The effectiveness of the "Unplugged" program in Nigeria: adaptations, Training of Trainers, and implementation

In 2015, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) with the collaboration of the Federal Ministry of Education (FME), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDA), implemented in Nigeria a large-scale project funded by the European Union (EU) to promote healthy lifestyles in schools, families and communities. Within the project, the implementation and evaluation of the school-based prevention program “Unplugged” were planned. The Unplugged 12 session school based drug abuse prevention program has been evaluated in 7 European countries 2005-2008 with positive results. It was subject to further implementation and study in many other countries in and outside the EU since then. the Nigeria project the challenge of a robust study design was accompanied by many challenges to implementation factors. Before the control and intervention groups were randomized, the project team went through a preliminary implementation phase, in order to assemble input for adaptation of the program materials. Adaptations were submitted to a control on fidelity to critical elements of the intervention. The teacher is the deliverer of Unplugged, therefore trained in a three day workshop. International Master Trainers guided Nigerian trainers through a three phase TOT process, resulting in 7 local trainers certified by the EU-Dap Faculty to deliver training to teachers and one master trainer to further train other trainers. This process that in the study phase delivered input to adaptation of the training scenario. The UNODC Nigeria team established this pre-trial phase, study phase and further implementation phase with EU-Dap consultants within the EU-sponsored large scale project. From 2015 until today relevant stakeholders were involved with the focus on sustainability and upscale. The Ministry of Education was obviously a prominent stakeholder, but others were also addressed in order to guarantee quality dissemination and funding. A first good example of local financing and dissemination was experienced in the North-West State of Kebbi, February 2018. Conclusions: throughout the study phase and anticipating on effectiveness results, crucial issues for implementation are to be established.