From the blues, NIgerians had their consciousness reawakened with the appointment of Brigadier General Muhammed Buba Marwa (retd.) as the chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), by President Muhammadu Buhari. Nigerians, especially residents of Lagos State, cannot forget  1994, when the military leader, General Sani Abacha, wanted a man with sterner stuff to head Lagos State, which was gradually turning into a robbers’ den. Marwa turned out to be the magic wang in Abacha’s hand to restore sanity to the state.

As a young, handsome, intelligent and vibrant military administrator, many did not give him a chance as one that can turn the tide. In fact, many Lagosians saw him through the binoculars they used in guaging Abacha and his administration. It was like the biblical quote, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”

At the time, robbery was the order of the day. Insecurity made life unbearable for the citizenry and security agents.

Marwa set up an anti-robbery squad known as Operation Sweep, under the indifatigable Colonel Minimah, who later rose to become the Chief of Army Staff.

The objective was to sweep out armed hoodlums operating in Lagos. The question is still asked whether the operation was a success, but there is no denying that the Marwa administration in Lagos State  drastically reduced criminality in the state, thereby setting the pace and standard for subsequent administrations.

Operation Sweep became a sing-song among Lagos residents. Operatives of the squad, who are largely military servicemen, were well equipped, well remunerated and very well  appreciated by members of the public.

It was, therefore, not surprising seeing Marwa, as NDLEA chairman, feeling great in a nolstagic mood when he told officials at the inaugural NDLEA Commanders’ Summit, where 10 vehicles were deployed to seven state commands and the headquarters, Abuja, that he would use the Operation Sweep policy to tackle drug menace in Nigeria. As the man with the original template, it would be very easy for him to roll out the formula and strategies used to send criminals into hiding and also apprehending hundreds of them. See my book, titled “Dark Clouds: Confessions of Notorious Armed Robbers in Nigeria.” 

Marwa said, “We are going to work with relevant security agencies. We will bring out in due course a policy that would facilitate the passing of information discreetly.”

See a man who did well under an administration that history has not reckoned well with. He usually stands out with his shoulders high. Marwa is a good example of a unique leader our children need to emulate. Today, no one is in doubt that a performer has stepped into the office of the chairman of the NDLEA. The outstanding operational results (not media hype) being dished out are evidence of his capability.

Before his appointment, drug barons were having a field day. Their activities were already suffocating the country. Neighbouring countries pointed at Nigeria as the hub and headquarters of drug barons. It was “Open Sesame,” as even  primary school pupils were already well informed about hard drugs and how to obtain them, like secondary school and university students who graduated to become “escorters” and peddlers around the country and even beyond the shores of the country.

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Every major market became operational joints for addicts and peddlers. Club houses, low standard hotels and motels are service places. See (Security File, August 20, 2020, Daily Sun newspaper ) “Tramadol: Fuelling Insecurity.” 

In fact, many homes have been destroyed, while the country has been affected by the drug-enhanced policies of some executives who are high on drugs. Marwa raised the red flag when he declared, “To the unbending drug crime perpetrators, I would like to let them know also that the game is up! It is high time they embraced another trade. The Federal Government Policy on Agriculture is a window for them to leverage on. In this war, we will be fair but we will be firm.”

It is the resolve to be firm that has yeilded the result, which is today attracting public applause and a standing ovation whenever Marwa steps into. The record of his  achievements in four months includes the rounding up of five vicious drug barons who control different cartels across Nigeria, plus 4,896 drug traffickers and many kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs.

The filing of about 5,000 drug cases in court, with over 500 convictions and 3,205 pending cases in court, 2,303 counselled and 469 rehabilitated hard drug users, cash and drug seizures valued at over N90 billion are also on the list of achievements, as well as reviving and strengthening the agency’s Directorate of Assets and Financial Investigations to go after all assets and funds linked to drug trafficking.

The department has in four months obtained interim and final forfeiture orders on assets and funds worth billions of naira linked to drug traffickers/barons being prosecuted or investigated, including N30 billion currently being trailed.

The NDLEA has set up the Special Purpose Committee to involve stakeholders in the war against illicit drugs. One can see why President Buhari had gone to the record books to pick out Marwa for this assignment. Before now, many saw the agency deteriorating in carrying out its main objectives, yet there were leaders in place directing the affairs of the agency, until the appointment of Marwa.

More questions are, however, being asked in the direction of the police, why was due diligence not carried out in the appointment of two last Inspectors-General of Police? Mr. Ibrahim Idris and Mr. Adamu Mohammed are classified as the two worst IGPs in Nigeria Police history under Buhari’s administration. Had the right police officer been appointed after IGP Solomon Arase, the present security problems bedevilling the country would have been an issue of the past. Maybe all those either killed or presently in captivity wouldn’t have suffered such tragedy.

When appointments have ethnic, family and religious colorations, what the country and the police received under the aforementioned IGPs, are basically what turns out to be. The country should never again allow such abysmal failure in office as a result of indisceet appointment by the President.

The results being churned out by the NDLEA boss are such that have further attracted foreign donors, from the European Union, United States of America, United Kingdom, France and the United Nations Organization for Drug Control.

Indeed, such success stories like the NDLEA are what Nigerians want to hear. Stories that banditry has completely been eliminated, kidnapping is a thing of the past and that there are no more traces of Boko Haram in any part of the North.