DISCUSS THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCE OF DRUG TRAFFIKING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA

DISCUSS THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCE OF DRUG TRAFFIKING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA ABSTRACT This study was a critical analysis of the international image implications of the involvement of some Nigerian youths in hard drug trafficking and the public relations panacea for the problem. However, trafficking of heroin and cocaine has become a serious social problem in Nigeria in the last decade and is second only to politics as the country's most serious social problem. During this period, a whole new market involving supplies of raw materials and a distribution network for the finished product has developed to serve the drug industry. The consequences have been severe; Nigerians traveling abroad are suspected as possible drug couriers, and the United States has put Nigeria on its list of decertified countries.. Results obtained show that the use of force, law and imprisonment would not significantly discourage Nigerian youths from hard drug trafficking. But the use of public relations persuasive communication strategies and a combination of force and law would do it. The use of or a media, social media, mass media, interpersonal communications, religious institutions, educational institutions, opinion leaders, town unions/associations were then recommended for the anti-drug campaign. Keywords:Hard drugs, image, drug trafficking, public relations. INTRODUCTION One of the major issues dampening the image of Nigeria abroad is its citizens’ involvement in hard drug trafficking. According to Chiakwelu(2010:1), the image of a nation to a large extent determines the destiny of the nation. Nigeria’s disfigured image in the global village has become an insignia of dishonesty, dishonor and disrespect, leading to outright humiliation of its citizens abroad. Majority of Nigerians are industrious, God-fearing and law abiding people, but a tiny minorityis destroying the image of the country and its destiny as a great nation. Consequentially, Nigeria is in self-doubt, bedeviled with nihilis m, lethargy and encompassing corruption (Chiakwelu, 2010:2). According to the United Nations Organisation for Drug Control (UNODC, 2002:1), drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws . A hard drug could be defined as any chemical substance which when introduced into the body affects the functioning and/or behaviour of the individual concerned, making him unusually "high" (Wikipedia, 2012). They either stimulate or depress the central nervous system and produce sedative, stimulative, hallucinogenic, exhilarative, brain dysfunctional physical and psychological disorders on an individual (Businessdictionary.com, 2011; Havocscope, 2010) and the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP, 2011). Some of the popularly known and most commonly abused hard drugs reported the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Drug Eradication Agency (2010), include cocaine, heroine, marijuana, methamphetamine and hallucinogens (see table 1 in the appendix). Nigerians are said to be heavily involved in drug trafficking, shipping heroin from Asian countries to Europe and America; and cocaine from South America to Europe and South Africa. The large numbers of ethnic Nigerians in India, Pakistan, and Thailand give their gangs ready access to around 90% of the world's heroin (FBI, 2008). In the United States, Nigerian drug traffickers are important distributors of heroin, from importing it into the country to distribution level and selling it to lower-lever street gangs, (USDOJ.gov, 2006). Drug Trafficking and Governance Since the 1980s when drug trafficking began gradually to occupy the attention of policy makers and the wider public, debates have raged on its effects on politics, the economy, and society in West Africa. Early public evidence of the significance of the trafficking problem was revealed by the acceleration in the number of West Africans arrested within the sub-region and overseas for drug offences, and the growing quantity of drug seizures connected to the traffickers originating from the sub-region. No part of the world was exempt in this regard as West African nationals trafficking as mules for barons at home and abroad were caught in growing numbers in Asia, Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Latin America itself. Subsequent evidence was to point to a growing domestic market in West Africa itself for drugs. Today, every indication suggests that the sub-region is a source of production of drugs, a site for their global re-distribution, and an emerging market for their consumption. The relative ease and speed with which drug cartels were able to establish a foothold in West Africa is connected to the aforementioned governance and socio-economic conditions and chronic political instability, factors which served the cartels well. Once established in the sub-region, the presence and activities of the drug cartels were also to carry far-reaching governance implications.Unpacking the governance implications of drug trafficking in West Africa, as elsewhere in the world, i s fraught with methodological challenges. These challenges centre on the type and quality of the evidenc e that is available as to permit a meaningful quantification and measurement of the problem and its impact. Precisely