Sir Emeka Offor Foundation set to partner NDLEA to rehabilitate drug addicts

www.odogwublog.com reports that the Chairman, Board of Directors of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), Sir Emeka Offor has announced plans by his foundation Sir Emeka Offor Foundation to sponsor an annual mental health education across six geopolitical zones in the country.

Offor who disclosed this at the end of one-day community mental health facilitators training sponsored by his foundation, Sir Emeka Offor Foundation at Oraifite, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State, explained that the programme would hold six times every year in each of six geographical zones of the country.

He said the programme was parts of his humanitarian services to the society, adding that his foundation would partner the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to rehabilitate drug addicts, as well as train and empower them to be useful to themselves and the society.

Delivering a lecture entitled, Understanding the role of Mental Health Facilitation, Dr Eniabitobi Kuyinu, founder of The Educator, a non-profit organization, posited that everyone has a mental health issue and unhealed wounds begging for urgent attention.

According to Kuyinu, all Nigerians including the educated and uneducated need mental health training to eradicate their various mental problems such as drug abuse, learning disability, emotional issues, financial problems, untreated ailments, anxiety, depression, emotional imbalance, sexual abuse, health  trauma, pains, unresolved issue, relationship, disappointments and others.

Other mental health facilitators, Ms Renee Bryan and Dr Sonja Sutherland, while listing the internet, alcoholism and acculturation as some factors contributing to mental health issues, advised people to eschew sedentary lifestyles, refrain from high intake of alcohol and soft drinks and also, find ways to be happy always.

In a remark, Prof. Godwin Okpala, the Anglican Bishop of Nnewi Diocese and Archbishop Province on the Niger, while commending Sir Emeka Offor Foundation for organizing the programme, charged people to pay adequate attention to their health.

The programme was attended by community leaders in Ekwusigo Council Area, the management team of EEDC led by its Chief Executive Officer, Paul Okeke, some representatives of National Drug Law Enforcements Agency (NDLEA), Nigerian Prisons Service, the Police and others.