By Garba Abdullahi Bagwai, in Kano
The Kano State Government has announced plans to establish three modern psychiatric hospitals across the three senatorial districts as part of efforts to address the growing menace of drug abuse among youths.
The Executive Secretary of the Kano State Emergency Relief Agency, Alhaji Isyaku Abdullahi Kubarachi, disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Kano.
He said the government has already converted part of the Dorayi Rehabilitation Centre into the Kano Central Psychiatric Hospital, which is expected to be commissioned soon by Governor Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf.
Kubarachi further revealed that the Kano State House of Assembly has passed a bill for the establishment of two additional psychiatric hospitals—one in Rano for Kano South Senatorial District and another in Bichi Local Government Area for Kano North Senatorial District.
According to him, the decision was informed by the alarming rate of drug abuse among young people in the state.
“It is very disheartening that about 80 percent of those rehabilitated by the agency are drug addicts. That is why the government has taken decisive measures to tackle the menace by establishing additional psychiatric hospitals to provide treatment for victims. Recently, the Governor also established a Special Task Force on Drug Abuse,” he said.
Kubarachi noted that the state government spends huge sums of money annually on the rehabilitation of victims in its 12 rehabilitation centres located across 10 local government areas.
The centres are located in Tudun Wada, Rano, Sumaila, Gaya, Wudil, Minjibir, Dambatta, Dawakin Kudu, Shahuci in Kano Municipal, and Dorayi in Gwale Local Government Area. Bichi Local Government has two rehabilitation centres—one each for male and female patients. He added that there are plans to expand the rehabilitation centres to more local government areas.
He explained that when completed, the proposed psychiatric hospitals would serve as treatment and diagnostic centres for people with mental health conditions within their respective senatorial zones, while Dawanau National psychiatric hospital would serve as a teaching hospital.
The Executive Secretary recalled that during the first year of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s administration, the agency, in collaboration with other stakeholders, launched an operation to clear street beggars and mentally ill persons roaming the Kano metropolis.
According to him, the exercise recorded significant success, but stressed that more needed to be done with the support of the public and humanitarian organisations.
“Just recently, the Executive Governor assured me that he would provide all the necessary support to the agency to resume the exercise,” Kubarachi stated.
He also commended the recent establishment of the Special Task Force on Drug Abuse, describing it as a lasting solution to reducing the increasing rate of drug abuse among youths and cutting the government’s rehabilitation costs.
Isyaku Kubarachi added that nearly 80 percent of those rehabilitated by the agency are drug addicts. He said that after undergoing counselling and rehabilitation, beneficiaries are reunited with their families and provided with cash assistance to enable them to start small businesses and become self-reliant.
