- NACADA’s Kisii County coordinator George Kasera has urged the university’s 7,900 newly admitted first-year students to avoid drugs and bad company during orientation.
- Kasera has warned that drug abuse leads to poor academic performance, mental health problems, addiction, risky sexual behaviour and involvement in crime.
- Vice Chancellor Prof. Nathan Ogechi urged students to focus on their studies and steer clear of substance abuse.
Kisii County (National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse) NACADA coordinator George Kasera has urged Kisii University’s newly admitted first-year students to steer clear of drugs and bad company, warning that substance abuse has become the leading threat to university students and requires a concerted effort to curb before it erodes the country’s young, educated workforce.
Kasera spoke at the university on Sunday during the ongoing First Years Orientation exercise, where the registrar’s office confirmed the admission of 7,900 students this year. He told the students that drug and substance abuse in universities is fuelled by peer influence, poor parental upbringing and broader moral decay in society, and appealed to them to practice self-discipline as they adapt to university life after transitioning from secondary school.
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Outlining the effects of drug abuse, Kasera said it leads to poor academic performance and mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and psychosis, in addition to addiction and dependency that can cause financial strain, involvement in crime and dropping out of school. He added that it also leads to risky sexual behaviour resulting in sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies, as well as liver and heart diseases, lung complications, memory loss and poor decision-making.
On its wider social impact, Kasera said drug abuse contributes to family breakdowns, loss of morals, increased cases of gender-based violence, road accidents and suicide among the youth.
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He urged the first-year students to avoid bad company, join mentorship as well as guidance and counselling clubs, and report drug peddlers to the university administration for action.
Also present at the function was Vice Chancellor Prof. Nathan Ogechi, who urged the students to focus on their studies and shun drug abuse in order to achieve their academic goals.
By Enock Okong’o
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