Drug dependence treatment in Nigeria is at an early stage of development. The first ‘stand alone’ drug dependence treatment in-patient unit in Nigeria, the Drug Addiction Treatment Education and Research (DATER) unit, Aro, Abeokuta, Nigeria, was established in 1983. Prior to this, patients with drug dependence received care along with other patients in psychiatric wards and traditional healing homes (United Nations International Drug Control Programme, 1998). Currently, there is no national body in Nigeria actively involved in regulating or facilitating good practice in drug dependence treatment.