Three-day Lagos workshop targets better tracking of substance abuse trends across Nigeria and West Africa.
Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have launched a renewed effort to strengthen drug use surveillance, with stakeholders stressing the importance of reliable data in tackling substance abuse.
The initiative began on Tuesday with a three-day capacity-building workshop for the Nigeria Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (NENDU) in Lagos.
The training brought together health officials, psychiatrists, medical record officers and other professionals involved in drug treatment and surveillance across Nigeria.
The workshop is designed to improve the collection, validation and analysis of drug use data for submission to the West African Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (WENDU), ECOWAS’ regional drug surveillance platform.
Speaking at the opening, the Head of ECOWAS’ Drug Prevention and Control Division, Dr Daniel Amankwaah, said changing patterns of substance abuse required governments to rely on accurate and timely data.
He said reliable data was essential for understanding drug use trends and developing effective policies and interventions.
“Reliable data is the foundation of evidence-based policies and effective interventions,” Amankwaah said.
Established in 2013, WENDU collects and analyses drug use data from ECOWAS member states and supports regional and global drug monitoring. The commission has published five regional reports since 2014, with the 2025 edition already validated and awaiting publication.
Amankwaah said the quality of regional drug surveillance depended largely on the strength of national data collection systems, making Nigeria’s contribution critical.
Also speaking, the Director of the Narcotics and Drug Abuse Division at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Pharm. Henrietta Bakura Onyeneke, said reliable data remained central to Nigeria’s response to substance use disorders.
She said participants would receive training in standardised reporting tools, data quality assurance, validation procedures, harm reduction indicators and emerging drug-use trends, including prescription drug misuse.
Onyeneke described data collection as a critical public health function that supports early detection of emerging trends, resource allocation and evidence-based interventions.
The Director of the Speciality Hospitals Division at the ministry, Dr Amina Zuberi Kazore, also described drug use as a growing public health concern, saying the training would improve the capacity of personnel responsible for collecting and analysing drug-related data.
The workshop, which ends on August 13, is expected to strengthen collaboration among treatment centres, healthcare institutions and government agencies while improving Nigeria’s contribution to regional and global drug surveillance efforts.