Akure, the capital city of Ondo State, once known for its calm, prideful culture and intellectual vibrancy, is under siege, not by guns or bandits, but by a more subtle, devastating enemy, the rise of dangerous alcoholic cocktails, commonly referred to as “ogogoro mix”, laced with all sorts of deadly substances and sold openly across the city.
What was once a clandestine act has now become a public menace. Walk through virtually any junction in Akure, from Fiwasaye to Ilesha Garage, from NEPA to Army barrack and you will find young men and women, many barely out of their teenage years, huddled around makeshift stalls and wooden tables, sipping from plastic cups filled with this toxic brew. The so-called “cocktail” is a deadly mixture of ogogoro (local gin), tramadol, codeine, cannabis, and in some terrifying cases, even methylated spirit.
This is not just casual drinking. It is a daily ritual of self destruction that is claiming lives and futures in alarming numbers. Every day, hospitals across the city admit young people with liver failure, heart palpitations, hallucinations, or outright collapse from overdose. Some never make it out alive.
The tragedy is not just in the death statistics , it’s in the lost dreams, broken homes, and shattered communities. Promising students have dropped out of school, apprentices have abandoned their trade, young fathers are now beggars, and mothers weep in silence as their children waste away in front of them.
The rise of this dangerous alcoholic cocktail culture in Akure is not accidental. It is fueled by joblessness, peer pressure, poor parental supervision, and a systemic failure of community enforcement. The sales agents, most of them middle age women who once battled the same addiction, now see it as a source of income , a way to “feed their family” by selling poison to someone else’s child.
And the worst part? No regulation. No arrest. No accountability.
We must not wait until the entire generation is lost.This is a call to action. The Ondo State Government, Ministry of Health, NDLEA, community leaders, and religious organizations must come together to combat this growing crisis.
There must be strict enforcement against the open sale of illicit cocktails. There must be massive awareness campaigns, rehabilitation centers for the already addicted, and sustainable youth engagement programs to fill the vacuum that drug abuse is currently exploiting.
Parents must rise. Schools must rise. The government must act. Akure must not be remembered as a town that watched its future drown in a cup of poison.
This is more than a social issue , it is a health emergency, a moral crisis, and a ticking time bomb.
Let us act now before another young life is lost to the dangerous alcoholic cocktail ravaging our streets.
OBADOFIN ADEMOLA.
