Drug War Is Generational Task, Marwa Tells NDLEA Officers

By ZZainab Uzomah

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), has urged officers and personnel of the agency to remain resilient, describing the fight against illicit drugs as a generational responsibility.

Marwa spoke on Thursday at the 12th Chairman/CEO’s Commendations and Awards ceremony held at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja.

The ceremony saw the agency honour 274 personnel, 18 outstanding commands, as well as 19 non-governmental organisations and media organisations for their contributions to the fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking in Nigeria.Marwa said the drug war could not be treated as a campaign with a definite end date because criminal networks continually adapt their operations.

Marwa said the drug war could not be treated as a campaign with a definite end date because criminal networks continually adapt their operations.“The war against illicit drugs is not a campaign with an end date.

“It is a generational responsibility. For every cartel we dismantle, intelligence tells us another will attempt to rise. For every corridor we shut down, traffickers will search for another route.”

He said the sustained fight against drug trafficking required more than enforcement, stressing the importance of community-based interventions, civil society organisations and the media.

According to him, NGOs have played a critical role in helping young people overcome addiction, while journalists have brought public attention to trafficking routes, rehabilitation efforts and families affected by substance abuse.

“Our partners in civil society and the media have been the multiplier effect on everything this Agency does. You have taken our message into homes, schools, and communities that our uniforms alone could never reach,” he said.

The NDLEA chairman said the recognition of the organisations and media platforms was not intended to suggest that they were the only groups contributing to the campaign.

He described the awards as “the beginning of a tradition, not a closed chapter”, promising that future editions would recognise more individuals and organisations making significant contributions to the anti-drug campaign.

Marwa also highlighted recent operations which, he said, demonstrated the agency’s growing capacity to dismantle sophisticated drug networks.

Among them were the dismantling of the Amadi Simon drug cartel, the disruption of two Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine cartels operating in forests in Ogun and Oyo states, and the takedown of a tramadol cartel using the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.

He said the corridor had for years contributed to the proliferation of opioid abuse among Nigerian youths.

“These were not simple raids. They were the product of patient intelligence-gathering, cross-border cooperation, and officers willing to go where the criminals believed no one would follow,” Marwa said.

He urged NDLEA personnel to regard the award recipients as examples to emulate rather than a ceiling to their own achievements.

Marwa similarly challenged civil society organisations and media partners to see the recognition as an encouragement to intensify their efforts rather than a reward to become complacent.

He congratulated all recipients and commended their families for supporting their work, while also thanking Nigerians for continuing to place their trust in the agency.