Lagos proposes to ban beer parlours near schools

The Lagos State government is considering banning beer parlors and other drinking joints from operating near or around the school environment in the state, to reduce to the barest minimum cases of drug abuse and other vices, particularly among children and adolescents in the state.

The state is also still consulting with relevant stakeholders on the 65 years’ retirement age policy, against the current 60 years, for teachers in state employment before implementation.

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The state’s Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Jamiu Alli-Balogun, gave this hint on Tuesday at a media interaction with newsmen at Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja, which was to intimate the newsmen on the forthcoming 67th National Council on Education (NCE), which Lagos State is hosting between Monday, December 11, and Friday, December 15th at the Lagos Airport Hotel.

According to the commissioner, it has been observed that the sellers of hard drugs and the rest are more or less being carried out around businesses and ghettos that are not portended well for the society at large.

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“We have also come up with safety clubs in schools in which we are partnering with the security agencies such as the police, Nigerian Immigration Services, Customs services, traditional rulers, CDAs, CDCs, and more.

“We have passed the message across and we are acting as an interface. Even last month or so, we held a meeting with the necessary stakeholders, and we are still looking forward to more.

“In Epe, for instance, they have launched the War Against Drug Abuse in schools as an idea to have community partnering with the police and other security agencies to campaign against drug abuse and other social vices.

“We’re not stopping there. It is a collaborative effort to raise our voices against the negative impacts of drug abuse in our society.

“So, we are looking for all avenues to change the narrative and part of it is that of the proposal not to have beer parlors near schools that I had talked about earlier.

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“We believe that if students see, watch and move close to people drinking alcoholic substances or smoking and all that, they may be tempted or influenced to do the same.

“They may want to do so as an experiment and we don’t want to wait for that before we take a step.”

Nonetheless, the commissioner pointed out that the matter is still a proposal and would be subjected to legislation before it becomes the state government’s policy, adding that when such would happen is still unknown.