Inquiry into faith-based social reintegration programs for recovering drug addicts in Nigeria

Faith-based organizations can support dementia caregivers in a post-pandemic world.

Thematic justification of teachers’ psychological health is caused by the fact that its violation poses the essential problem of psychological services in education. The purpose of the article is to study specifics of psychological, social and physical health levels interrelation among teachers of different age and teaching experience. The main method of studying this issue is the ascertaining experiment. Consideration of the components of psychological health was based on psychological distinguishing such levels as psychological (supposed the adequate attitude to health on cognitive, emotional and motivation-behavioral levels); social (defined by the presence of formed communicative qualities and specifics of interpersonal interaction); physical (supporting psychological health due to the functioning of energy structures). Comparative analysis of correlation structures revealed the dominant objective laws of interrelation of selected indicators on the psychological, physical and social health levels, as well as their specifics in groups of teachers with different teaching experience. Depending on the age and teaching experience psychological or physical health indicators become the “core” of the correlation pleiad. The obtained results allow speaking about a marked impact of the psychological health level on the components of social and physical levels. Immediate practical importance has the generated group of methods, which allow objective and quick diagnosing of psychological health in the condition of teachers health monitoring and thereby improving the efficiency of its correction.

This study investigated Public Relations (PR) strategies used by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the campaign against substance usage and sought to determine the knowledge of youths about the harm associated with drug usage among the youthful population in Oyo state. The study hinged on the Public Relations Transfer Model and employed a mixed-methods approach, combining a quantitative survey and qualitative In-depth Interviews, utilizing a structured questionnaire and interview guide as data collection instruments. The population of the study includes youths residing in Oyo, and six (6) NDLEA officials selected from the NDLEA branch office in Oyo state. The study adopted a multi-stage sampling technique to select 384 respondents through the Krejcie and Morgan sample size determination table, while a purposive sampling technique was adopted to select NDLEA officials in Oyo state. The findings of this study revealed that the NDLEA perceived PR strategies in the form of media partnership and community engagement in the campaign as the major PR approaches against substance use in Oyo state, while the respondents (Oyo youths) perceived that social media (bloggers, influencers, celebrities) as the topmost PR strategy for illicit substance use they are knowledgeable about. Also, findings showed that campaigns through enlightenment against substance use were effective, but stimulating positive behavior changes was not achieved because the respondents perceived that the PR strategies were not highly effective in the containment of substance use. Therefore, continual use of the PR strategies currently adopted by NDLEA combined with other conventional strategies is recommended.

Despite sufficient research studies in the field of drug abuse, drug relapse remains one of the salient aspects that has received less attention among research experts. This study thus investigated the prevalence of drug relapse among clients in NDLEA (National Drug Law Enforcement Agency) rehabilitation centres in North Central, Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted for this study. Censors sampling method, that is, only the available clients or respondents (during the conduct of the study) at the rehabilitation centres in the North Central region participated in the study. A researcher-designed questionnaire on "Prevalence of Drug Relapse" was used to collect the relevant data. The instrument had a reliability co-efficient of 0.69 using the test re-test method. All hypotheses were tested using t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistics at a 0.05 level of significance. The main findings of the study revealed that drug relapse is moderately prevalent among clients in NDLEA rehabilitation centres in North Central, Nigeria. In view of this, it was recommended that NDLEA and other stakeholders should intensify efforts in identifying more addicted individuals so that they can go through the rehabilitation process and adjust effectively to their environment and avoid returning to drug/substance use after treatment.

Background: Substance abuse particularly among young people has become a large phenomenon globally affecting all segments of society. The abuse of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other psychoactive drugs among young people has become an issue of public health concern with untold negative consequences on human existence. Aim: This study sought to examine the sociodemographic profiles and patterns of drug use among drug users at the NDLEA Rehabilitation Facility, Port Harcourt. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among inmates of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Port Harcourt. A structured questionnaire covering socio-demographic characteristics and other factors were self-administered to inmates of the facility, who have been brought by their relative for addiction care over a period of 3 years (2017 to 2020). Ethical approval was obtained from the ethical committee of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and approval was obtained from the NDLEA Authority. All other ethical provisions were followed. Descriptive statistics was used to analyzed the data. Data were analyzed with number count, percentage, and then Chi-square of independence. Results: Majority of the drug users were male (98,8%), single (72.5%), unemployed (27.5%) and apprentice (40.0%), between the ages of 15 and 35 (67.5%) and with tertiary education. Cannabis was the most consumed drug (75.7%), followed by nicotine (30.8%) alcohol (28.3%), cocaine (27.4%) and heroine (25.8%). Majority of the users were introduced to drug by friends and family members and referred to the feeling they got on the first day of use as high and happy. Majority had 15 to 25 years as age of onset of drug use and there were no family history of psychoactive substance use or mental illness. Conclusion: Substance use is common among young people between the ages of 26 and 30, single, with higher level of education and low-income earners. Majority use illicit drugs, which they started at early age of 15 to 25 and introduced to by friends and family members. Improvement in socio-economic status of adolescents and sustained public health enlightenment will help to reduce the rising prevalence of drug use.

