The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has revealed that women account for one in every four Nigerians involved in drug and substance abuse, yet only one in every 20 people receiving rehabilitation and treatment in the country is female.
The UN agency also disclosed that an estimated 244 million people worldwide engaged in drug and substance abuse in 2025, warning that drug use across Africa is projected to increase by 40 percent by 2030.
According to the UNODC, Nigeria’s prevalence of drug use is nearly three times higher than the global average, raising serious concerns for public health and national security.
The data was contained in a memorandum submitted to the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee investigating the rising cases of drug and substance abuse in Nigeria. The committee is chaired by Oluwatimehin Adelegbe of the APC from Ondo State.
In the memorandum, the agency noted that although women make up 25 percent of drug users in Nigeria, they remain significantly underrepresented in treatment facilities, where only one in 20 patients is female. The UNODC said this gap suggests that stigma and other barriers to access are disproportionately affecting women and girls.
The agency warned that if current trends continue, drug use in Africa could rise by 40 percent by 2030. In Nigeria alone, this could result in more than 20 million drug users, posing what it described as a severe threat to public health and national security.
A copy of the submission obtained by The Nation cited findings from the UNODC 2025 World Drug Report, which showed that about 144 million people used cannabis in 2023. This represents 4.6 percent of the global population aged between 15 and 24.
The report stated that cannabis use has increased by 34 percent over the past decade and remains the primary drug of concern for 32 percent of people receiving treatment in Africa. Globally, cannabis was reportedly used by 2.3 percent of women aged between 15 and 64.
The memorandum added that cannabis accounts for a significant share of drug related harm worldwide, with an estimated 42 percent of drug use disorder cases linked to the substance. It also noted that 41 percent of countries reported cannabis as the main drug of concern among people in treatment.
The UNODC further reported that an estimated 61 million people used opioids in 2023, including about 30 million heroin users, representing 0.57 percent of the global population aged between 15 and 64.
As part of its recommendations, the agency called for the decriminalisation of possession of drugs for personal use within defined thresholds. It said this approach would help shift people who use drugs from the criminal justice system to health services and allow law enforcement agencies to focus resources on trafficking networks.
The memorandum also recommended institutionalising harm reduction strategies in national laws and policies, strengthening asset forfeiture and financial investigations, and providing legal backing for initiatives such as needle and syringe programmes, Naloxone distribution, medication assisted treatment and community outreach.
In a separate submission to the committee, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency revealed emerging trafficking patterns, including increased use of non conventional routes such as courier services, luggage concealment and digital ordering systems.
The NDLEA also identified growing involvement of transnational criminal networks exploiting regional instability and porous borders, the emergence of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in fringe urban and rural communities, and a rise in poly drug trafficking, where multiple substances are moved simultaneously to reduce the risk of detection.
