Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Top 5 This Week

Related Posts

Drug war: UNODC assures NDLEA of support

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, has assured the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, of further support and renewed partnership in its ongoing efforts to rid the country of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.

The assurance was given on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, when the new country representative of UNODC in Nigeria, Mr Cheikh Ousmane Toure, led a team of top officials on a courtesy visit to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), at the agency’s National Headquarters in Abuja.

This was disclosed on Wednesday by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja.

While acknowledging the leadership role NDLEA plays in drug law enforcement in Africa, particularly in the West African sub-region, the UNODC chief said his visit was aimed at re-engaging with the agency on how to extend the successes recorded at the national level to the states.

He stated that the drug scourge is at the root of many security challenges at the subnational level.

According to him: “It is very important for us to re-engage and re-energise the relationship between UNODC and NDLEA, and I think my visit today is to convey that intention. I want to re-engage and reinvigorate our relationship so that it serves Nigeria as a whole and also benefits the rest of this sub-region by following your lead.

“NDLEA has been our partner and has even facilitated our implementation in Nigeria. So, I want a re-engagement between UNODC and NDLEA to explore how we can develop a greater plan to support the remaining implementation of the master plan and, going forward, the new stages of engagement with Nigeria. One key area we want to focus on is how NDLEA can provide increased capacity-building to West African member countries so that, together, we can combat this menace and share best practices.”

In his remarks, Marwa expressed gratitude to the global body for its continued support of the agency over the years and voiced confidence that the new country representative would elevate the existing relationship to new heights.

While highlighting some of the numerous achievements the agency has made in drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction over the past four years—with support from local and international partners, including UNODC—the NDLEA chief said the visit provided an opportunity to present areas where further support would be valuable.

He urged UNODC to support the agency’s Alternative Development Programme, the first of its kind in Africa, which aims to provide alternative means of livelihood for cannabis growers.

“If we are able to provide an alternative, that would be beneficial both for them and for society. That is one of the areas where I would like to see greater collaboration. We need support for this.

“The drug use survey is another project where we need assistance. The last one, published in 2018, is now outdated, and we require a reassessment. I remember speaking to the Director of UNODC in Vienna two or three years ago about this need,” he said.

Drug war: UNODC assures NDLEA of support

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Popular Articles