Drugs abuse in Nigeria. The major objective of the study is to assess the efforts of NDLEA in fighting illicit drugs criminals; identify its challenges and to proffer solutions. The study adopted dual methods of data collection and data analysis; both primary and secondary data were collected for the investigation. Data collection was done through questionnaire for primary data and library instrument for secondary data. Furthermore, multiple statistical packages were utilized for the analysis of both primary and secondary data. Based on the analysis, the paper found inter alia; that NDLEA works hard in fighting the illicit drugs abuse but its efforts are subtly undermined by the lackadaisical attitude of Government in terms of lack of political will to dismantle illicit drugs cartel friendly with Government; that NDLEA is in dire need of sophisticated, hi-tech operational paraphernalia to enable it match the games of drugs criminals. Based on the findings, the paper recommended amongst others; the Government should support the illicit drugs fighting agency with political will so that the taproot (cartel) of illicit drugs abuse in Nigeria could be uprooted; the agency should be regularly equipped with state-of-the-art operational devices with regular employment, training and retraining of staffers to update them with modern data and technicalities for effective war against illicit drugs abusers.

Cultivating a Constituency for Conservation

The psychological and physical health of caregivers, who in this study were primarily mothers, was strongly influenced by child behavior and caregiving demands. Child behavior problems were an important predictor of caregiver psychological well-being, both directly and indirectly, through their effect on self-perception and family function. Caregiving demands contributed directly to both the psychological and the physical health of the caregivers. The practical day-to-day needs of the child created challenges for parents. The influence of social support provided by extended family, friends, and neighbors on health outcomes was secondary to that of the immediate family working closely together. Family function affected health directly and also mediated the effects of self-perception, social support, and stress management. In families of children with CP, strategies for optimizing caregiver physical and psychological health include supports for behavioral management and daily functional activities as well as stress management and self-efficacy techniques. These data support clinical pathways that require biopsychosocial frameworks that are family centered, not simply technical and short-term rehabilitation interventions that are focused primarily on the child. In terms of prevention, providing parents with cognitive and behavioral strategies to manage their child's behaviors may have the potential to change caregiver health outcomes. This model also needs to be examined with caregivers of children with other disabilities.

Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are an important community-based resource for veterans as they readjust to civilian life. Through interviews with both national-level and smaller, local FBOs, the authors sought to understand better the current and potential roles for FBOs in veteran reintegration. Interviewees suggested that veterans may look to FBOs for support because they offer privacy and confidentiality, two features that may be especially critical when a potential stigma is involved. Some FBOs have also developed a reputation as safe places for veterans, providing supportive, judgment-free environments. FBOs not only help veterans with spiritual matters but address diverse areas of veteran health and wellness, including vocation, education, financial and legal stability, shelter, access to goods and services, mental health, access to health care, physical health, family, and social networks. In some cases, the support is offered to veterans directly; in other instances, the support is indirect, via training individuals to help veterans or educating the public about them. In the process of providing support, FBOs interact with varied organizations, including government entities, private nonprofits, and one another, for training, outreach, referrals, information exchange, obtaining donations, and collaboration. Yet challenges exist, including insufficient connections with chaplains working in different settings and others in the web of support, resource and capacity constraints, lack of awareness of experience with veterans, issues related to religious philosophy or orientation, and characteristics of veterans themselves. To move forward, the authors offer recommendations for policymakers, organizations that interact with FBOs, and FBOs themselves to help FBOs engage fully in the web of reintegration support.

Social assistance is one of the most effective tools for poverty alleviation. However, it can also serve as a means of managing and silencing the poor in regard to the difficulties imposed by the system in which they live. Recognizing the voting potential of the poor in Turkey, political parties have frequently implemented social assistance and political patronage. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) also operate in the field of social assistance and are supported by the government. There have been people and organizations that have had an intermediary role in Turkey since the era of the Ottoman Empire. In this regard, the missing element in the existing literature is an examination of the intermediary role played by social assistance in political patronage. This study coins the term indirect political patronage (IPP) to address the role of FBOs that work to consolidate the government in Turkey. The significance of this paper is that it brings together a discussion on the FBOs (religion) and political patronage implementation in social assistance programmes (poverty) to understand and examine the role played by FBOs by using the concept of IPP. To scrutinize these roles, the examination of the relationship between the state and FBOs in social assistance programmes is of key importance. The relationship can be observed in several spheres, such as governmental incentives as dependency indicators. The relationship also presents a periodization of FBOs regarding their visibility in the public space and the roles that they play in domestic politics, which are both closely related to their performance as actors of IPP. Furthermore, the classification that this study offers through this periodization, noninstitutionalized and institutionalized, provides an organizational analysis of the evolution of FBOs in terms of building necessary skills and achieving a certain level of establishment. In this study, conceptual arguments, field studies, in-depth interviews, and statistical data on social assistance were utilized. FBOs that are affiliated with a religious community, enjoy public benefit status and operate in the districts that are locally run by Justice and Development Party (JDP) municipalities were selected for the purposes of measuring and evaluating their roles in IPP.

