By Victor Izekor
There are some occasions in one’s life, “One French Philosopher once posited, “Which neither time nor circumstances can change nor obliterate from one’s memory.” The administration of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) by Brigadier General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) is one such occasion. Brigadier General Marwa’s current tenure as Chairman of NDLEA is indeed a watershed in the history of the organization born about three decades back. At no time in Nigeria has the operation of the Agency provoked, pricked and rattled the den of the drug barons, cartels and accomplices as it now. Before the shout of Jack Robinson, the nail struck the hammer, signalling the beginning of a revolution in the nation’s renewed war against drug abuse which is systematically but fastly eating deep into the fabric of Nigeria. I was told in my school days that when the nail strikes the hammer that is the beginning of the revolution. I now know better the impulse of this saying.
“Marwaism” has become a phenomenon in the war against illicit business. Marwa fights the war on land, he fights the drug war on the creeks, along the roads, in hotels, restaurants, commercial stores, and in the factories, he suspects any coloured water, prying the alcoholic and soft drinks. In short, anything within reach is inescapable more so where such is a suspect.
According to C.M. Young: “The central theme of history is not exclusively the chronicling of what happened, but also what people felt about it while was happening.”
This is the problem writers and journalists are trying to grapple with. That is to catch the events and the emotions of the people while they are happening.
However, with the subject on hand, Marwa and the NDLEA we are faced with one problem which is different in degree, from similar efforts at recording events while they are happening – that is the problem of staleness. In his desire to make an impact on the populace, Marwa’s NDLEA moves with an amazing speed, breaking new grounds, and rendering all previous records obsolete. The problem in this regard is how one’s pen moves at the same pace as a man whose achievement rate is several times faster than that of a spoken word. As you strive to conclude the write-up or feature of the Agency under Marwa, events after events do happen, compelling one’s attention, events you cannot ignore.
For example, while putting the finishing touches on this feature or essay at hand, news came that the operatives of the organization have raided again Edo forest with seizures of tons of illicit substances in addition to trans-border bursts with the arrest of five kingpins.
Never in the history of the drug war in the country being discretely, ferociously and courageously fought as in the tenure of the retired General Marwa. A dreaded and bloody war fought not only with lethal arms but with a modicum of sense, wisdom, cunning skill and a legalistic mind. In the renewed vigour to tame the shew Marwa’s leadership of the NDLEA has broken the egg, fully aware that you cannot make the omelette without breaking the egg. Marwa’s NDLEA has demystified the so-called iron-corrugated drug world said to be impregnable, unassailable or a no-go area.
For the past two years of Marwa’s administration of the Agency, 19,000 suspects have been arrested and prosecuted, while 28 drug barons are in the net of the agency and facing prosecution. According to Buba Marwa, 5,452 metric tons of illicit drugs with a street value of N420 billion have been seized, while 3,000 convictions have been secured and over 12,000 counselled in rehabilitation centres. The agency has also destroyed this period cannabis farms of 714 hectares. The NDLEA recorded the largest seizure ever of pure cocaine in 2022.
In the words of the Chairman “In the course of 2022, I am glad to mention that the agency made history by recording the largest seizure ever of pure cocaine weighing over 2.1 metric tonnes, which is worth $315 million or over N230 billion. We have received a court order and have already destroyed it. This was a unique operation because we are able to arrest the five barons involved who were located in different parts of Lagos, without firing a shot. We had to coordinate it properly so that none would be arrested one minute earlier than the others because they will alert the others and they would escape. But we were able to do it clinically for those five at the same time in one night.
He went on “We have arrested and are prosecuting so far 28 barons with seizures worth billions of naira. Indeed one of the barons, we found, had 103 bank accounts with a total of over 20 billion naira, which we have frozen, he said.
The highlights of some of the seizures within two years (2021 – 2022) include 1.8 tons of cocaine discovered in a warehouse in the Ikorodu area of Lagos state. This huge haul attracted the commendation of President Muhammadu Buhari who was on assignment in New York to the chairman of the Agency, Brigadier General Marwa. The market value of the seizure stood at about $278 million (194 billion). Of the total number of seizure 1,828 blocks of cocaine was set ablaze while the remnant was secured for the purpose of prosecution of the five suspects involved including a Jamaican. Also within this period the operatives of the Agency intercepted 2.7 million tramadol tablets at the Apapa port in Lagos, arrested 55 notorious trans-border traffickers in Kano and Adamawa states, and arrested eight over Lagos, Abuja, and Enugu airports cocaine bursts. The 8 suspects (six men and two ladies) were arrested for attempting to import hundreds of cocaine pellets into the country and exporting thousands of tramadol 255mg tablets among other illicit drugs to Europe. The Agency during this period also declared a Lagos baron wanted, sealed his 9 mansions and blocked his N217 million bank account.
Not done, the illicit drug agency also nabbed a pregnant woman, a female undergraduate and 26 others with 94,376 kilograms of cannabis and 138,053 tablets of pharmaceutical opioids among others during raids across 12 states. The states were Yobe, Ondo, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Jigawa, Kogi, Adamawa, Kaduna, Kwara, Lagos and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. It intercepted 4 kingpins over 16 tons of illicit drugs in Lagos, Abuja and the Netherlands. Besides these arrests and seizures mentioned, there were several others at various times within this period under review in the ongoing drug war by the NDLEA.
