Global commitment is necessary to protect contemporary cultures from illicit substances, says Marwa

The mission of protecting contemporary communities from the plague of illicit drugs, according to Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, requires international commitment.

The head of the anti-drug agency reaffirmed that Nigeria is making every effort to uphold its half of the arrangement.

Femi Babafemi, the director of media and advocacy at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja, said in a statement on Friday that Marwa made the claims over the weekend while speaking to a group of academics, students, mental health specialists, and Nigerians living abroad at the Jayhawk Welcome Centre at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, in the United States.

The head of the NDLEA gave a lecture titled “War Against Substance Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking: The Nigerian Story” at the Marwa Africana Lecture Series, which the Department of African and African-American Studies at the University of Kansas has been hosting annually since 2003.

Marwa said, “we have been able to keep a huge cache of drugs from getting into our streets by seizing them at the border or before distribution courtesy of intelligence sharing with our counterparts in source countries or along the transnational routes.”

Nigeria has been conducting a relentless anti-illicit drug campaign based on international best practises for drug law enforcement and inspired by UNODC’s Whole-of-Society approach to the drug problem for about 33 months now.

“The Nigerian anti-drug effort is still a work in progress even though we have made significant progress. Whatever the case, our accomplishments during the last 30 months—when compared to the previous 30 years—have increased our optimism for future successes.

“The backing of international allies, friendly government officials, the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s leadership, and the Nigerian people has increased our belief that the goal we pursue is not unrealistic. Now that we have an open field in front of us, the goal of a drug-free society seems conceivable.

The NDLEA and Nigeria are doing everything they can to uphold their end of the agreement in the fight to keep modern society safe from the scourge of illicit substances.

According to him, the phraseology chosen for the Nigerian campaign against illegal drugs “is a metaphor that is reflective of the need for drastic steps against a brewing illicit drug apocalypse.” However, the campaign is being run in accordance with international best practise, he said, adding that the phrase “War on drugs” in the Nigerian context connotes the severity of the situation as an existentialist threat to the Nigerian nation and the urgency and intensity of action required to bring the situation under control.

Marwa also disclosed some of the tactical actions employed by NDLEA to achieve successful outcomes. “We made an effort to incorporate innovation into every aspect of our operations. Our standard operating procedures have been updated. We implemented sophisticated tools and systems, advanced our methodology, and accepted cutting-edge paradigms for therapy.