Aim. To conduct a comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of surgical treatment of chronic pancreatitis and define the quality of life of patients depending on the methods of surgical treatment. Methods. The study included 81 of the 165 patients with chronic pancreatitis, who underwent the following operations: endoscopic transmural interventions through the wall of the stomach and duodenum, endoscopic transpapillary surgery, percutaneous interventions for sanitation and drainage of the cystic cavity, laparotomic operations of internal drainage, resection interventions. The quality of life of patients was assessed using the general health questionnaire SF-36. Results. The lowest level of life quality was established in the group of patients after endoscopic transpapillary interventions. Statistically significant differences in the level of physical and psychological health were established when comparing patients after endoscopic transpapillary interventions and after endoscopic transmural surgical interventions, which were carried out through the wall of the stomach and duodenum; differences only in the level of physical health were noted when comparing with the group of resection interventions. Conclusion. The quality of life of patients with chronic pancreatitis depends on the type of surgical intervention, age and sex of the patients.

Globally, drug trafficking has generated a lot of violent crimes. In Nigeria, among all the drugs trafficked on, Indian hemp appears responsible for much bigger portion of the violent crimes than most people realize. Perhaps, the reason for this is not unconnected to the fact that Indian hemp is the only illicit psychoactive substance produced in the country. In fact, between 1990, when the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) was established, and 2009, about 117 deaths of NDLEA officials have been recorded; and a significant proportion of this deaths resulted from Indian hemp related cases. This paper is an attempt to create awareness, explore the peculiar challenges and proffer workable strategies for interrupting Indian hemp induced violent crimes against Nigerians.

The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between unemployment and drug trafficking in Nigeria with particular reference to suspects in custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Cross River State Command. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to select one hundred and twenty-seven (127) respondents (suspects) from the study area, to which standard questionnaires were administered. The generated data were statistically analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis to estimate the relationship under study. The findings of the study revealed that there were significant direct relationships between unemployment and drug trafficking and between un-employability and illicit drug trade. Lack of entrepreneurial skills had a positive link with drug trafficking. As a solution, the study recommended that government at all levels should create or encourage the private sector to offer, more jobs for the teeming unemployed youths, promote small and medium scale enterprises for the unemployed through empowerment programmes and provide unemployment benefits for the jobless.

The article defines the level of physical (somatic) health of students of the 1st year of a higher education institution. It was used the method of assessing the level of physical health G.L. Apanasenko.
 The data on the distribution of the examinees according to the level of physical health allow us to state that 14.14% of female students and 2.39% of male students have a low level of physical health, 29.31% and 21.18% - below average, 44, 37% and 45.56% are average, 12.83% and 30.87% are above average.
 The results of our research indicate that the average level of physical health prevails among first-year students. Unfortunately, among the students who took part in the study, there were not those whose level of physical health can be characterized as high.
 The obtained results prove the relevance and expediency of developing measures aimed at improving the level of physical health of students of the 1st year of a higher education institution.
 In our opinion, the prospect of further scientific research is the development of new methods of individualization of differentiated physical loads of students in the process of physical education depending on their level of health.

Drug abuse among Nigerian youth remains a significant public health issue, necessitating effective communication strategies for prevention. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has increasingly leveraged social media platforms to disseminate drug abuse prevention messages. However, the extent of youth perception, engagement, and behavioral adherence to these messages, particularly in localized contexts such as the Ojo Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State, remains unclear. This study evaluated youth's perception, attitude, and engagement with NDLEA’s social media messages on drug abuse prevention and assessed whether these messages influenced behavior. A quantitative research approach was employed, using a structured questionnaire to collect data from 662 youth in Ojo LGA. The findings indicated that youth generally perceived the messages as clear, relevant, and effective, but engagement, adherence, and knowledge levels were moderate. The study recommended targeted social media strategies, community engagement, and collaborations with social groups and NGOs to enhance engagement and promote sustained behavioral change.