M.K’s Story: From stigma to strength
M.K was once a bright university student—intelligent, ambitious, and full of promise. But under the pressure of academics and peer influence, he turned to substance use. “It felt harmless at first,” he recalls. “Just a way to cope. But soon, I lost control.” What followed wasn’t expulsion, but a slow academic spiral carryovers, step-downs, and a four-year course that stretched into seven. He faced deep shame, isolation, and judgment from peers and even lecturers.
Recovery didn’t begin in a clinic. It began with a simple act of kindness.
A friend who called him Yayana” my brother” in Hausa, offered dignity instead of judgment. That small gesture rekindled M.K’s self-worth. With her support, he found the courage to retake courses, rebuild his confidence, and eventually graduate. Today, he is not only thriving as a digital marketer but is also a harm reduction advocate, using his voice to shift the narrative from punishment to healing.
The Invisible Burden of Stigma
Stories like M.K’s are common across Northern Nigeria but rarely heard. People who use drugs are often criminalized, not cared for. A 2024 study in North Central Nigeria found nearly 60% of individuals with substance use challenges were first stigmatized by their own families (EJMHR, 2024). In Sokoto and Katsina States, barriers like shame, low awareness, and high treatment costs further isolate those in need (PubMed, 2023; ResearchGate, 2024). Stigma doesn’t solve the problem, it deepens it.
Harm Reduction: A Lifesaving Approach
Harm reduction is about dignity. It’s about reducing the risks associated with drug use while providing people with the tools, support, and respect they deserve. It includes interventions like needle and syringe programs (NSPs), overdose prevention, mental health support, peer outreach, and safe spaces. Yet, in Nigeria, these services remain dangerously limited. According to data compiled by Harm Reduction International (HRI) and YouthRISE Nigeria (March 2025), the landscape is dire:
HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs (PWID) rose from 4% in 2010 to 10.9% in 2022, with figures as high as 23.4% in Benue State (UNAIDS, 2023; Global Fund GC7, 2023).
Only 6% of PWID use a new syringe with each injection (IBBSS, 2020).
37.2% of PWID know their HIV status, and just 25% receive antiretroviral treatment (UNAIDS, 2023).
Hepatitis C affects an estimated 3.3% of PWID (HRI, 2022).
PWID and their partners account for approximately 9% of new HIV infections annually (National HIV and AIDS Strategic Framework, 2021–2025).
Despite these alarming numbers, Nigeria’s needle and syringe programme only distributes an estimated 312 syringes per person per year, and opioid agonist therapy (OAT), a proven treatment has yet to begin on a national scale. Only pilot OAT programs are planned in four states: Gombe, Abia, Oyo, and Lagos.
Behind the Crime Headlines:
The Story
of Our Youth
During the 2025 Eid-el-Kabir celebration in Gombe State, the public was shaken by a series of phone snatching incidents linked to the so-called “Kalare boys.” But these headlines often miss the deeper truth. Many of these young men are products of trauma, poverty, and unaddressed substance use. Criminalizing them only entrenches the cycle of harm. They are not just perpetrators; they are victims of a system that has failed to offer prevention, care, or second chances.
A Call to Compassion and Action
If we continue to treat drug use as a crime rather than a health issue, we will continue to lose our sons, our sisters, our communities. Harm reduction is not an endorsement of drug use, it is a strategy for survival. It is public health. It is love in action. As a YouthRISE Nigeria Media Fellow, I’ve seen how storytelling can spark change. M.K’s journey proves that recovery is possible, and that it often starts with empathy. One act of compassion transformed his life. Imagine what could happen if we multiplied that by a community, a policy, a nation. We must shift our approach, fund harm reduction, create safe and inclusive spaces, challenge stigma, and speak with humanity. Because healing begins not in the clinic or court, but in our hearts and actions. Let us be the hand that lifts, not the finger that points. Let us choose compassion, because harm reduction saves lives.
By Pharmacist Muhammad Saleh Isah – Supported by YouthRISE Nigeria
