The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig Gen Buba Marwa (Rtd), has commended the British Government for offering to undertake the provision of a headquarters house and personnel accommodation for the Marine Unit of the anti-narcotics body at the Eko Atlantic City Beach in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.
Marwa, who gave the commendation while performing the groundbreaking ceremony to signify the commencement of the project facilitated by the UK Home Office International Operations, HOIO, assured that the agency will continue to live up to the expectations of Nigerians and its international partners.
He said the confidence reposed in the agency by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the UK government, as well as their all-round support, will always be a morale booster for the officers and men who daily take huge risks to dismantle drug cartels with the sole aim of curbing the menace of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria, while significantly contributing to the global effort to address the drug problem.
He noted that the office and accommodation facilities being provided by the UK government for personnel of the marine unit of the agency will in no small measure enhance their safety, efficiency, and confidence.
“You have provided us a place here, you’ve given us the training; you’ve supported the boats and the repairs, and now the accommodation. We can only say thank you. We wish to give the assurance that the NDLEA is a serious agency, we do what we have to do without fear or favour, and we will get the job done so that I can assure you as we continue to partner. Thank you very much,” the NDLEA boss said.
While addressing the British government officials and their contractors at the site of the project, he commended personnel of the Navy, Customs, Immigration, and other services in the area for their collaboration with NDLEA.
“We all must stand up together. Though the NDLEA is the lead agency in this enterprise, the work is collaborative. We must partner to get the job done. I’ve been briefed that there’s a lot of collaboration going on the same way I was at MMIA this morning and spoke to your senior colleagues there and they are all working together as you are here. I urge you to keep it up in this spirit and I wish you more success,” he said.
Addressing officers of the unit, Marwa said the leadership of the agency is restructuring the Marine Unit so that it can become a lean and mean force under an able commander, adding that they should work very hard to make sure that drugs do not pass by water.
In his brief remarks at the ceremony, Kris Hawksfield of the UK Home Office International Operations assured that the project would be completed by July 2024.
Speaking earlier at a War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy meeting with the leadership of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Marwa said there is a need for the organisation to partner with the agency in the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.
He urged the PMAN President, Prettywise Okafor, and other executives to mobilise their members to use their God-given talents for the good of society rather than using their music to promote drug abuse, especially among the youth.
While speaking, Okafor expressed the preparedness of PMAN to partner with the agency and gave details of their effort to organise an advocacy campaign against drug abuse across the country and their plan to build rehabilitation centres as part of their ongoing projects in Abuja and Lagos.
