The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Buba Marwa, has urged the Nigerian public to join the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.
Marwa made this call during the Island Club Business Luncheon in Lagos recently, where he delivered a keynote address emphasising that tackling drug abuse is a collective responsibility.
He said, “This is not a challenge for the government alone. All of us are stakeholders on this issue, and it is an assignment for all Nigerians. The standard whole-of-society approach to the drug issue is such that everyone is a stakeholder. The future of Nigeria belongs to us all.”
Marwa stressed the need for advocacy and community involvement, noting, “The simplest role is one of advocacy. By spreading the message, we can all become anti-drug abuse advocates. Spreading the word about the dangers of misuse of drugs can go a long way in shielding more lives from the ruins of illicit drugs.”
The NDLEA chairman encouraged Island Club members to join this effort, describing the fight as crucial to safeguarding the future of Nigerian society.
Marwa reflected on the NDLEA’s recent achievements, revealing that the agency had arrested over 52,901 drug traffickers, including 52 drug barons, in the last three years, while securing 9,034 convictions and seizing 8.6 million kilograms of illicit drugs.
He also highlighted the destruction of over 1,572 hectares of cannabis farms.
“By and large, the outlook of the future will depend on our action or inaction at curbing the drug abuse trend,” Marwa warned, adding that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had projected a 40 per cent increase in drug use across Africa by 2030 due to population growth.
Marwa, a former Borno and Lagos states’ military governor described the situation as a potential crisis that could derail Nigeria’s economic and social development.
The luncheon also featured insightful presentations from other speakers, including the Chief Executive Officer of Business School Netherlands (Nigeria), Prof. Lere Baale and a consultant psychiatrist, Prof Harry Ladapo, who explored strategies for pharmaceutical interventions, stricter drug regulations, and the socio-psychiatric implications of drug abuse.
Baale underscored the importance of education and regulation, advocating for stricter prescription guidelines and the expansion of community rehabilitation programs.
He called for collaboration between law enforcement, healthcare professionals, and community stakeholders, noting that substance abuse “poses a great threat to all ages.”
Baale added, “We need to strengthen collaboration with people like I’ve mentioned. We need to train the law enforcement and healthcare personnel on how to engage. We need to look at cross-border monitoring and intelligence sharing. As the NDLEA Chairman will confirm, there’s a lot of inflow of these substances into our country.
“We have to support community-based recovery and rehabilitation programs and we have to roll out the stigma campaign.”
On his part, Ladapo highlighted the rising abuse of methamphetamines among Nigerian youths, describing the trend as a “public health crisis.”
He linked drug abuse to societal challenges, including unemployment and hedonistic influences, and called for investments in sports and youth development programs as preventative measures.
Ladapo urged, “We need to know the type of children that we are bringing up nowadays. And parents also should be able to know that they need to have information about what is going on in the urban and rural centres. (Drug abuse) is more pronounced in urban centres like Abuja and Lagos and assessment is easier nowadays because of internet connection.
“Also we have another problem we are seeing in our practice, ‘Yahoo Yahoo’ (advanced fee fraud). Most of my patients in the last six months that were brought from the streets all tied up, were Yahoo boys (advanced fee fraudsters). And why are they using drugs? They look at the time in Lagos and the time in Singapore or Malaysia and by the time they wake up in the morning here, their clients are sleeping. So they stay awake between 2 o’clock and 4:00 in the morning to be able to contact their agents. They will not sleep as they are on Ice, Colos, Tramadol et cetera.
“A lot of young people are being brainwashed. And that is another problem. In Nigeria, we have a culture that glorifies hedonism and degeneracy.”
The consultant psychiatrist urged a return to positive youth activities such as sports, remarking “We can go back to what the youth used to be in those days when we were young, when we were having Boy Scouts and so on and so on sports, which are very, very key in those days.
“We need to incorporate sports at many levels. We have to invest so much in sports education.”
The Chairman of the Island Club, Dr Rotimi Martins, commended the NDLEA and other stakeholders for their efforts as he described the event as a platform for meaningful dialogue and practical solutions to the drug abuse epidemic.
“Drug abuse is a menace that has infiltrated every layer of our society, threatening our youth, destabilising families, and undermining the socio-economic fabric of our nation. Today, we are here not only to discuss its devastating impact but more importantly, to explore practical, sustainable solutions to this epidemic,” Martins stated earlier in his welcome address.
The luncheon also featured students from basic and high schools, whom the chairman hailed their attendance, noting “It is also significant that this event is nothing without young students attending today – you represent the future of this nation, and your participation emphasises the importance of proactive attention and awareness in fighting against drug abuse.”