Prevalence of Substance Abuse among Undergraduate Students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

Background: The incidence of drug abuse has constituted a major issue of concern in the contemporary Nigeria society. The rate at which undergraduate students are getting involved in this obnoxious deviant behaviour is posing a big threat to the future of this country. The purpose of the study was to look into the prevalence of substance abuse among undergraduate students of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Osun state.

Method: A total of 110 undergraduate volunteers were gathered for the study using a simple random sampling procedure. Data were gathered using a self-structured substance abuse questionnaire(SAQ), and frequency distribution and percentages were used for analysis.

Results: The study’s findings showed that among its participants, substance abuse is quite prevalent (72.7%). Alcohol, opioids, amphetamines and cigarettes are drugs that are frequently misused. The majority of the survey participants who used drugs began doing so after being accepted into the institution. The motives for substance misuse have been recognized as curiosity, feeling good, sex performance, and confidence building.

Conclusion: Substance addiction has been linked to gender, having a family member who abuses drugs, peer pressure, having friends who abuse drugs, and having a dysfunctional home. As this will go a long way to deterring students from misusing drugs, the school administration should regularly conduct seminars to inform the university community about the short- and long-term health implications of substance misuse.