mefor said he was there to further familiarise himself and look at the office’s core mandate and challenges to see where the ministry can assist in its take off.

He urged the MD to work hard despite initial challenges to re-orientate the youths so that they can see life from a positive perspective. “Governor Soludo wants to see Anambra youths regain perspective and need to imbibe the core values for which Ndigbo are reputed  – hard work, resilience, honesty, integrity, enterprise and so on

“The truth is many of our youths don’t believe in hard work anymore. Your agency has to work hard on the issue of drug abuse which to me is escapist in nature. The youths like to hide behind drugs and most of the drugs they take are hard. Hard drugs work on the mind and psyche of the individuals that take them,” he said.

Mefor talked about what he called Opponent Process in drug abuse – the biological changes that make the abuser to require higher dosage as he or she progresses, ultimately leading up to drug dependence and addiction. “Many of the psychedelic and psychotropic substances being abused by youths can  irreversibly damage the nervous system, and can result in schizophrenia ie madness,  and even death. We have to save our youths,” he said. 

Welcoming the commissioner, Sir Nnabuife appreciated the visit, saying he came at a time when the collaboration is well needed, adding that the agency is working to reform the youths against the vices of get-rich-quick syndrome, drug abuse, human rights and environmental abuse, among others and instil in them the core values of Anambra, which is hard work, enterprise, apprenticeship, academic excellence and strong religious faith, among others.