Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Minister of Foreign Affairs yesterday called for urgent steps to combat the menace of drug trade among Nigerians.
“Unless we go back to inculcate family values and morals into our youth, we will soon be competing withcountries famous for drug trafficking,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Maduekwe as saying.
The minister is in Jakarta, Indonesia as President Umaru Yar'Adua's Special Envoy to the President of Indonesia to seek clemency for 18 Nigerians sentenced to death for drug trafficking offences.
He recalled that in spite of an earlier intervention, two Nigerians were executed in June for a similar offence.
He said the President was fully committed to ensuring that all Nigerians were protected where ever they reside.
Maduekwe, however, expressed concern that government was often forced to beg other nations for reprieve for Nigerians convicted of such heinous offences.
“When you beg too often, and you are turned down, this could sometimes affect other diplomatic issues, this we must try to avoid,” he stressed.
Maduekwe noted that to tackle this menace, the society must stop celebrating unquestionable wealth and begin to “name and shame” culprits of ill-gotten wealth.
The minister urged state governors, traditional and community leaders as well as religious bodies to educate their people on the dangers inherent in drug business.
Maduekwe, who expressed optimism in the outcome of the visit, reiterated that government would explore all available legal means to ensure that the death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment.
Also speaking, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Indonesia Ibrahim Mai-Sule said the involvement of Nigerians in drug business was seriously affecting diplomatic relations with the host country.
He, however, pointed out that in spite of the death penalty, government would explore the provision in the Indonesian law and constitution that allowed for clemency and review of cases of convicts to ensure that the 18 convicts were saved from