As a result of the achievement disposition of Marwa’s NDLEA, the federal government was and is not relenting in funding the agency at least to the minimum level of requirement. For example, in the federal government budget for 2023, the NDLEA, State House and the Army take a lion’s share of the N23.57 billion allocated for vehicles. As a matter of fact, the Agency tops the list of the 20 big spenders with a whoop N2 billion earmarked for the purchase of new vehicles in 2023. The NDLEA is followed by the State House headquarters with N1.9 billion and Nigerian Army with N1.2 billion. For the 2023 proposal the agency was allocated a sum of N40,112,063,869 of which N16,607,531,761:00 is for recurrent personnel cost, N2,064,083,294:00 is for recurrent overhead cost and N21,440,448,814:00 is for capital. In 2022, the agency appropriated the sum of N38,933,249,197:8 for capital and recurrent expenditure. Before now President Buhari’s administration had approved the procurement of lie detectors, and digital night vision goggles for the agency to enhance its performance. Similarly, the sum of N580 million was approved for the procurement of four models of 14 seater Armoured vehicles for the NDLEA operation to protect the personnel from the hazards of the drug business deadly operators. In the same vein, the Chairman stated recently while depending on the 2022 Agency budget performance and 2023 proposal before the House of Representatives Committee on Drugs and Narcotics that the agency has set in motion the machinery for building barracks for the staff of the agency personnel for the first time in addition to building as well three rehabilitation centres, two forensic laboratories and purchase of security equipment. With regards to the building of barracks, Brigadier Buba Marwa said the agency had concluded arrangements for the acquisition of land in Adamawa, Abuja and Lagos and the Private Public Partnership process was rounding up. Marwa said the sum of N24 billion was allocated for the barracks project in 2022 but N13 billion in the 2023 budget proposal. The Chairman, therefore, called for an additional of N10 billion for the projects. In his words, “We pray that with more money for the barracks because N13 billion would probably build half a barracks, but if we are able to achieve another N10 billion or more on this barrack then we would be able to add three more of the geographical zones for us to complete six,” adding, “Hopefully, as the years go by and we have another chairman, the struggle for barrack would continue”.
On recruitment of personnel, Marwa explained that in the year 2022, the agency completed the recruitment of 5,000 additional personnel pointing out that this number was out of the 15,000 which was approved by the president to be implemented incrementally. The 15,000 approved by the president have been segmented into three phases of 5,000 each.
Buba Marwa has called for a seamless exchange of information and intelligence and strengthened collaboration among African Nations to enable the continent to surmount the challenges posed by illicit drug trafficking and abuse. The chairman had also signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NDLEA and INTERPOL to enable the agency to have access to Global Data on Criminal Records in 195 countries.
One of the serious challenges facing the NDLEA is the incessant attacks and killings of some of its operatives by drug traffickers and peddlers and this the Agency trying with the help of the authorities to stem.
No doubt, Marwa’s agency has come and fought the drug war diligently to the acclamation of Nigerians in particular and the world in general. He has made Nigeria proud in particular President Muhammadu Buhari.
In spite of the ramifying success of his agency so far with commendation from among others, the Presidency, the National Assembly, Civil Societies, the media and individuals within and out, General Marwa is happy and at the same time unhappy. Happy is the very fact, that there is hope for salvation for the nation from the clutches and grip of the menace of drug abuse and illicit substances in the ongoing renewed war against this deadly and cancerous national disaster. He is however sad became according to him, drug abuse is in most households in Nigeria making it a national epidemic. The chairman who was speaking recently at a symposium on Community Development in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the throne of the Ona of Abaji and chairman of the FCT Council of Chiefs, His Royal Majesty (HRM), Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa regretted that in the drug menace some top government officials, political office holders as well university lecturers are also into drugs. Marwa added, “The problem we have with some of our parents is that we hardly create time to monitor our children. And that is why sometimes you will hear that a child killed himself or his parent which can be attributed to drugs”
That Mohammed Buba Marwa, a soldier gentle, a military intellectual and a child of the barracks turned around the fortunes of the NDLEA is not unexpected. He did the marvel as a Military governor of Borno state and Military Administrator of Lagos state. Buba Marwa has proved to be a success where failures loom. A military psychologist whose actions and policies are human-face inclined. Though a workaholic and taskmaster, he motivates and rewards hard work. Fearless in decision making, but implement the same with tact, cunning skill and legalistic mind. He never takes “No” for an answer as he never bargains for failure. He has always been guided by his philosophy of ACTION, TRANSPARENCY and result.
In Borno State as a governor, Marwa among others courageously abolished the age-long treasuries in the state and centralized all the government accounts in the state capital alluding that the sub-treasuries were pockets for stealing government money. He similarly resolved once and for all the decades-old dispute of the ownership of Sabon Gari village, a border settlement between Damboa and Biu towns which defied the solution of the Colonial administration, the then Northern Regional Government as well subsequent state government administrations. Buba Marwa came on board as the state governor, cut the Guardian knot and handed over the village (now a town) to Damboa Local Government council. In his comments on Buba Marwa’s administration of Lagos State, the Asoju Oba of Lagos, Chief Molade Okoya Thomas says “What Marwa has done is to prove wrong our past leaders who continued to say Lagos has no money……..and messing up things”.
Victor Izekor is a journalist and public affairs analyst