Group to construct N2bn rehab center at ABU Teaching Hospital

The Society for Drug Abuse Enlightenment and Control (SODAEC) Rehabilitation Project in Nigeria will lay the foundation for a N2 billion rehabilitation centre within the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika in Kaduna State.

The project, according to the group, will help towards eradicating drug abuse among youths in the state and Northern Nigeria.

The Founder of the group, Barrister Ahmad Musa, said the project would use an approved one-hectare plot of land within the ABU Teaching Hospital adding that the 50-bed home construction project would begin on May 1, 2021, to be completed in a year.

He said findings revealed that the inability of various state governments to establish and properly manage the designated rehabilitation centres and equip them with requisite facilities and experts has led to the proliferation of illegal private facilities, which often become torture homes.

Barrister Ahmad said rehabilitation centres belonging to state governments across the country have been left in ruins adding that, “this N2 billion project is the first step towards responding to the short-term needs for the reconfiguration of the rehabilitation system and lays the foundation for long-term support for rehabilitation reform in Nigeria.”

He added that the final goal of the project is to improve the provision and quality of rehabilitation infrastructure and services for drug abuse patients in Nigeria.