Marwa expresses appreciation to Buhari
By Emma Ogbuehi
Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has said that the proposed 2022 budget allocation to the Agency is a great improvement on its fortune and previous budgets.
Gen. Marwa stated this on Wednesday during the budget defence of the NDLEA before the House Committee on Narcotic Drugs, where he expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Finance Minister Mrs. Zainab Ahmed for their deep understanding of the challenges of the 32-year-old Agency and their support to enhance its capability and performance.
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He equally acknowledged the legislative support being given to the NDLEA by the National Assembly and the leadership of the two chambers of the legislature.
He appealed to the federal lawmakers to continue their support with the passing of the proposed budget and enhance it where necessary especially in the areas of essential needs like the purchase of arms and ammunition.
In his remarks, Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Francis Ottah Agbo emphasised the need to support the Agency to be able to surmount the enormous challenges before it. He said apart from an overhaul of the NDLEA Act to remove the option of ridiculous fines for offenders, he said the committee would stand up against any move to legalise cannabis on the floor of the House.
NDLEA under Marwa has renewed its efforts at ridding the country of the scourge of hard drug menace. Recently, the NDLEA chairman charged officers and men of the Agency’s Strike Force Corps to go all out and root out drug barons and cartels from their hideouts across the country.
According to the NDLEA Director, Media & Advocacy Femi Babafemi, Marwa gave the charge at the special operations training graduation ceremony for 143 officers of the Strike Force Corps at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry, NASI, Jaji, Kaduna state on Monday 25th October, 2021.
Marwa noted that the drug scourge in Nigeria is unacceptable with almost 15 million Nigerians abusing substances, 20 percent of who are addicted, which is three times the global average.
He said; “We’re conscious of our job to block and prevent availability of narcotic drugs, and that necessitated the formation of the Strike Force to enhance our capability for complex operations. The Strike Force is the tip of our spear in our interdiction efforts and as such we must keep the tip sharpened and always ready to strike because we need to be two steps ahead of drug barons and cartels operating in the country”.
