NDLEA chairman wants politicians, students tested for drugs

The chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Buba Marwa, is insistent that politicians seeking public office and students seeking admission into higher institutions must be subjected to drug integrity tests.

Since he was appointed in January 2021, Marwa has pushed for an all-out aggressive campaign against the consumption of illicit substances in the country.

He has also pleaded numerous times for Nigerians to buy into his vision to put an end to the drug trade in Nigeria.

While speaking at the 5th anniversary lecture of Presidential Diary Magazine on Tuesday, May 25, he repeated his old stance that politicians have to be tested for drugs before they can be allowed to run for public office.

The NDLEA boss said Nigerians must be able to completely trust their public officers with their welfare.

He said the same about students applying to higher institutions, and noted that there's a connection between drug abuse and the security challenges facing the country.

"We shall not relent in our objective of having a drug-free Nigeria.

"We have the conviction that if we can shut down the drug pipeline, cancel out the drug demand, and mop up the cache of illicit substances in out territory, the insecurity problem will be half solved," he said.

He appealed for the support of the public, and urged Nigerians not to be downcast by recent security challenges.

Marwa has in the past raised alarm that Nigeria has over 15 million drug users between the ages of 15 and 64.

He said last month that 2,050,765.33 kilogrammes of illicit drugs with a street value of N75 billion were seized in less than three months.