| | Over the past five years the Nigerian government has taken dramatic steps to improve the country's reputation as an international drug trafficking centre. As most of the emphasis has fallen on law enforcement and repression there has been a sharp increase in arrest rates and the prison population. In spite of such severe measures a correlative fall in consumption has not been registered. There is a danger that Nigeria is not only repeating the unsuccessful strategies employed in the US, but is also failing to take account of the very different conditions in the local drug scene. It follows that the ostensible outcome of drug control - reduced consumption and trafficking - has become secondary to the manipulation of drug law enforcement for the extension of state authority and to effect social and political control. |
