 The Lumin Meth Crisis in Nigeria, sometime in the past week some videos surfaced online of men that were being beaten with heavy woods. The men looked very thin, malnourished and almost mad. These videos were taken in South Eastern part of Nigeria. These men were under the influence of meth. It's safe to say that they are meth addicts. Crystal meth, also known as Mkuru Miri by South Easterners and formerly called methamephine, is a synthetic narcotic with origin from Japan. According to drug literature, meth is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system of an individual. Drug addicts can take the drug by smoking, swallowing, snorting or injecting the powder that has been dissolved in water or alcohol. The high from the drug starts and fades quickly. People often take repeated doses in a binge and crash pattern. The drug stimulates the aspects of the brain that creates dopamine, first the addiction. Despite the known dangers of this meth, drug dealers have not stopped in its dealing. In fact, its popularity is really growing in so many Eastern states and communities. Reports have shown this drug is gaining popularity among youths and thus destroying their lives. In a conversation with some relatives of some of these addicts, I got to understand how the lives of some previously well-off individuals went downhill because of meth. The soldier lands, properties, goods, etc. just to feed their meth addiction, which by the way is expensive. Families are being destroyed by meth and we might have a social crisis in their future. Suffice to say that this meth addiction might feed more crimes in the future as addicts lose all sense of reasoning in a bid to satisfy their addiction. Again, we call on the NDLEA, all governments that is local, state and federal, to do something about this time bomb we are sitting on before it destroys an entire generation. They should not think this is only a South Eastern crisis because the drug is already sipping into other regions of the country. For me, it's whenever I hear of drugs, I shrink and I blame an entire generation. The reason is this. What about we're saying about drug now, it's even more painful when we say in the future, in the future it will be this, in the future, no. I remember about 10 or 15 years ago when we started hearing news about primary school students getting into causes and taking drugs, the question is what did we do? Someone that has been taking drugs from primary school, it would take a lot more effort to win that person of drugs than someone that has just been introduced to it as maybe as a young adult. As a primary school student or pupil, you are more reckless, you expose, you just take it as you're given and it's become a part of your system for 10, 15 years. What have we done as a people? The government, the parents, the big brothers in the area, what have we done? Now you realize a lot of young people, for me it's as good enough as saying that almost all of them take it. The reason is it's not because I have a particular statistics that I'm working with but the reason is this, unlike before when we were younger, when she's someone taking drugs, the person hides to take it. If the person doesn't hide to take it, is taking it where you are, you look at them and tell them be careful, this thing will kill you. You're not condoning it because you're not taking it. Now people take it more openly and even their friends who are not taking it don't really see anything wrong in it. They will tell you this country is stressed too much, make it high. So which means that it's only a matter of time before you start taking it. So it's, I don't know if you call it a time bomb or like I said, a keg of gunpowder, I said no this is a tank of gunpowder and I don't know how. I have no idea this was happening in this Niger myth. Like I'm so shocked because you know you read and hear all these stories from example the United States where myth has for the past 20, 30 years has really caused them a lot of trouble. And you know you think back here to a couple of years ago when there was the issue with the cough syrup, right? Yeah, trauma. Yes, there was, there still is. Of course there still is, but we were introduced to it in the wider population that it was going on. Now this is scary on a different level because anybody can create myth. Yes. And that's the difference to the other drugs. Anybody, you don't have to be smart, you don't have to have gone to school. Anybody can create myth in their kitchen. That easy, it's that easy. You know if you look back into the 80s I remember and I think I'll try and draw a social parameter for this. So in the 80s or early 90s when I was in secondary school, if you were wearing a uniform and you were moving around, you wouldn't even attempt it. Someone you don't know, like, what are you now saying? Go back, you'll take you back to your school and you'll be flogged. But now it's kind of common, anybody can do anything. I think in the freedom of rights that we've given ourselves as Nigerians, we have begun to trample on the rights that will preserve the culture. We are totally undermined ourselves. We have gotten to a position where it's not anyone's business. And I will tell you, most people will draft this survey, but my experience traveling Nigeria would always say this and I would say this. I think politics has fed the most rubbish into our system. And this comes down to the cults that are being used for political attacks. This comes down to training the next range of hard guys that will push an agenda. And these guys get to do things which are not regular, which cannot be done normally. A normal human being will probably say no, but they need the money and then to dull their conscience, they need the substance. And that's where we find ourselves right now. So even our politics is to blame for the kind of situation we have right now, especially with the drugs. Everything is to blame, but the question is always, how do we get rid of this? Because NDLEA came up with a statement earlier on that the amount of drug and circulation is enough to sustain the level of crime and violence we have in society, which means unless we reduce access to drugs, violence, banditry, kidnapping, all that work. Yesterday I saw five guys were shown in the news, they were arrested around Ajah with pump action. I mean, these are, you know, these red bullets that are very thick, those kind of guns they were using. The oldest was 24. They had a 24-year-old, a 20-year-old, a 19-year-old, a 16, a 17. Before a 16 and a 17, even a 20, would be able to wield a gun and go on the streets. Well, I think that... What's your state of mind? If crime is going to be even more of a huge factor. And unfortunately, I don't think it's going to get better. I think it's going to get worse because these are young people with no hope. So what do we do? We have to go back to the drawing board. It ties into everything we talk about in this show. We have to go back to the basics. Education, healthcare, power. Those are the three things that need to be dealt with. Once you address those areas, it's a knock-on effect on everything. Because those three areas encompass all the values of a nation. And right now, the state of things, we have no value. Which is why life is worthless and means nothing. Yeah, that's it. I think I'll still go back to the same value system conversation. But this time around, within the families. Because some of these people have families. Some of these people are, well, they probably have people that could guide them through the path with life or whatever it is. But for some reason, these days, I was having a conversation with a friend one time ago. And this was on the Yahoo Crisis then. And she was telling me that you see parents going in and registering their children for certain things. So parents typically these days are turning a blind eye to everything their teenagers, their children are doing. Or sometimes they're even enabling these things to happen. Because they need to eat. Is it because they need to eat? Because if really it's because you need to eat, there are so many other options. For example, farming is one of the easiest. The appearance back in the day will have thought of... It takes too long. Aha! It's not the same value system, right? There are so many other things. Someone is looking to eat today. No, back in the day, the parents will have sent the person to the streets to do something. Tonya has a very strong point. We are no longer a system that supports marital crises, which has built an impatience that's for finance. So it's impatience. It's not about just eating now. I still wouldn't call it impatience. It's impatience of one purpose. I still wouldn't call it impatience. It's necessity. It's need. And some people will compromise everything for that need because they have no other choice, you know? Well, I mean, I don't know if you say you don't have a choice, but like tying it back to the education thing that I spoke about, I mean, I'm trained. I remember in a church, someone was actually doing something and God, I agree, I was working out. And you know all these church units and the leader of church, Givnekeva said, no, don't do that blah blah, I was getting angry. Then another person came and was telling me, you remember how you trained us in this church years ago? And the person said to her, he said, listen, let this child go. After the child left, the person said, you, we trained you right from where you were younger. So we give you all the values, all the trainings. This guy's coming to this church, a teenager. What is done to you will even do worse to the mother. So you now wanted to apply the training I gave to you 20 years ago on this guy that's already, is like a crayfish already bent. You don't get anything out of it. So it goes back to the home when the mother misses it, every person misses it. Well, you're not talking for now. Exactly. So up next is Kulay, stay tuned.