because of the illegal nature of the drug business and the secrecy that surrounds it, most of the evidence that has been marshalled can only be partial, frequently comprising an admixture of publicly available/published information, security intelligence material – which is not readily available in the public domain – and the best guesses and extrapolations that the circumstances permit. Also, questions of causation emerge: it is not always possible to separate and pinpoint the particular shareof drug trafficking in West African governance challenges considering the other factors that are Image Concept in Public Relations Image is the mental picture, idea, impression or the perceptions of a person’s, organisation’s, institution's or government's publics regarding them (Kotler, 1994:607; Olujimi, 1998:74; Haywood, 1998:37; Salu, 1994:147). People's attitudes and actions towards a person or nation are highly conditioned by that person’s or nation’s image. The things that a country and its citizens do, therefore, affect their international image. Countries that their citizens are involved in terrorism are usually seen and blacklisted as terrorist States, while countries that their citizens are heavily involved in illicit hard drugs cultivation or trades are also often stigmatized by other nations. These, consequently affects the country’s and its citizens’ image quite negatively. National image is therefore an aggregate of all the beliefs, ideas, impressions, perceptions or mental picture which other citizens have of a nation and its citizens. It is usually borne out of a sum total of all their actions, inactions and reputations. This is why image management is a major focus of public relations activities for any organization or nation, because without a positive image, most public relations campaigns are bound to fail. Obstacles to the Drug War in Nigeria Efforts by the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have been hindered by widespread corruption International Image Implications on Nigeria The involvement of Nigerians in hard drug trafficking has a lot of negative international image implications on the nation and its citizens. These include: (1)Possible economic sanctions by leading Western nations like the USA, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, France and others, which are usually the major trading grounds or receiving markets for a greater percentage of hard drugs in the world. (2)Possible sanctions by the United Nation, whom one of its agencies, the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) is at the fore front of the war for the eradication of narcotic drugs in the world. (3)Loss of vital foreign investments by the world leading economies, whose citizens and government actually have the funds for investment. (4)Possible denial of aids, grants and other financial assistance both from the United Nation’s agencies and foreign international organisaitons, most of which are from the leading European and North-American countries, that suffer most from the drug trade. (5)The chances of being treated as a pariah nation by the international community. (6)The continued isolation and treatment of Nigerians as crooks and without any atom of respect at most international airports in the world. (7)A continued mistreatment and maltreatment of Nigerians living abroad or in other nations of the world. (8)The continued execution ofNigerian youths involved in illicit narcotic trades in some strict Asian and Moslem countries of the world. (9)A continued erosion of the nation’s corporate international image and the image of its citizens. (10)The consequent psychological depression of Nigerian’s of high social, economic and political classes including other innocent citizens, who are mistreated, maltreated and dehumanized at other country’s international airports, due to the ‘sins’ of a few of her citizens involved in drug trafficking. Conclusion Apart from the fact that hard drugs destroy the lives of youths, families and the society, it also dents the international image of countries whose citizens are significantly involved in the illicit trade. Nigeria happens to find itself in this unfortunate situation, but the government is not resting on its oars to reverse the ugly trend. Millions of innocent citizens of the great country, Nigeria, should not suffer ignoble treatment overseas, due to the ‘sins’ of a few of its misguided citizens. As this study reveals, a combination of public relations traditional communication media (oramedia), mass media, social media networks and interpersonal communications media should be employed to enlighten the youths on the social and spiritual dangers of the illic it narcotics trades on themselves and their families, the negative image and consequent negative international relations on the nation and its citizens. However, in any human society, there are people who hear only the hard way. For such people, a combination of the above stated public relations persuasive communications strategies and the use of force and law will do the magic. It is expected that these strategies would be effective in restraining Nigerian youths from involvement in hard drug crimes as well as reverse the consequent negative image on the country. REFERENCE The Chronicle Newspaper, Accra, Ghana, 21 May, 2013; www.Ghanaweb.com, 16 April, 2013; Kwesi Aning (2007; 2010); Gernot Klantsching and Obi N.I. 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