Marwa urges traditional rulers, parents to lead fight against drug abuse
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), has called on traditional institutions, parents and community leaders to take greater ownership of the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking across Nigeria.
Marwa made the appeal on Saturday during the 10th anniversary of Akinale Day and the first coronation anniversary of Oba Oluseyi Ayodeji Adewole Adediran, Otileta I, Towulade of Owu Akinale, held at Baptist Primary School in Owu Akinale, Ogun State.
He described his attendance at the event as a pilgrimage of friendship, respect and admiration, recalling a relationship with the monarch spanning nearly two decades from the period when Oba Adediran led the Lisabi Youths.
Marwa commended the monarch’s leadership qualities, saying the virtues he displayed as a youth leader continue to define his reign after one year on the throne of Owu Akinale.
The NDLEA chairman warned that drug abuse affects both the rich and the poor in urban and rural communities, urging parents to pay closer attention to their children and watch for early signs of behavioural changes while encouraging young people to reject illicit drugs.
He also urged the Royal Council and community leaders in Owu Akinale to establish community-based advocacy networks that would make the town hostile to drug traffickers while providing support for people battling substance use dependence.
Marwa said the agency could not win the war against drugs without the support of traditional institutions and monarchs, and urged royal fathers and community leaders to closely monitor the activities of strangers in their forests following the recent discovery of Nigerian-Mexican cartel-operated clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in the forests of Ogun and Oyo states.
He also advised rural communities to properly scrutinise prospective buyers of farmlands, adding that the anniversary celebration was attended by political leaders, prominent traditional rulers and other dignitaries.
