ISSUP Nigeria Knowledge Update Series (29th Session): Beyond Tokenistic Roles: Harnessing The Power of Young People in Drug Use Prevention

ISSUP Nigeria would like to invite you to the 29th session of its bi-monthly webinar in the Knowledge Update Series. This webinar will focus on the topic 'Beyond Tokenistic Roles: Harnessing The Power of Young People in Drug Use Prevention'.

Date: 23rd September 2025

Time: 3:00 PM WAT | 3:00 PM London | 10 AM ET

Register for the Webinar

This webinar will explore practical and impactful ways to engage youth as key stakeholders in preventing drug use. Moving beyond symbolic participation, the session will highlight strategies that empower young people to contribute meaningfully through peer-to-peer prevention models and by accessing opportunities that strengthen their role in this field.

Discussion Topics:

• Sustainable financing of youth-led activities.
• Opportunities for youth to actively contribute and participate in evidence-based prevention strategies and interventions.
• Continuous education focused on building skills, knowledge, and capacity for effective prevention practice.

Relevance and Significance:

• This topic is timely especially with evolving realities in Nigeria and across Africa, that the increasing youth demographic needs to be effectively involved in initiatives that address drug use. This population can be either in school, workplace or community.

• The evolving new trends of psychoactive substances made it imperative for young people to be at the center of drug use prevention efforts worldwide. This should go beyond tokenism roles, but really giving them the mandate to carry-out youth led evidence prevention interventions and influence policies in drug use prevention.

Target Audience:

• Young people, public health professionals, addiction counsellors, healthcare providers, policymakers, anyone working in substance use care settings.

Learning Outcomes:

Following this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Understand existing initiatives for young people in prevention.

2. Learn about the structure and activities of the ISSUP Nigeria student/youth network.

3. Gain awareness of global and regional youth prevention networks.

4. Understand ways youth can actively contribute to prevention efforts at community, national, and international levels.

Presenter:

Aliyu Mukhtar Usman

Aliyu Mukhtar Usman is a global prevention influencer and youth leader. He is the special assistant on youth/student to the president of ISSUP Nigeria, and youth leader of the African Union Youth Forum on Drug Use Prevention.

He is a certified UPC Trainer on Environmental Specialty Track, and co-facilitator of the UPC-Core. He attended many national and international conferences and represented the youth voices in high-level meetings globally.

Moderators:

Dr. Martin O. Agwogie
Director, ISSUP Nigeria Chapter 

Ejikeme M. Ogueji
Head, Editorial and Webinar Team, ISSUP Nigeria Chapter

References:

• African Union. (2024, August 12). African Union hosts youth indaba on drug use prevention to commemorate International Youth Day 2024. African Union. https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20240812/african-union-hosts-youth-indaba-drug-use-prevention-commemorate

• Emirates News Agency. (2022, May). 3rd Global Forum for Youth Leaders on Drug Use Prevention (Abu Dhabi). WAM. https://www.wam.ae/en/article/hszrep29-3rd-global-forum-for-youth-leaders-drug-use

• International Society of Substance Use Professionals. (2022, October). ISSUP National Conference (Abuja, Nigeria, October 2022). Solace, Vol. 9. https://www.issup.net/files/2022-09/Solace%20Vol%209%202022.pdf

• African Union. (2023, November). High-level session on addressing substance use and related mental health disorders (Zambia). [Event report not publicly linked].

• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2024, August). Technical consultation meeting on drug use prevention through social media (Vienna). [Event record not publicly linked].

• African Union. (2024, December). Global Coalition continental consultation on drug demand reduction (Arusha). [Event record not publicly linked].

• ICQuality. (n.d.). Substance use prevention resources. https://www.icquality.org/node/30130

Webinars and online events delivered and hosted by the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) are provided for informational purposes only. They are educational in nature and do not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.