The governor of Erongo region, Neville Andre, says young men and boys are at a disadvantage as most are drawn into negative societal issues, are uninspired, and don't strive for success.

Neville Andre, speaking at a police award event, stressed that this is a burning issue that needs intense consultative effort from all stakeholders to find ways to address it and assist young men in becoming better members of society.

Andre says drugs are the number one contributing factor that destroys the potential future of young Namibians, especially young men and boys.

He says substance abuse is an ugly social problem, adding that users are becoming younger as drugs are easily accessible locally.

The regional governor said most families in Erongo are feeling this brunt.

"To address and come together on this table and see how, as a united front, we can help each other to help our society and also to have a conversation that will really address the boy child in our communities because we really rely on church and community leaders to create awareness of social ills that negatively affect our society, and we need to build a strong partnership as we are here with all sectors of our society to focus on rebuilding the families that are the basic units of our society, on creating communities of engagement with strong moral values, and building communities that will resist the strong temptation that our young people are exposed to"
 
Adding his weight to the matter was Nampol Regional Commander, Commissioner Nikolaus Kupembona.

"Let's go and preach the gospel of no drugs in Erongo Region. Let's say no to drugs. They are killing and destroying our nations. They are destroying the houses. Married couples are divorcing because of drugs. Children are living in schools because of drugs."

Various churches and stakeholders at the event called for drug dealers to be arrested, saying they were destroying the youth.