Don’t Give Up On Children Suffering From Drug Abuse, Salami Advises Parents

A property developer and Managing Director of Mubdhab Homes Ltd, Dr Abubakar Salami, has advised parents of children suffering from drugs abuse not to give up on them, saying that such children can still stay out of the infamous practice and become successful.

According to him, only God can decide who is useless, adding that once someone with drug addiction takes personal decision to stop the bad habit, he or she is capable of changing the narrative and becomes useful individual in the society.

Salami stated this on Wednesday during an interview with journalists in Abuja.

He further disclosed that he was involved in substance abuse for about 12 years before he decided to stay out of the bad practice.
He also said that he became diligent in property business and can now share his success story for others to emulate.

Advising parents of children with drug abuse, Salami said, “Don’t give up on your children suffering from substance abuse. don’t lose hope. It’s like we say, it’s an illness, right? You would continue to find help and cure. Then another advice I have to parents is make your house a shield.

“The first point that drives people into these things it’s like a form of escape. So, what are the children, the young ones trying to escape from? Abuse from unconventional homes. So, it’s many a times the parents have subconsciously driven their children into this lifestyle with their ways and lifestyle.
“Just imagine, you come to the house and you’re beating your wife all the time and your child doesn’t like that sight. Your child goes to stay in the streets and he gets hooked.

“You’re a father in absentia, you’re not always around. Your child finds solace in the streets, your child gets hooked. It’s mostly from the streets, right? Now, if you build a proper home where there’s love, protection, shield around your children, your place of children, even when they go to school and they meet children from those unconventional homes, that love and that guidance will shield them.”

Regarding his practical steps for dynamic society, Salami said, “What makes me happy is to bring a lot of people out of these dark places, because I know how it feels to be there, it is not a place anybody wants to be.

“So, I use my platform, my business to drive a lot of these things, giving hand in service to those who have been suffering for so long. I also use to tell them – It is only the grace of God that can bring you out of that place, so the only way is to give back to say thank you is by extending that hand, to bring other people, to allow God to use them for positive change.

So, I have a prayer point for the past five years that I will say every morning, and I say: Lord use me as your vessel to do your bidding on earth and the best way I can be of help is helping people who are suffering from substance abuse because that’s the place I know.”

Speaking on what he went through during substance abuse, Salami said, “I abuse substance for almost 12 years, consistently, I am not talking about one year, two years, so, what that did to me is putting me in a different state of mind compared to the average person you see.

“I bless God first and foremost because my rehabilitation was self driven, no rehabilitation centre, not that I was sick and I have to go to the hospital and the doctor had to warn me that if you don’t stop this thing you’ll die, not that or they took me to any house of God, it was just a personal decision.”

On the way forward, the MD of Mubdhab Homes advised parents of children with drug abuse to keep hope alive and believe that their children can change for better and be successful in life.
He said, “A lot of parent have lost hope because they don’t get to see people like myself and they don’t get to hear about people like myself. I am never ashamed to talk about my story because it made me who I am today

“So, my mental strength my energy level is different from the average guy of my age, so, anything I do, I have a driving force. In the 10 years a lot of people have given up on me, family members and friends, teachers, and my lecturers, so a lot of people looked at it as ‘this chap is a useless guy who cannot amount to anything.’

Today, that is my most strength. A lot of people thought I couldn’t amount to something, but here I am today, amounting to many things.

“Only God can decide who is useless. I have all the course and reasons to succeed in life because I know how it feels to be a failure. And it is a place I don’t wish for my enemy.

“And it is a place I don’t want to go back to, when I started my business, I started outlining what makes you fail in business. And I looked at integrity, transparency, honesty, relationship as greed makes you fail.

“So I outlined the things that make you a good businessman, the things that make you fail, after reading tons of books because I love to read. And I now realize that, oh, success is something you attract. You don’t chase it, right? What do I do to attract? I need to be diligent.”