By Edoamaowo Udeme
Andrew Isaac could have passed for another promising young man but his past haunts him. At 29, Andrew has spent half of his life doing drugs. From cigarettes to codeine and then the almighty heroine, he has done it all. He wants to make amends, he wishes he could turn back the hands of the clock because during his romance with drugs, he had hurt lots of people especially his parents but that lack of trust is putting his family on the divided line.
Growing up in a God fearing home of loving parents, with a Chef father and a trader mother, Andrew fell into the wrong group of friends as he started smoking cigarettes at 11 in primary school. “My parents never knew I smoked, I used to hide and do it, I clean my mouth very well and wait until the odor is no more before returning home”
His education nearly suffered a setback as he almost dropped out of Senior Secondary School but he said he persisted and finished it. His parents tried his furtherance of education but couldn’t succeed. Andrew at 15 was neck deep in drugs which blurred his vision and his future. “I used to take up to six bottles of codeine which then cost N280, 00. I used Benylin with codine, Tutolyn, Novalyn, Emzolyn and Coughcil and so many others.
Then Andrew moved to heroine injections. “A man who ran a chemist who was a drug dealer was responsible for the injections, I used to pay him N15, 000 each shot and less than a week after, I will go for another one” he said the patent dealer may take less from regular customers but N15, 000 was usually the fixed amount. “The man was later arrested and I don’t know where he is now”
On how he was able to fund his habit, Andrew said he got involved with a drug dealer that sent him on errands to deliver drugs where he was getting huge monetary tips. ” I worked with a Cocaine dealer, my parents knew him, I made quite a lot of money on delivery alone, I sometimes shuttle Abuja from Kaduna and twice daily. I also made deliveries to some parts of the north. I gained their trust and also gained lots of tips. My parents never knew. Whatever money I made was plunged into the hard drugs I was taking. Whenever I am high, I became a recluse, I hate people talking to me, I lost my temper easily that explains why was never wanted any disturbance”.
My parents became very afraid of me as they never knew I was on drugs”. He said the day his mum knew was when he returned home with a bottle of Coca-Cola mixed with two bottles of Codeine, half roll of Revnol tablets. And his mum insisted on taking a drink, he said he vehemently refused and warned her not to take it as he would send for another bottle for her. She insisted and drank almost half of it. “I had disappeared from home because I knew the consequences of what I had done, I was hanging out with my friends for days, in fact, my mum had since called me and told me not to come home but my conscience did not permit me so I went home and apologized to her”. The Effect of Andrews actions manifested in distrust among his family and friends “My mum lost all the trust she had in me, even if I offer her sachet water, she will never take it from me”.
His first turning point was a delivery in Zaria where he was set up by a lady who pretended to be a customer. He was arrested and locked up. Luckily for him, the drugs were on him and it was not discovered. He said he was beaten black and blue but didn’t give either himself or his dealer away but somehow, words had gotten to his mum and by the time he got home, his mum had reported him to her church women. He was cautioned by them and mum begged him to stop dealing with the drug dealer, he promised her he would. “I went straight to the man and told him I was no more interested in working for him. He begged me to continue but be more secretive. I refused and left, I returned at 1 am and usually knocks my mum’s window to alert her that I was back but this time, she did not respond so I entered the house and went to her room, my heart broke when on opening her door my mum was stark naked praying, I had never seen her like that. I was very high on drugs that day but the sight made me sober immediately”. “My mum later came out with her wrapper tied only to her waist and her breasts were bare, the sight broke my heart the more, she begged me to leave the drug dealer”. Andrew said he promised her that he will stop dealing with the man and he stood by his promise by returning all the man’s possession to him. While the man begged him to continue secretly, he walked away from him for good.
Andrew stopped injecting Heroine because he hadn’t money anymore so he launched fully back to Codeine and to feed his habit, he will sell his personal stuff for it. he later got a job in a hotel in Kaduna and still plunged he money on Codeine. One day having gotten his salary, he went shopping for drugs in a place nicknamed Warri Street in Kaduna where drugs are sold at very cheap rates. He said he bought two bottles of Novalyn, one sachet of Diazapharm, two packets of Revnol packed them in a cup dissolved them with water and drank all at once and passed out. “My mum returned from church saw the empty bottled and seized them. I woke up and wanted to take a shower thinking he was in the bathroom, he went to the sitting room naked my mum and sister were in the sitting room and had to lock me in the house for days so I could recover, I was floating, didn’t know where I was and what was happening to me” Having recovered from that he vowed to break free but however hard he tried, he couldn’t.
Turning point two came when one day, a little boy of about ten years approached him and asked why people were calling him “Codeine boy”. Even though he knew that that was people were calling him behind his back, he least expected that from that boy. Andrew said he was so ashamed and promised the little one he would stop. “Since then, anytime I have any money that will make me think of buying any drug, I will go to my elder brother’s wife or my sister and contribute for the upkeep of the house. I never wanted to keep any money with me lest I thought of drugs”
That was how Andrew gradually got his groove back. He has been clean for over two years now, he prays and hopes to stay clean forever but his greatest regret is not gaining his parents trust. “I know that my father has suffered for me, I can imagine how Many sleepless nights I have given him but I am ready to make amends, I am trying to do something to get myself busy so I can gain their trust, I want to go back to the university, I know I have hurt my family but I crave for their forgiveness and want us to be a family again, I don’t want them looking at me like an outcast.
For a young man who was neck deep in drugs to pull out without intervention of any sort, Andrew deserves another chance in his family and society at large. Having been clean for over two years, he needs and education as that will enable him projects the dangers and effect of drugs to today’s youths. The big question is “Are there government programmes that covers rehabilitation for the likes of Andrew? If yes, where and when can it be found? Something has to be done before Andrew gets back to the streets again, so many of them out there are have plunged into robbery to feed their habits.
